UK Oil & Gas plc (UKOG) said it expected to start drilling shortly the first modern appraisal oil well at its Basur-Resan oil site in Turkey.
The news follows the completion of the Basur-3 appraisal well’s drilling pad and finalisation of the contract for the Oceanmec Karahan ZJ40DZ rig.
By midnight on 19 June, 38 related loads had been received at site.
UKOG added that the rig-up and rig-acceptance stage was expected to continue throughout the coming week before drilling starts.
“Basur-3 will be the first modern well designed to appraise and assess properly the extent and commercial viability of the discovered Basur-Resan oil pool,” said UKOG.
“The well will test the north-western structural culmination of the 60 km² Basur-Resan geological structure, approximately 1.2 km north and geologically updip from the 1964 Basur-1 oil discovery well.”
Basur-1 produced 500 barrels of oil from a previous short six-hour test.
HISTORIC DATA
Further wells drilled during the 1950s to the southwest within the Resan area of the structure reported good oil shows at comparable depths to those at Basur, with one well recovering live oil to surface.
UKOG said that the data quality, record keeping and operational practices employed in Basur-Resan’s 1950s-60s wells were poor by modern standards.
New 21st century data acquisition and knowledge is needed to properly assess the discovery’s overlooked potential, the company added.
UKOG Turkey Ltd holds a 50% interest in Basur-3 and the surrounding 305 km² Resan M47-b1, b2 licence.
“This welcome news is yet further confirmation that the pace of operations is far more rapid in Turkey than the UK, taking only three months from the start of site construction to the arrival of the drilling rig,” said chief executive Stephen Sanderson.
“We look forward to rig acceptance and to drilling the first well in our planned Turkish campaign.”