UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) has announced that it commenced drilling operations at Turkey’s Pinarova-1 last week.
The company said the drilling is underway for a hole with a diameter of twelve-and-a-quarter inches to the first casing point, which is about 300m below the surface. It is expected that this will take eight to ten days to complete.
The well would then continued to be drilled into the intended Hoya section, according to UKOG, eventually reaching a depth of 500 to 550m below the surface.
A geologist is on the spot to help in documenting the geology and locating any oil that may surface in drilling mud or cuttings, it added.
In the stock announcement, UKOG stated: “Pinarova-1, located 6 km north of the Basur-1 oil discovery, is designed to test a working hypothesis, supported by well and seismic data, that the active 41.7˚ API light oil seep found last summer in a seismic shot hole above the Pinarova structure, is directly fed by and connected to an underlying light oil accumulation of some 9 km² areal extent within Eocene Hoya group limestones, lying around 300-645 metres below surface.”
UKOG controls a 50% non-operated interest in Pinarova-1 and the neighbouring 305km2 Resan licence, which also contains the undeveloped Basur-1 light oil find.
The UK oil and gas firm is collaborating with Aladdin Middle East (AME) on the Pinarova project, which is anticipated to produce outcomes similar to those of a Basur-4 appraisal well but at a far reduced drilling cost.
In a January announcement, UKOG CEO Stephen Sanderson said: “Pinarova’s prospectivity, potential success case volumes and modest drilling costs make it an attractive short-fuse project worth pursuing.”