Pan Orient to drill Akeh-1 well end August

By Romel S. Gurky

TSX-listed Pan Orient Energy Corp. said that drilling of the Akeh-1 exploration well in Batu Gajah PSC, onshore Sumatra, will commence at the end of August.

The company, which is the operator of the PSC with 77 percent interest, said in a statement Tuesday that location construction for the Akeh-1 well commenced on June 15, and is expected to be completed in early August.

?Akeh-1 will be targeting oil, gas and condensate at multiple reservoir levels that have been proven in the adjacent PSC. With an approximately $60 million cost recovery pool, any possible success would result in very attractive economics at current oil prices,? Pan Orient said.

Elsewhere, Pan Orient announced the satisfaction of the conditions precedent to the East Jabung PSC farmout agreement between Pan Orient and a subsidiary of Talisman Energy Inc. and the receipt of the $9.4 million initial cash payment. ?We look forward to the drilling of the Anggun prospect and working with the new operator,? it said.

The company has divested a 51 percent operatorship interest in the East Jabung PSC, onshore Jambi, to the Talisman subsidiary, and retains a 49 percent stake.

The company explained that over the past two years it has been busy building a strong foundation for the company's Indonesian business. This has included acquiring 2D and 3D seismic data, obtaining required Government of Indonesia regulatory approvals for drilling and most recently, de-risking the portfolio through additional technical work and taking on partners, where appropriate. ?A third party engineer prospective resource evaluation for the Anggun prospect located at the onshore East Jabung PSC Indonesia, is planned to be completed in July 2015, at which time the company will release the results of this evaluation.?

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak