PEARL begins Sebuku PSC exploration drilling program

Singaporean oil company PEARL Energy Limited said on Tuesday it had spudded the Makassar Straits-2 (MS-2) appraisal well in the Sebuku Production Sharing Contract (PSC) offshore east of Kalimantan, the first of the three wells it planned to drill this year.

PEARL said in a report that it planned to drill the well to a total measured depth of 5,789 feet over 17 days and also to appraise the Makassar Straits-1 gas discovery drilled and tested by Ashland Petroleum Indonesia Inc. in 1974.

PEARL?s chief technical officer Chris Gibson-Robinson said that the Sebuku drilling program was a major element in PEARL?s extensive exploration program this year. If successful, it is expected to prove sufficient gas reserves for the development of the Makassar Straits structure, as well as to test two additional structures that may contain both gas and oil.

The exploration drilling program is expected to last 75 days using Transocean?s jackup rig Shelf Explorer.

PEARL is the operator of the PSC with 50 percent working interest. The remaining interest is held by Canadian firm Fuel-X International Inc. (Robert)