Upland Resources (LSE:UPL) shares rose by some 14% in Monday’s early deals as the micro-cap explorer told investors it is assessing and contracting an onshore rig for the Sarawak project in northern Malaysia.
The company, in a statement, said that members of the Upland Big Oil joint venture team are in Australia this week assessing the suitability of a new generation onshore rig which is presently ‘stacked’ awaiting a commission.
At the same time, the company described Block SK334 (which hosts Sarawak) as containing “similar resources to those found in the neighbouring billion-barrel Seria field” and said it is “equivalent in scale to some of Europe's largest offshore Oil & Gas fields”.
Well site locations are also being assessed and conceptual field development planning is underway, Upland highlighted.
Upland chief executive and chair Bolhassan Di told investors that the project is “ahead of schedule and steadily building momentum”.
"I am in Australia this week, there is a busy schedule of events planned as we assess the suitability of rig potential and meet certain objectives with our technical team,” Bolhassan Di said.
“Block SK334 is a truly unique opportunity for a company of our size. I look forward to updating the market as we execute against our planned strategy in Sarawak."