The oil explorer Aminex plc (LON:AEX) said work on the Ntorya-2 well in Tanzania will begin in the next few days.
Around 1.5km from Ntorya-1, the second well will target 153bn cubic (BCF) feet of gas.
Aminex, which owns 75% of the Ruvuma acreage that is host potentially to up to 1trln cubic feet of gas, sees Ntorya-2 as a low-risk appraisal project.
The original well, completed more in 2012, flow tested at 20mln cubic feet of gas a day with 139 barrels of gas condensate.
Ntorya-2 is being drilled into thicker part of the sand body located on the seismic data in 2014.
Aminex’s partner is fellow AIM explorer Solo Oil PLC (LON:SOLO).
The area in question lies just 20 kilometres from the Mtwara to Dar es Salaam gas pipeline which was commissioned in late 2015.
In a recent interview, Aminex boss Jay Bhattacherjee said the new phase of work in Tanzania aimed to establish the kind of production that can sustain and self-fund the group’s continuing expansion.
This, he said, was the “holy grail” for all exploration and production companies.
It has taken more than four years for Aminex to land the funding for two follow-up holes.
The injection came this summer, with Oman’s Zubair Corporation cornerstoning a £19.5mln share placing.
Aminex’s plan is to complete Ntorya-2 and 3 in fairly quick succession with the aim of bringing one of two into production soon after.
*In a separate announcement Aminex said it received formal approval from Tanzania’s energy minister that extends its ownership of the Nyuni production sharing area to at least the end of October 2019.
Nyuni covers over 400,000 acres and is potentially host to multi-trillion cubic feet of gas.