Rockhopper Exploration Plc (LON:RKH) has kicked off a new drill programme in Egypt alongside partner Kuwait Energy.
The Al Jahraa SE-2X exploration well, on the Abu Sennan Concession, was spudded on Wednesday April 25. It is the first of two wells planned by Kuwait Energy.
Rockhopper has a 22% stake in the Al Jahraa well which is targeting the Cretaceous Abu Roash-C reservoir in a location immediate of the Al Jahraa South East discovery location. The company said that the well could add 20mln barrels of in-place oil to the project, if it is successful.
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"We are pleased to start this drilling campaign on our Egyptian acreage and hope it will enable us to build further on our local production and resource base,” said Sam Moody, Rockhopper chief executive.
“We look forward to updating the market on progress in due course."
The programme of drilling and evaluation is expected to take 40 days, and the well could potentially be immediately completed as a production well.
Once the programme is complete, the rig will move on to the Al Jahraa-9 location for a development well.
Kuwait Energy is also proposing a two well work-over programme which is due to take place during the second quarter.