UK-based upstream junior Max Petroleum said it plans to drill 57 onshore wells to evaluate 26 structures at its blocks A and E and Astrakhanskiy in Kazakhstan over the next three years.
Total capital expenditures for the three-year period are $300 million-$400 million, the company said.
Max's exploration drilling program will test currently identified shallow, intermediate and deep structures with estimated risked mean resource potential of 829 million barrels of oil equivalent, the company said.
It will also acquire, process and interpret more than 5,000 sq km of 3D seismic and 2,700 km of 2D seismic over three blocks.
Max, which holds the rights to explore and develop a total of four onshore oil and gas blocks in Kazakhstan, has so far drilled 25 shallow wells on block E, including 19 successful wells in the Zhana Makat area and six dry holes, it said.
Though not in a position to fully process its crude oil from block E, facility improvements have allowed Max to achieve average production in March 2008 of 2,700 b/d and its highest daily production total of 3,344 b/d on April 4, it said.
Source: Platts
