Dragon Oil Completes Dzheitune (Lam) Off Turkmenistan

Independent Producer Dragon Oil has published test results following its successful completion and initial testing of the Dzheitune (Lam) A/177 development well. Dzheitune (Lam) lies offshore Turkmenistan in the Cheleken Contract Area, of the Caspian Sea, west of the coastal town of Hazar.

According to a news release issued Dec. 28: The Dzheitune (Lam) A/177 well was completed as a single producer to a depth of 3,085 metres. The well tested at an initial production rate of 1,796 barrels of oil per day. The jack-up rig that has competed this well is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance.

In the same release, Dr. Abdul Jaleel Al Khalifa, CEO, commented:  "I am pleased to report the successful completion and testing of the Dzheitune (Lam) A/177 development well. With this well we conclude an intensive drilling programme for this year, having completed 15 wells against the initial target of between 13 and 15 wells set at the beginning of the year.  "We have been producing at well above 70,000 bopd since mid-August and we firmly re-iterate our production growth guidance of 10% for 2012. The final production numbers will be reported in the Trading Statement due on 15 January 2013."

The Cheleken Contract Area covers approximately 950 square kilometres (235,000 acres) and comprises two offshore oil and gas fields, Dzheitune (Lam) and Dzhygalybeg (Zhdanov), in water depths of between 8 and 42 metres.  The fields comprise two elongate anticlines situated at the eastern end of the Aspheron Ridge, according to www.dragonoil.com. The Aspheron Ridge is a prolific hydrocarbon play extending from the Apsheron Peninsula in Azerbaijan to the Cheleken Peninsula in Turkmenistan and divides the South Caspian Basin from the Middle Caspian Basin.

The 3-D seismic survey was acquired in 2004-2005; the interpretation was completed, while continuous additional studies and refinement are ongoing.Dragon Oil’s operational focus is the re-development of the Dzheitune (Lam) and Dzhygalybeg (Zhdanov) fields that were discovered during the Soviet era in Turkmenistan. Dragon Oil holds a 100 percent interest in and is operator of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for the Cheleken Contract Area. Development in the Cheleken Contract Area under the PSA commenced in May 2000, according to the company's website.