Incremental Petroleum (IPM) and Otto Energy (OEL) says that the preparation for drilling five wells in early 2008 is proceeding as planned, with the first well to be spudded in March 2008.

The early 2008 drilling campaign will now be entirely based on the prospects identified in the 149 sq km 3D seismic programme shot in 2007. This change of locations from the 13th September announcement reflects the excellent results from the fast-track processing of the 3D with seismic amplitudes beautifully defining known gas pools (discovered in the 2006/7 drilling campaign). It is thus reasonably anticipated that amplitude anomalies coincident with undrilled structures present low risk targets. About 14 targets have been identified in the 3D area. Four of these locations have been approved by the Joint venture for drilling in 2008, with the final decision on the fifth well location to be based on analysis of the final processed 3D seismic.

The joint venture plans to bring the 2006/07 gas discoveries plus discoveries from the 2008 drilling campaign into production by early 2009. The Joint Venture estimates that the discovered reserves and prospective resources within the 3D seismic area are between 10 and 20 Bcf, with other undrilled prospects in the remainder of the block potentially adding to future gas resources. The high gas price, good quality reservoirs and low cost of drilling generate excellent economics for these shallow plays.

The 3D seismic covers only about 30% of the Edirne concession, with many 2D defined prospects outside the 3D area. All of the 2008 prospects are shallow, and therefore low cost to drill, and will be drilled with Incremental’s rig, currently drilling horizontal wells in its wholly owned Selmo Oilfield in SE Turkey.

Incremental Petroleum has been appointed as joint operator by the JV and has been appointed to manage all aspects of the commercialization of gas as quickly as possible.

Tags: Incremental Petroleum, Otto Energy Limited