OGX Petróleo e Gás Participações says that drilling of well 1-MRK-2-SPS in the Abacate-1 prospect, located in the BM-S-29 block in the Santos Basin, was initiated on August 16th. OGX holds a 65% working interest in the block and Maersk Oil, the operator, has 35%.

OGX has stakes in 22 exploration blocks in the Campos, Espirito Santo, Para-Maranhao and Santos basins.

The BM-S-29 block is located 130km from the coast of São Paulo state, southeast of the city of São Paulo, at a water depth of approximately 100m. The Sovereign Explorer semisub, provided by Transocean, is drilling well 1-MRK-2-SPS. It is expected to take approximately three months to reach all five of the mapped targets.

"Interpretation of the 3D data for BM-S-29, combined with recently announced discovery at a distance of 18km from the block, has confirmed our view of the substantial potential of BM-S-29. We are confident that this is a promising exploration area, and pleased to have initiated the drilling of our first offshore well," commented Paulo Mendonça, OGX's General Executive Officer.

Tags: Maersk Oil, OGX Petróleo e Gás Participações S.A.