Nautical Petroleum declared that the Kraken 9/02b-5 pilot well, located in UKCS North Sea Block 9/2b, has successfully encountered oil in the Heimdal III sandstone interval.

The pilot well was drilled to a total depth of 4,785 feet Measured Depth (MD). The top of the target Heimdal III reservoir was encountered at 4,168 feet MD and the overall sand interval has a gross thickness of 145 feet. The well has exceeded predrill expectations, with a thicker net oil pay than expected. Preliminary log evaluation indicates a calculated net oil pay of 94 feet True Vertical Thickness (TVT), with average porosity of 38% and average oil saturation of 78%. As anticipated, an Oil Water Contact (OWC) was not encountered at this location.

The well was designed to target an area of strong amplitude anomalies interpreted on Coloured Inversion seismic data. The net oil pay encountered correlates with the seismic, providing increased confidence for using these seismic techniques for the selection of locations of development wells.

Following the successful completion of the pilot well, the co-venturers will now commence the drilling of a horizontal sidetrack of up to 600m, which will be completed with a gravel pack and tested using an Electric Submersible Pump (ESP). This activity is expected to take approximately 40 days in total, subject to weather and any operational downtime.

Nautical has a 50% interest in Block 9/2b and is the operator. The other participants are Celtic Oil Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of First Oil Expro Limited (30%) and Canamens Energy North Sea Limited (20%).

Steve Jenkins, Nautical's chief executive officer, commented: "This is an excellent start to the appraisal activity. The well has encountered the thickest net pay in the field to date and has exceeded our pre-drill expectations. We now have five successful penetrations of the main reservoir in the core area of the field. We look forward to commencing the 9/02b-5Z sidetrack, which aims to prove a commercial flow rate on contingent resources of 83mmbo, net to Nautical."

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