Oil and gas company New Age has started drilling the IM-6 appraisal well at the Etinde block offshore Cameroon, using the Topaz Driller jack-up rig.
The Etinde joint venture is operated by NewAge with a 37.5% working interest. Bowleven and Lukoil are partners with a 25% and 37.5% working interest, respectively.
In a statement on Tuesday, Bowleven said the appraisal well was spud on May 21, 2018.
The IM-6 well is the first of two appraisal wells to be drilled in 2018. The Etinde Joint Venture partners contracted the Vantage-owned jack-up rig Topaz Driller for this campaign back in February and the rig arrived in Cameroon waters earlier in May.
Drilling and logging operations of IM-6 are expected to take approximately 100 days in total with Schlumberger providing most of the drilling services. The well is designed to delineate the size and extent of the Intra-Isongo stratigraphic sand traps as a primary target, with the Upper Isongo sand as a secondary target.
Eli Chahin , CEO of Bowleven said: “The appraisal program, for which Bowleven is fully carried, aims to further improve the already robust economics for future development of this world class asset and we look forward to providing an update on IM-6 results over the coming weeks.”