Arawak Energy said Thursday that Company's net production has risen to 12,750 barrels of oil per day (bopd) following a rise in produced volumes at the Akzhar and Besbolek fields in Kazakhstan.
Production at the Company's two main producing assets in Kazakhstan had been constrained in previous months while the company sought regulatory approval for the transition of the contracts from the exploration phase to the production stage.
Arawak announced on Sep. 25, that the government regulatory authority in Kazakhstan, the Central Committee for Development, had approved the technical plans of development for both fields, allowing us to immediately begin work on the development phases.
The Company embarked on a re-entry programme to rejuvenate shut-in production, which has already resulted in an increase in flow rates at both Akzhar and Besbolek, it said.
Concurrently, four rigs were mobilised to pursue an aggressive ten-well development drilling programme at each field for the remainder of the year.
All four rigs have already commenced drilling at Akzhar and Besbolek.
"The Company has been successful in its application for the cancellation of the export customs duty applied to its Akzhar contract and we are currently awaiting confirmation on the amounts and process of reimbursement", it said.
Exports from the Besbolek field will continue to be subject to export customs duty.
As announced by the government of Kazakstan in September, the export customs duty increased to $203.8 per tonne from $109.9 per tonne effective Oct. 11, it said.
Besbolek accounts for 23% of Arawak's current net production in Kazakhstan.
In other operations, production at the 40% owned Saigak field was steady at 1,180 bopd net to Arawak.
In the East Zharkamys III exploration block, the Utubai 1 well encountered 40 metres of prospective gas pay in the Barremian formation at a depth of 342 metres.
Casing has been set for future resource testing.
Two wells drilled earlier this year were plugged and abandoned with no significant hydrocarbons detected.
In total, five wells are scheduled for drilling on the East Zharkamys III block in 2008 as required under the work commitment programme prior to our plans to acquire seismic data.
A seismic crew has now been mobilised to the area and has commenced pilot testing for a 530 km 2D seismic programme scheduled in the second half of Oct, the company said.
At the recently acquired Tamdykol exploration block, the Company is finalising the programme for a 220 km 2D seismic survey in the fourth quarter.
At the Alimbai producing block, processing of the seismic data from the 27 sq km 3D and 200 km 2D programme undertaken in the second quarter is scheduled to be completed by the end of October.
In the North Irael block, offset well 641, which commenced drilling in the second quarter, encountered oil at a deeper horizon than previously discovered. This has confirmed a lower oil/water contact and is therefore expected to add additional reserves to the field as well as proving up oil in the expected productive horizon.
The well, which is offset to exploration well 64, is producing 250 bopd of natural flow from the new horizon. Presently we are drilling well 642, the second delineation test in the pool.
In the Sotchemyu-Talyu area, drilling is continuing at the 128 development well, which tested oil on drill stem test in the upper F2 interval, a shallow Devonian horizon above the original target Fo interval.
The Company has drilled and completed eight wells in Sotchemyu-Talyu so far in 2008 with seven considered commercial successes and one awaiting workover activities. Work is expected to start in the fourth quarter on an inter-field pipeline to tie North Irael production into the central processing facilities at Sotchemyu-Talyu, it said.
At the Company's two other contract areas in Russia, a seismic crew has been mobilised to the South Sotchemyu appraisal block in preparation for a 115 km 2D seismic acquisition programme in the fourth quarter.
A 40 sq km 3D seismic programme was completed at South Sotchemyu earlier this year.
In addition, a 100 km 2D survey is scheduled in the coming winter months at the Kymbozhyuskaya exploration block ahead of drilling of exploration well 11 in Feb 2009.