Offshore staff

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan -- Dragon Oil has completed drilling and initial testing of the Dzheitune (Lam) B/150 development well in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea.

The well was drilled by the Iran Khazar rig to a subsurface depth of 3,980 m (13,058 ft) and completed as a dual producer. The combined initial test rate was 1,622 b/d of oil, with the short and long strings testing at respectively 632 b/d and 990 b/d.

Subsequently, the rig has skidded to the next slot and has spud the Dzheitune (Lam) B/153 well. This is part of an ongoing project to expand facilities and production from the Cheleken Contract Area fields.

Dragon CEO Dr Abdul Jaleel Al Khalifa said: “I am pleased to report that we have now fulfilled the 2010 drilling programme with the last of the 11 planned wells put into production in the first week of January this year.

“We have also met another significant objective for 2010 having completed and commissioned important new pipeline and processing infrastructure. As we gradually switch over to using the new 30-in. [76-cm] trunkline and associated in-field pipelines, we are already seeing improved average daily flow rates.

“With the integrated network of 30-in. trunkline, 14-, 18-, and 20-in. [35-, 45-, and 51-cm] in-field pipelines and the expanded Central Processing Facility, the infrastructure bottlenecks that constrained production growth have been completely removed.”

01/11/2011