Cheleken enters new drilling phase

Offshore staff

ASHGABAD, Turkmenistan --Dragon Oil is about to drill the first development well from its Dzheitune (Lam) 22 platform in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea.

The CIS-1 rig will spud the well shortly from the platform, part of an ongoing program of rehabilitation and increased production in the Cheleken Contract Area. Dragon has also started refurbishing Rig 40, and expects to start using it for drilling in 2008.

Over the remainder of this year, the company will initiate projects to add further production platforms, an offshore trunkline, additional infield pipelines, and expansion of capacity at its onshore processing facility. Next year, Dragon also expects to issue the results of an extensive subsurface (static and dynamic) reservoir modeling campaign, which it will use to re-certify the Cheleken fields' recoverable reserves.

09/18/2007