DRAGON Oil has announced that oil production from its Caspian Sea well should "increase substantially" in 1997. The hot oil drilling operation in Block 11, offshore Turkmenistan, has been completed.
Dragon, which is registered in Dublin but controlled by a group of Indonesian businessmen, said in an interim statement that seismic data were being analysed and a new drilling programme would begin in the first quarter of 1997. "As a result, production is expected to increase substantially throughout 1997," Dragon said.
Dragon is the operator and has 54 wells available. It has an effective 30 per cent stake and its share of production from the Caspian well is now over 1,800 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
The oil is being sold at about $15 a barrel and the company needs to quadruple production to go into a positive cash flow. Dr Oliver Waldron, managing director and joint deputy chairman, said the company hopes to reach that level towards the end of 1997.
Dragon has just completed a farm out agreement with Texaco for its exploration operations off the coast of Thailand where it has an effective 30 per cent stake.
