Source: Petro Matad                     Date: 17 March, 2011

Oil explorer Petro Matad is gearing up to recommence drilling activities at its Davsan Tolgoi-4 well in Mongolia next month, four months after bad weather forced it to halt operations.

The well was suspended in early December at a depth of 1,271 meters ahead of the worst of the Mongolian winter conditions, but the company now plans to resume activities in April, along with drilling contractor DQE International, and drill the well to a depth of 2,020 meters.

The announcement came as the Mongolia-focused company said it was embarking on an "active and productive" program this year. It plans to begin a scheduled testing program on the wells drilled in May, 2010, all in Block XX. To this end, Petro Matad has called in geophysical services group BGP to undertake a 1,000-km 2D seismic survey.

Elsewhere in Blocks IV and V in central Mongolia, the company has commissioned Major Drilling Group International to carry out stratigraphic drilling. The aim of the program is to provide factual constraints on what is observed in the seismic studies, Petro Matad explained, as well as obtain direct measurements of the geothermal gradient in a move the company hailed "an essential step" in its exploration activities across the blocks.

Chief executive Douglas McGay commented, "During the past three months the company has made excellent progress in both its exploration activities and also at a corporate level. It is noteworthy that we are advancing our field exploration activities further into both ends of the harsh Mongolian winter. The company is working towards an all-year round operation for the first time in Mongolian oil exploration history." He went on to add that the company has now built up a firm foundation for what is proving to be a very active 2011 program.