UK Oil & Gas today announced that following completion of the Basur-3 appraisal well's drilling pad and finalisation of the rig contract, the Oceanmec Karahan ZJ40DZ rig has now been mobilised to the site from western Turkey. As of 2359 hrs on Saturday 19th June, 38 related loads had been received at site. The rig-up and rig-acceptance stage is expected to continue throughout the coming  week with an expected drilling start shortly afterwards.

Basur-3 will be the first modern well designed to properly appraise and assess the extent and commercial viability of the discovered Basur-Resan oil pool. The well will test the north-western structural culmination of the 60 km² Basur-Resan geological structure, approximately 1.2 km north and geologically updip from the 1964 Basur-1 oil discovery well.

As detailed in the Company's 14 October 2020 and 15 January 2021 releases, Basur-1 produced 500 barrels of oil from a short 6-hour test. Further wells drilled in the 1950s to the southwest within the Resan area of the structure reported good oil shows at comparable depths to those at Basur, with one well recovering live oil to surface.

It should be noted that the data quality, record keeping and operational practices employed in Basur-Resan's 1950s-60s wells are considered poor by modern standards, hence the necessity for new 21st century data acquisition and knowledge to properly assess the discovery's overlooked potential.

UKOG Turkey Ltd holds a 50% interest in Basur-3 and the surrounding 305 km² Resan M47-b1,b2 licence.

Stephen Sanderson UKOG's Chief Executive commented:
"This welcome news is yet further confirmation that the pace of operations is far more rapid in Turkey than the UK, taking only 3 months from the start of site construction to the arrival of the drilling rig. We look forward to rig acceptance and to drilling the first well in our planned Turkish campaign."

KeyFacts Energy: UKOG Turkey country profile