The firm said it has already constructed the site access and the pad and plans to spud the well this year, subject to rig availability.
An anti-clinal structure in the oil-bearing Silurian West Point Formation dubbed as the Sellarsville slice is the primary target of the Ristigouche well.
The secondary target, which holds potential for oil and gas in fractured intervals is the White Head Formation found at a depth of nearly 2.6 km.
Gastem chairman and CEO Raymond Savoie said the Gaspe Peninsula and particularly the Ristigouche-Matapedia area present several favourable indicators, notably in the Silurian formation where reef facies may be encountered.
"Recent wells in the Gaspe Peninsula have all found traces or small reservoirs of good light oil and one may correctly state that, given better science and technology, the first substantial discovery is not far down the road," Savoie added.
Gastem holds exploration and storage permits and rights in the St. Lawrence Lowlands, the Gaspe Peninsula and the Magdalene Islands in Quebec as well as rights and interests in New York State and Virginia.
