The company said that this was deemed necessary to deal with the unexpected thick and unstable Tertiary formation.
Drilling operations have resumed and the immediate go forward program is to continue drilling to the next casing point, which is expected to be at the top of the first prospective Cretaceous formation.
The Cretaceous formations are the primary drilling target of this well and comprised of three potential reservoirs with the uppermost being the Shiranish followed by the Kometan and Qamchuga formations.
The company does not believe that the instability issues encountered previously will persist once the well enters the potential Cretaceous reservoirs.
