The company had decided to sidetrack the well after failing to recover the stuck drilling assembly.

NW Paua-1 targets the Toro and Digimu sandstones in a more optimal location on the known hanging-wall structure than the Paua-1x well which was drilled in the mid 1990s.

Paua-1x encountered oil shows in the Toro sandstone and recovered oil from the Iagifu sandstone but was interpreted to have been drilled on the wrong side of the structure.

The sidetrack has a planned total depth of about 3600m.

Participants in NW Paua-1 are Oil Search (52.5%) and ExxonMobil (47.5%).

Oil Search added the Cobra-1 well is undergoing operations at a depth of 168m to retrieve cementing equipment.

The well had to be re-spudded after work was stopped due to subsidence at the well site.

Cobra-1 has a planned total depth of 3100m.

Participants in the well are operator Oil Search (62.556%), Murray Petroleum (26.497%) and Cue Energy (10.947%).

Meanwhile, Oil Search said DNO has suspended the Dahgah-1 well in Yemen and released the rig for mobilisation to drill the Nabrajah-17 well to avoid delays in the drilling schedule.

The company said three zones of interest had been identified within the Naifa Dolomites at Fahgah-1 and testing will be carried out during the coming weeks.

Partners in Block 43 are DNO (56.67%), Oil Search (28.33%) and The Yemen Company (15%).