Last week, Oilex and its Indian partners - Videocon, GAIL, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation - suspended the first well, Sarha-1, as a future oil producer.

"Results of Sarha-1, the first of 11 wells that will be drilled on Block 56, have been very encouraging confirming the presence of moveable oil in at least one of the main objective horizons, the Al Khlata Formation, with strong indications of oil saturations that were not able to be tested adequately in the Huqf, Haima and the Gharif formations," Oilex said.

"The information gained from Sarha-1 has indicated the need for a different well design that will facilitate testing of all of the potential reservoir units, particularly the deeper Huqf and Haima formations, in future wells."

In a statement this morning, Oilex said drilling was expected to begin today on Ghadaq-1, which is expected to take three weeks to reach a total depth of 1600m.

The well will evaluate the prolific Permo-Carboniferous reservoir interval, a major productive horizon across Oman.

In addition the well will be deepened to intersect the prospective Cambrian Huqf Formation which is oil-bearing in adjacent wells.

Oilex said it expected to see similar zones in Ghadaq-1 as encountered in Sarha-1.