The five-well program, which is targeting 10-20 billion cubic feet of gas reserves, began with the spudding of the Ikihoyuk-1 well, which is expected to take 10 days to drill and be completed a total depth of 520 metres, Incremental said.

The wells will be drilled using Incremental's drilling rig, which has been

transported 1700 km from the Selmo oil field to the Edirne project.

The Ikihoyuk structure is one of 17 structures mapped on the 3D seismic survey acquired last year.

It is a downthrown fault trap, with a mapped structural closure of about 1.7sq.km.

"The closure is coincident with strong amplitudes on the seismic data, suggesting a high probability of encountering gas," Incremental said.

"The lack of nearby well control means that the net reservoir thickness will

only be determined by drilling."

Incremental holds a 45% stake in the Edirne licence, while Otto Energy has 35% and two Turkish companies hold 10% each.