Otto today said the well flowed gas from the first of three intervals interpreted to be gas bearing.

The company said the joint venture is now “sufficiently confident” in the productivity of all three intervals and testing has “ceased to optimally retain the well configuration as a future producer”.

“Although final analysis and post-well studies are ongoing, it is Otto’s belief that the total net pay encountered in the well is approximately 17.5m, which compares favourably to the pre-drill pay prognosis for the well of 10m,” it said.

“Assuming a commercial development of the field is feasible, the separate intervals will be produced sequentially from deepest to shallowest to optimise sustainable flow rates.”

The rig will now be moved less than 2km to Otto’s first gas discovery well, Bati Umur-1 for flow testing.

Several zones of potential gas pay were identified on wireline logs when the JV drilled Bati Umur in December 2005. But Otto said the well was not flow tested due to severe winter conditions at the time of completion.

The partners plan to meet in Turkey in mid-January to discuss the test results of both wells and to select one or more prospects for early follow-up drilling.

Otto said they will also discuss the parameters of a feasibility study to commercialise these fields in the “shortest possible time frame”.

Interests in the Edirne Licence are Otto (65%) and Incremental (15%).