With Saudi Arabia dropping bombs on Iran-backed Houthi rebel positions this week that might seem an unlikely stretch, but it is the opinion of Petsec Energy's new Middle East-north Africa manager Maki Petkovski, a man who has been a frequent visitor to Yemen since 2000 and managed Oil Search's interest in the region.

While little work has been undertaken since Petsec entered Yemen about 12 months ago due to the situation on the ground, Fern said much of the technical work has been completed to allow the testing of the Al Meashar-2 well, and the company is so optimistic it will be able to resume work that it is starting to order long-lead items.

It wants to put both wells into production before the end of the year, an audacious timetable, but one Fern believes is possible despite the disappointing pace of operations so far.

With 63.75% of the Al Barqa permit, Block 7, Petsec will be the operator, and in charge of its own destiny, at least as far as its Yemeni partner and the local government allow. Kuwait's Kufpec is also in the JV with 21.25%.

"We expect in the next month or two to go to the government authorities, whoever they may be, for approval so we can start again," Fern told Energy News.

"Even though there is a war on in the country, there is an oil field [Habban] still producing about 14km away."

Fern said Petsec's objectives in the Middle East/North Africa region remains unchanged: to secure undeveloped or non-producing oil fields, such as Al Meashar.

And with Petkovski now drawing a salary the company is actively seeking other opportunities in the MENA region.

"Yemen is a little interesting at the moment, but it is a well-endowed country with respect to hydrocarbons, but not very well explored," Fern said.

"Exploration didn't start until the 1980s and ‘90s because the country was divided, so there is lots of potential.

"We went into Yemen because there are lots of reserves, and we thought we could bring them into production quickly."

It had hoped production would have been established by now, but peace did not break out after a new constitutional referendum as was hoped.

It has agreed to buy out bought out 21.25% from AWE and 8.5% from Mitsui last year for a total of around $1.5 million, and has recently offered to buy out Oil Search's share for an undisclosed sum.

The company doesn't need to stump up any money until government assent is achieved from whoever is in power.

Petsec's plan assumes that if there is a change of government the bureaucracy will continue on working, as it has done during the extended crisis.

Fern hopes to gain those approvals within months.

Al Meashar gives Petsec around three million barrels, based on the 29% holding, which should double once Oil Search's share is added.

The field has an estimated resource of 10 MMbbl in a single fault block, but the productive area covers about 5-6 fault blocks, so the expectation is that further work will grow reserves.

That has been certainly the experience at OMV's Habban field, which produces from the same fractured basement play and the overlying formations.

Habban was discovered in 2005 and brought into production in 2009 as a 20MMbbl field. It has produced 22MMbbl and has substantial reserves remaining, over 100MMbbl.

"It is now quite clear this resource is very extensive," Petkovski said, describing Block 7's world-class petroleum system as among the best on the planet.

"When we drilled both wells we encountered a very large hydrocarbon column over 500m in height, and it extends beyond the structural closure that we can map, so the reserves numbers that have been reported are really confined to the mapping of the 3D dataset and the structure closure that we can map, but certainly the wells that were drilled had oil shows all the way to TD above and beyond that closure," he said.

Al Meashar-1 successfully flowed to surface, and there is a demonstrated oil field in place, so the company wants to re-enter Al Meashar-2 and test the sandstone zones, and then place the well on an extended test to better understand how the reservoir will perform.

It expects good, stable production given the Habban wells are strong producers with limited decline.

The discovery well was drilled to 3660m and encountered hydrocarbons in the basement and overlying Jurassic aged Kuhlan Sandstones and Shuqrah Carbonates, the equivalent zones at produced Habban.

Testing of the commingled zones flowed at a peak rate of 950 barrels of oil per day through a one-inch choke with associated gas.

The well was suspended as a possible future producer and then twinned for appraisal with a view to test the fractured basement reservoir at an expected 200bopd, but Al Meashar-2 was never tested due to the ramping up civil instability that has since blossomed into a civil war.

The oil is "exactly the same" as the Habban field.

"The reserves we have started are somewhat conservative, I believe," Petkovski said.

The upside in the permit is that Al Meashar was one of the smallest structural targets of 10 identified by work so far in the Shabwa Basin permit, and all are similar to Habban.

"Yemen's exploration history has been hindered by its tribal affiliations and the upheavals that occur every so often in this part of the world, and if I may say we expect things to expect dramatically compared to what is going on now, and we expect to see Peace in Yemen in the not too distant future," Petkovski said.

He said the 5000 square kilometre Block 7 is about 340km east of the capital, in the desert occupied by the Bedouin tribes, who are keen to see the oil industry to return, and even delivered a letter to Oil Search asking it to return.

While Yemen is securing a lot of the headlines, Petsec maintains a significant focus on the US, where it has been active for decades.

The company is also ramping up its exploration focus in the Gulf Coast, in what could be one of its busiest years in some time.

Since 2008 Petsec has found it difficult to drill offshore, because of the global financial crisis and the post Deepwater Horizon world.

A move into Canadian unconventional shales didn't play out, but the oiler says its new move onshore, which started with 2014's ASF-4 success ,and continued with the Southwest Holmwood and West Crab Lake dusters will see four to five more wells drilled this year - even more if there is early success.

The next well, testing the English Bayou prospect, which was identified in 2013, should spud next week.

The wells are testing prospects ranging in size from 10-66 billion cubic feet of oil equivalent.

The offshore well will test the Hummer prospect in the June quarter, a sizeable oil target and one the company has wanted to drill for some time.

The program will expose the company to 18Bcfe (net) costing around $6 million on a dry-hole basis.

A positive result is vital for Petsec, which expects its workhouse, Main Pass 19, will be depleted sometime around mid-year. The field will probably be abandoned within 12 months. It has produced for nine years.