The company said in a statement to the media that final preparations are underway for the start of a three drill-stem test program at its West Kambuna-1 exploration well.

West Kambuna-1 is located some 4.5km west southwest of Kambuna-1 and will test a major seismically defined structural/stratigraphic trap mapped as extending north and west from the Kambuna discovery. The well is located in only 30 metres of water and is some 30km from the North Sumatra coastline.

The West Kambuna prospect straddles the boundary between Matrix's 75% owned Asahan offshore contract area and its 90% owned adjacent Glagah Kambuna contract area. Matrix is operator of both contract areas.

In other Matrix news, oil has begun to flow from the company's Langsa project with two wells, L1 and L2, coming into production. The company said it was looking at flow rates of 8,000-8,500 barrels per day, generating annual revenue of $US55 million with an average oil price of $US18 bbl. It is planned to bring into production the third "H3" well early next year to increase production to about 10,000 bopd.