Earlier this month, Oil Search announced it was plugging back and sidetracking the Nabrajah-9 well after it failed to produce commercial hydrocarbons.

Last week, the Nabrajah-9 sidetrack was drilled to a depth of 2227m. The sidetrack hole penetrated the top of the Basement at 2205m, about 70m deeper than the original Nabrajah-9 well bore. Elevated gas readings were recorded while drilling through the top of the Basement, with subsequent electric logging confirming several zones of interest, according to Oil Search.

The operator DNO ASA is now preparing to run a seven-inch liner and drill an additional 200m of Basement section, which will then be evaluated before it decides whether to further test the Basement section in the sidetrack hole.

The Nabrajah-9 sidetrack well is about 2.7km north-west of the Nabrajah-5 well. On completion of the Nabrajah-9 sidetrack, the rig will move to the Nabrajah-10 well site, about 1km north-east of Nabrajah-5.

The Nabrajah-10 well is designed to further appraise the Kholan dolomite and Basement potential in the Nabrajah-5 fault terrace.

The Nabrajah-5 well, which started production in late November, is producing at a constant rate, under natural flow conditions, of 5200 barrels of oil per day from the Basement.

Participants in the Nabrajah-9 well are DNO ASA, which holds a 56.67% stake, Oil Search (Yemen) which has 28.33% and The Yemen Company (15%).