Central Asia-focused firm Roxi Petroleum has upped the potential of its majority-owned BNG asset in Kazakhstan as drilling on the first deep well in the asset progresses.
Last month the A5 well detected oil and gas shows in the target middle Carboniferous formation at a depth of 4,332 meters over a 12-metre core taken.
But continued drilling has found additional oil and gas shows in a further 18-metre core between 4,347 and 4,365 metres of depth.
The find increased the aggregate thickness of the gross oil-bearing interval in the drill to around 33 meters.
The company is now working on taking a third core sample between depths of 4,365 and 4,383 meters, Roxi said in a statement.
“With the gross oil bearing interval now at least 33 meters we continue remain excited by the potential of the deep horizons at the BNG contract area and look forward to establishing the full extent of this discovery,” said Clive Carver, Roxi Petroleum’s chairman.
The BNG contract area, located in the western part of the country on the edge of the Mangistau Oblast, covers an area of 1,561 square kilometres. Roxi holds a 58.4% interest in the licence.
The BNG drilling programme for the rest of 2014 sets out drilling of a further five shallow wells and in the first half of 2015 a further two deep wells.