South and Central American-focussed upstream oil and gas company Echo Energy is to begin drilling in Argentina next month.
The work programme will include four new exploration wells on the Fracción C development and Laguna De Los Campones.
They are well expected to spud at different points between May and August, with a combined prospect size of 56 billion cubic feet of gas and 11 million barrels of oil.
Drilling each well is expected to take approximately 15 days.
It will be carried out following three back-to-back workovers of existing wells in the Fracción D area.
A seismic programme is also planned for the Tapi Aike exploration block, where 41 leads have been identified.
Fiona MacAulay, Chief Executive of Echo, commented:
“I am delighted to report that we are making real progress as we move towards the commencement of our operational programme this year.
“It is very pleasing that we have been able to move so rapidly to the operational phase after the completion of the transaction to enter Argentina.
“We are now ready to initiate an exciting programme of back-to-back workovers, exploration drilling, seismic acquisition and prospect generation.
“Our onshore exploration wells are all located close to existing facilities and in the success case can be commercialised into gas hungry markets at advantaged pricing in very short order. We look forward to updating investors on our progress in due course.”