MEO Australia to benefit from additional Thailand well at no cost 

(MENAFN - ProactiveInvestors - Australia) MEO Australia (ASX: MEO) will benefit from an additional well that partner Pearl Oil Offshore is required to drill in the G2/48 concession in the Gulf of Thailand under the current drilling program.

While Pearl will drill the well at its sole cost to meet the Year 5 commitment as it prior to MEO's entry, MEO will still enjoy a 50% participating interest in the well.

The location of the well is yet to be determined.

Besides not having to pay for the well, MEO will also benefit from having further data and possibly confirmation of the hydrocarbon potential of Block G2/48.

Pearl was advised by Thailand's Department of Mineral Fuels that the Year 5 and Year 6 obligation wells are required to be drilled in order to satisfy the minimum work obligations for the second Obligation Period under the Concession.

The Sainampueng-1 well that MEO is contributing to will fulfil the Year 6 obligation for the concession and will spud in the fourth quarter of this year.

Block G2/48 drilling

Sainampueng-1 will test whether Block G2/48 is capable of producing oil and targets mean unrisked prospective resources of 10 million barrels (MMbbl) of oil with upside of up to 27Mbbl.

It was selected from 23 prospects and leads identified by a detailed interpretation of a 450 square kilometre 3D seismic survey targeting the southern Rayong Graben in later 2011.

These leads and prospects cover multiple play types at a number of target levels with a cumulative unrisked mean prospective recoverable oil resource potential of more than 100MMbbl of oil.

MEO hd acquired a 50% stake in the block on 27 February 2012 after executing a binding farm-in agreement with veteran Gulf of Thailand operator Pearl Oil.

G2/48 contains the Rayong Basin and has only had two wells drilled in it, both having exhibited hydrocarbon shows.

The Rayong Basin shares similar geological characteristics as the adjacent oil bearing basins, however is not yet considered proven to be oil generative.