Heritage Oil preparing to drill well off Malta

Preparations are underway by Heritage Oil to drill a high-impact oil well in off Malta in Area 7. The company said in its financial statements published this morning that is actively looking to contract a rig to drill in the area south of Malta. Heritage Oil said that in Malta, it had an extensive data set of approximately 5,000 kilometres of 2D seismic that indicated the presence of multiple prospects and leads. "This includes the acquisition over Area 7, in July 2011, of 1,400 kilometres of infill and exploration 2D seismic." The group entered into a production sharing contract with the Maltese government in December 2007 for a 100 per cent interest in Areas 2 and 7 in the south-eastern offshore region of Malta. The licences cover almost 18,000 square kilometres and are situated approximately 80 kilometres and 140 kilometres, offshore Malta, for Area 2 and Area 7 respectively, in water depths of up to approximately 300 metres. The two Areas are close to, and similar to, a number of producing fields offshore Libya and Tunisia. The licences are underexplored with only one well previously drilled in Area 2; the Medina Bank-1 well in 1980 which gave rise to a dispute with Libya. The...