Drilling has begun at the UTS-3 appraisal well at the firm's Uytas prospect in Block A in western Kazakhstan, said Max Petroleum today (LON:MXP), Proactiveinvestors.co.uk reported.
The well will be drilled to a total depth of around 800 metres, said the oil and gas firm. It will target potential cretaceous and jurassic reservoirs.
The company bought the exploration and production rights to the Blocks A&E Licence area in the prolific pre-Caspian basin in 2005.
This area includes two blocks covering more than 12,455 sq km.
The acreage, located in the prolific Emba sub-basin, contains a good spread of shallow, intermediate and deep drilling supra-salt prospects on these two blocks.
Max Petroleum has interpreted around 5,000 sq km of exploratory 3D seismic data over blocks A&E and has a portfolio of post-salt and pre-salt leads and prospects.
Last week the company said it had made a new oil discovery at the KZIE-1 exploration well in its East Kyzylzhar I prospect after the well reached a total depth of 1,620 metres.
Electric logs indicated 17 metres of net oil pay in two Jurassic sandstone reservoirs at depths ranging between 987 and 1,251 metres.
The firm added that reservoir quality appears to be "excellent", with porosities ranging from 20 per cent to 30 per cent.
Max is now running production casing in the well, which is expected to be completed and placed on test production within 90 days.
Max had also revealed that its UTS-2 confirmation well in the Uytas field has now reach a total depth of 820 metres and that electric logs there indicate 12 metres of net oil pay in the Cretaceous section at depths ranging from 108 to 148 metres.
Again, the reservoirs here are described as being of "excellent quality", with porosities ranging from 25 per cent to 34 per cent.