Ascent Begins Side-Track Drilling on Penészlek Field

Ascent Resources has announced that it side-track drilling has been commenced on its PEN-105 well on the Penészlek field in Hungary. The operation is undertaken through operator and Ascent subsidiary PetroHungaria.

The well was originally drilled in 2009 but has been side-track drilled to access gas reserves that are isolated in by a fault in the northern part of the structure. This side-track, the PEN-105A side-track, will target a bottom hole location away from the original vertical well, at around 430 metres northeast of that well.

Production is expected to recommence after the side-tracking of the well which is expected to take three weeks.

"Over the years, production at Penészlek has generated revenues that have helped to cover our corporate overheads while we have advanced our flagship Petišovci Gas Project in Slovenia towards production," Managing Director of Ascent Resources Jeremy Eng said.

"The PEN-105 sidetrack is designed to extend the life of this largely depleting field. As Penészlek declines in line with expectations, the loss of output will be more than replaced when Petišovci, with its 504 Bcf P50 gas-in-place, comes on stream as we expect later this year.  

"This is an exciting time for the company and I look forward to updating the market on progress at both Penészlek and Petišovci in due course."

Ascent holds a 48.78 per cent stake in the well. Its partners in the project are DualEx (40.44 per cent), Swede Resources (2.157 per cent) and Geomega (8.627 per cent).