Heritage Oil Plc (LSE: HOIL) announced it has started drilling the Miran West-2 appraisal well in Kurdistan. The well is the first to be drilled in a multi-well exploration and appraisal drilling programme on the Miran Block. 

The well targets three principal Cretaceous reservoir formations encountered in the Miran West-1 well, Heritage expect the drilling to take four months to complete. According to Heritage Oil, the Miran West structure is one of the larger structures in Kurdistan which could contain up to four billion barrels of oil within the 200km₂ area.

The appraisal well is approximately four kilometres northwest from the Miran West-1 discovery, where a 700 metre oil column was encountered. Testing of the Miran West-1 discovery well concluded in August, with the company stating that the testing indicated production between 8,000 and 10,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) at Miran West-1. In August Heritage said the testing confirmed the well had an extensive fracture network, helping the production potential.

Heritage Oil Chief Executive, Tony Buckingham commented on the scheduled work on the Miran block:

"The spudding of Miran West-2 launches an active twelve month exploration and appraisal drilling programme in Kurdistan. We learned a great deal from the Miran West-1 well and believe this well will be drilled in an optimal way. There is also further upside potential with the neighbouring Miran East structure, scheduled to be drilled in 2010, which together with Miran West has an area of approximately 330 square kilometres. Our previous discovery has highlighted the prospectivity of the Miran Block, which potentially contains billions of barrels of oil and has the capability to deliver significant value for Heritage."