The company said yesterday it has completed the Lombardi 2-27 well, which reached a total depth of 2460m, as a potential future oil producer.

Lombardi 2-27, which discovered an oil pool in the northern extension, is the third successful vertical appraisal well drilled by Salinas on the North San Ardo oil field since last August.

Drilling has now started on the field’s first horizontal well located in the southern lobe. Lombardi 4-27H is designed to intersect a 1000-foot (304.8m) horizontal section in the main Lombardi sandstone reservoir.

Salinas expects the well to take about 20 days to drill and complete.

Once the first stage of drilling is complete, Salinas plans to combine the results from the three new wells with the new 3D seismic and historical well data to help it determine reserves and plan full-field development.