In a statement on Friday, the California-focused junior operator said it drilled the Lombardi 4-27H well at its 100%-held North San Ardo project to a total depth of 4195 feet (1278m), where it encountered the oil-saturated reservoir as expected.

A slotted production liner has been run over a 901ft horizontal section in the Lombardi Sandstone oil reservoir and the well is being prepared for production testing.

Salinas managing director John Begg said the horizontal well represented the achievement of another “key technical challenge” of the project.

“Based on what we have been able to achieve from the Lombardi 1-27 vertical well, we are confident of a strong flow rate,” Begg said.

Production from Lombardi 1-27 has stabilised at 80 barrels of oil per day through temporary facilities. It is now being shut-in until permanent production facilities have been installed.

Looking ahead, Salinas plans to production test the first three recently drilled vertical wells (Lombardi 2-27 and the Lombardi 3-27) together with testing of the horizontal well.