Solimar said the decision to proceed with these operations, due to begin next quarter, was based on seismic and drilling data obtained in the permit last year.

The company, which holds a 16.5% stake in the project, said the joint venture plans to finalise the well path for a re-drill of the SF-1 well, along with costs and rig availability.

The Ventura South Flank is estimated to contain 10-20 million barrels of recoverable oil and several billion cubic feet of gas.

“It is being drilled as a follow up to the 1935 Walter Sexton well that encountered strong oil and gas shows but was never completed due to the technical complexities of drilling such a well in the 1930s,” Solimar said.

“At the time the Walter Sexton well was drilled it was amongst the deepest wells drilled in the world, at close to 10,000 feet on a complex structure.”

The well encountered over 800 feet of oil and gas shows in a high-pressure gas environment, which forced its abandonment after many years of drilling and testing due to the technical limitations at the time, Solimar said.

The prospect is one mile from the billion barrel oil Ventura Avenue oil field.