UK independent Petro Matad is drilling a pair of onshore oil exploration wells in Mongolia but political interference has interrupted one of the operations.

The Heron-1 well spudded in mid-July 2019 on Block XX in Mongolia’s Tamsag basin.

The operator said the first casing point at 551 metres was reached on schedule and the DQE International 40105 rig was ready to drill to the planned total depth.