Joint venture partner Far Ltd revealed on Tuesday the well had been re-entered and would be drilled to a total depth of about 2782 metres and is expected to be followed by an extensive evaluation programme involving coring, logging and flow testing.

The top of the SNE-3 well was drilled last year to a depth of 1755 metres before the rig was moved to drill the SNE-2 well which successfully flowed at a constrained 8000 barrels per day during recent testing.

The appraisal programme is aimed at proving a minimum economic field size for the SNE discovery, which Far estimates to be 200 million barrels of recoverable oil, as well as determining flow rates for the planning of a future development.

Cairn is also planning to drill a third well in its current Senegal campaign, an exploration well on the Bellatrix prospect which Far has previously estimated to hold 168 million barrels of prospective resources.

Any discovery at Bellatrix could underpin a satellite tieback plan to a potential future SNE hub facility.

Cairn operates the Senegal joint venture with a 40% interest and is partnered by ConocoPhillips on 35%, Far with 15% and Senegal's state-run Petrosen holds the remaining 10% equity.

WPC

Cairn re-enters Senegal well