United Oil & Gas PLC said it began production at the recently drilled Al Jahraa-13 well on the Abu Sennan licence, onshore Egypt.

Al Jahraa-13 flowed at rates up to 897 barrels of oil during testing and has been brought online at an initial rate of 600 barrels of bopd. The well was delivered several days ahead of schedule and under-budget, the company said.

It was the fifth and final well of the 2021 schedule, though the company moves straight into the 2022 campaign with the ASD-2 development well due next.

“AJ-13 has been brought on stream in less than eight days from completion using the existing facilities and generating production and revenue for the company,” said chief executive Brian Larkin.

“With initial gross production rates of 600 bopd we expect the well to pay back in under nine months, similar to previous wells.”

“Following the exceptional drilling success achieved in 2021 we look forward to beginning our 2022 development and exploration drilling programme.”

United told investors it plans to release a trading update in late January to report on its performance through 2021 and give initial guidance for 2022.