San Leon Energy, Dublin, (LSE: SLE) has commenced drilling operations on the Belvedere-1 exploration well on its Nida Block in southern Poland, the second well in the company's planned two-well exploration program for the concession.

San Leon has reported that the Belvedere-1 well is being drilled to a total depth of approximately 1,000 meters (3,281 ft) with the Jaslo DIR-700 rig, which has just completed the plugging and abandoning of the first rig on the concession, the Chopin-1, which failed to encounter hydrocarbons. The Belvedere-1 is targeting a four-way closure within the Cretaceous and Jurassic horizons that the company said is on trend with the Plowowice and Grobla Fields. Previous estimates have put the potential reserves at between 1 million and 2 million bbl of oil.

San Leon is the operator of the Nida Block and the Belvedere-1 exploration well with 100% interest.

Additionally, San Leon Energy is plugging and abandoning its Chopin-1 exploration well drilled in Poland's onshore Nida Concession after failing to find hydrocarbons.

The company advised today that it completed the drilling and evaluation of this first low-cost conventional exploration well in the Nida Concession in southern Poland. The target of the well was a three-way faulted structure in the Cretaceous sandstones, a previously untested carbonate buildup in the Jurassic, and potential reservoirs in the underlying Jurassic section.

The well was successfully drilled to a total depth of 1,000 meters (3,281 ft) and encountered several reservoirs in the underlying Jurassic with gas shows and high quality reservoir sandstones with gas shows in the Cretaceous, but no reserves were encountered, thus the well is being plugged and abandoned as a dry hole at a total estimated cost of about US$949,770.