Edinburgh-based oil and gas explorer Melrose Resources has abandoned a well on the Galata block in the western Black Sea, offshore Bulgaria, but is pressing ahead with its plans.

The company failed to find oil the Kaliakra East-1 site in the Black Sea since its "reservoir interval was eroded".

However Melrose is pressing ahead with plans to acquire 3D seismic date for 500 square kilometres of the Galata Block to the north of the Kaliakra location.

"Notwithstanding the Kaliakra East-1well results, the Galata Block remains relatively under-explored and we are looking forward to receiving the results of the 3D seismic survey over the central area of the concession," David Thomas, chief executive, said.

"The combination of low development costs, strong regional gas prices and competitive terms make this one of the very attractive exploration environments for the company."

Melrose Resources landed a seven-year concession contract to extract natural gas from the Kaliakra field in Bulgaria at the end of September last year.

Earlier the same year Bulgaria's government had granted the company a ten-year concession for the extraction of natural gas at the Kavarna deposit.

The Kavarna deposit itself is not big but together with two other deposits nearby – Kaliakra and Kavarna East – it has a total of 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

In 2001, a Melrose subsidiary signed a 25-year concession agreement with Bulgaria to extract gas from a deposit in the Galata field.

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