Volga Gas plc provided update on its drilling operations. Drilling of the Uzen 4 horizontal sidetrack into the shallower Albian reservoir commenced on 16 March 2019 and completed on 1 May 2019. The total metres drilled in the sidetrack was 1,132 meters including a 407 metres horizontal section at vertical depth of 795 metres. Initial flow testing resulted in gas and oil production with well testing and hydro-dynamic measurements on-going during June.

The company also announced preliminary average production volumes for the month and year to date ended May 2019. For the month, the company's average production was 4,221 barrels of oil equivalent per day, 9% lower than April 2019. The decline in production was due to Gazprom pipeline maintenance which resulted in lower gas processing capacity during the month. From 1 June 2019, capacity has started to gradually resume to normal levels.

For the year to date period, the company's average production was 5,523 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

For 2019, the company's expectation remains unchanged and for production to average 5,900 boe per day including LPG volumes.