Lundin Petroleum going strong in Malaysia

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STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Swedish independent oil and gas exploration company Lundin Petroleum announced it started work at the third well of its drilling campaign in Malaysia.

Lundin said it was targeting hydrocarbons at its Merawan Batu-1 exploration well off the Malaysian cost, the third well of its 2012 campaign for the country. The well targets reserves in shallow waters.

Malaysia ranks third, behind China and India, in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of oil reserves. The country as of January 2011 had proven oil reserves of around 4 billion barrels. Natural gas reserves were estimated at 83 trillion cubic feet, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports.

Lundin announced last week it encountered a natural gas column at one of its wells that measured a cumulative depth of more than 500 feet.

"Further work will follow to estimate recoverable resource ranges," the company said in a statement.