(Adds analyst comment, gas flow rate)
By Ross Kelly
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
SYDNEY -(Dow Jones)- Oil Search Ltd. (OSH.AU) said Thursday that a well in Yemen located in a block it operates and in which it has a 60% stake has struck hydrocarbons, marking the company's first operated discovery outside Papua New Guinea.
Oil Search said the Tubb'a-1 well in Block 3, Yemen produced gas and condensate at daily rates of up to 9 million cubic feet and 450 barrels on a half-inch choke.
"Further work is underway to define the producing intervals and any fluid contacts," Oil Search said in a statement.
Other partners in the block are Turkey's Petoil and Yemen General Corp. for Oil and Gas, with stakes of 34% and 6%, respectively.
BBY energy analyst Scott Ashton described the find as "good news" with the initial production results "not too shabby at all".
He said the discovery could have a small positive effect on Australian Worldwide Exploration Ltd.'s (AWE.AU) acreage at Block 7 to the North, which contains several untested structures. AWE has a 19.25% interest in Block 7 and Oil Search is operator with a 34% stake.
-By Ross Kelly, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8235-2957; ross.kelly@dowjones.com