The well is expected to take nine days to reach its total depth of 1796m, junior partner Cooper told the Australian Stock Exchange.

Boomer-1 will test a large anticlinal structure in the northern portion of PEL 92. The primary objective is the Early Cretaceous Namur Sandstone, which is productive in the Christies and Lake Hope oil fields that lie 40km and 70km, respectively, to the southeast. The Murta Formation, immediately overlying the Namur Sandstone, and the Birkhead/Hutton section, are considered secondary objectives.

The Boomer prospect covers about 68 square kilometres and has 33m of structural relief, with estimated proven and probable recoverable reserves of 2.72 million barrels of oil.

The prospect has a moderately high risk (10% probability of success) because it relies on a longer migration pathway than has previously been demonstrated on the western flank of the Patchawarra Trough. But the Hoolendinnie-1 well, about 13km northeast of and down-dip from Boomer-1, recovered a small volume of oil from a production test of the Birkhead Formation.

Participants in the Christies oil field are operator Beach Petroleum, which holds a 75% stake and Cooper Energy (25%).