Indo-Pacific said today that Bluff-1, in licence PEP 38746, was now due to spud this coming weekend, almost a week after originally planned.

The start of the second test of Cheal-1, in licence PEP38738, has also been delayed by the bad weather which affected all wellsites around the region. The second test - which this time will include separation equipment - is now to start about October 20 instead of the planned early October.

Indo-Pacific chief executive David Bennett has said he is confident of better flows than were recorded during the first test in July, where flow rates of 4.5 million cubic feet of gas per day were achieved, which were more than twice that of the original 1995 tests. An increasing amount of oil was noticed in the raw gas stream towards the end of the July test.

Meanwhile, the slow progress continues at the Tuihu-1A sidetrack well in licence PEP 38718. Both Indo-Pacific and Origin Energy report the drillers have gone fishing - not for trout in the eastern Taranaki streams but for junk stuck down the 6" hole at 4650m.

Drilling has been much slower than anticipated due to the mud losses experienced and the very hard formation encountered. Operations at the Tuihu-1A wellsite are expected to take at least another two weeks before the planned total depth of 5100m in the Eocene-aged Kapuni Group formation is reached.