The Eremia discovery will give comfort to those other Perth Basin explorers marked down heavily after a series of offshore wildcat wells were unsuccessful.

The partners said a 15 metre oil column had been found in excellent sandstone reservoirs and that the well was now drilling ahead to the gas targets found deeper beneath the oil column, similar to the Hovea Field.

A second onshore discovery was made last year in the Jingemia well, also within a radius of kilometres of the Hovea field.