In a statement the company said, “Harpoono-1 flowed 140 barrels of oil a day through a ¼ inch choke during a drill stem test on oil shows in the Murta Formation between the 1,158 -1,172 metres interval.”

“The Harpoono discovery is in a separate block within PEL 113 which Beach is farming into [and] the oil discovery, 52 km south of Moomba, [will] now be cased for future completion as an oil producer,” added Beach.

Stuart Petroleum is the operator of the PEL 113 Harpoono Block JV, of which Beach has a 33.3% stake in the project. The balance is held by Stuart.

This announcement comes on the back of Beach’s successful Reg Sprigg West-1 oil discovery on the boundary of PEL 90 and PPL 194, north-east of Moomba. Beach’s stake in that discovery is 6.25%.

The combined successes from the discoveries now gives Beach a 40% strike rate in the five wells it has participated in. Beach is currently formulating a 13 well drilling program for 2004; the majority of the drilling will be in the Cooper Eromanga Basin.