The first of perhaps five wells in Austral Pacific’s 2004 onshore Taranaki drilling program has reached its 1892m target depth and logging is due to start this afternoon.

Austral chief executive Dave Bennett was his usual cautiously optimistic self and told EnergyReview.Net today that he hoped to issue a statement on the success of the well later this week. “However, an announcement will only be made if and when we decide to case and test the well,” he said.

The well has struck hydrocarbon shows in the shallow Miocene-aged Mount Messenger formation, with oil and gas being encountered below 1750m, and also in the higher Cheal sandstones.

Bennett said these shows compared favourably with those originally observed in the Cheal-1 well, approximately 500m to the south, but which was never flow tested.

Austral-Pacific’s next well, Honesysuckle-1 in licence PEP 38741, should spud mid-May.