Canberra-1A became necessary when the Canberra-1 well became unstable. The rig was moved 85m and drilling resumed on Tuesday.

Canberra-1A is planned to drill to a total depth of 2430m and to take 25 days to drill from spud date. It will test the Canberra Prospect, which is determined to have the potential to contain up to 161 billion cubic feet of gas and four million barrels of oil – if oil and gas are present, according to Victoria Petroleum managing director John Kopcheff.

“Canberra-1A is a significant well for the company as it is testing a very high potential prospect which if successful could open up a new play in the South Australian Cooper Basin,” Kopcheff said.

The Canberra Prospect is a pure stratigraphic trap, which makes it high risk, but it could potentially hold substantial oil and gas reserves. Kopcheff believes the odds of success are improved by the existence of seismic spectral anomalies. Such anomalies have been associated with significant hydrocarbon finds in the Surat Basin and Carnarvon Basin.

Interests in PEL 115 are Victoria Petroleum (operator) 40%, Roma Petroleum 20%, Impress Ventures 15%, Entek Energy 12.5% and Tacnas Pty Ltd 12.5%.