As operator of the PEP 38738 well, Austral said yesterday afternoon it was drilling ahead beneath 4670m and expected to reach its 4900m TD in the next few days.

Austral has previously said it believes the Cardiff prospect could contain more than 1tcf of recoverable gas.

Electric logs over the uppermost 200m of the Eocene-aged Kapuni formation (above 4200m) were interpreted to show gas within reservoir sands, particularly the McKee and K1A sands which were well developed.

The K3E Sands, which are the main producers in the adjacent Kapuni gas-condensate field, were expected to be intersected below 4800m.

But on the basis of the log evaluation of the upper Kapuni alone, Austral intended to case Cardiff-2 in preparation for testing after electric logs had been run at TD.

Elsewhere in the same permit, the Cheal-A4 well has been shut-in to allow site reconfiguration work to be carried out. It is hoped that jet-pumping can achieve higher rates than the 300-plus bopd of waxy crude that was achieved using a steam circulation procedure.

Jet-pumping is expected to begin early in the New Year at the Cheal-A3X and Cheal-A4 wells, within the deeper Miocene-aged Mt Messenger and shallower Urenui pay levels.