Tap emphasised this data was “very preliminary”, but it said it expected that the joint venture would now consider development options and an additional appraisal well further south in the southern lobe of the Woollybutt field.

Woollybutt-4 is located in WA-234-P in Western Australia’s Carnarvon Basin about 50km southwest of Barrow Island.

Sited in the southern lobe of the Woollybutt structure, it has drilled to its planned total depth and has cut an 18 metre core over the secondary objective zone. It is currently being evaluated by wireline logging.

Woollybutt-4 was primarily designed to appraise the extent of the nine-metre net oil column discovered in the Upper Barrow group of sandstones by the Woollybutt-3 well drilled on the southern lobe in 1999.

The wells’ secondary objective was to investigate a possible extension of an additional six-metre gross oil column intersected in the Lower Barrow Group in

Woollybutt-3 but preliminary logs were not yet definitive and the core remained to be interpreted, according to Tap.

WA-234-P joint venture participants are Eni Australia Limited (operator) 65%, Mobil Australia Resources 20% and Tap Oil Limited 15%.