"The drilled section, although displaying porosity, did not have any shows of gas," Antares told the ASX yesterday.

"In order to build the necessary angle, the drill bit penetrated the unit roughly 400 feet from the well bore. This was an identified potential risk as without seismic it is difficult to predict the best direction to drill horizontally.

"The hole will be abandoned but the play concept at this location is still valid. A further attempt at a later time is being planned."

Another attempt is being planned at the well where

Antares Energy is the operator at Yukon-2 with a 87.5% interest.

Meanwhile in Ellis County, Oklahoma, Antares spudded the Ellis-4 well (65% interest) on June 18.

Current depth is 10,880 feet, and drilling ahead with a target depth of about 11,500ft.

The Upper Morrow has been penetrated significantly high to prognosis and good shows were recorded in the Des Moines, and base of the Morrow A, Antares said.

About three days of drilling remained until total depth would be reached, the company said.

At Ellis-3, where Antares has a 92% interest, the post-frac cleanup was ongoing yesterday with the well producing gas and water.