Lansdowne-1 was drilling ahead at 1472 metres, after being spudded on September 5, junior partner Tap Oil said this morning.

Located about five kilometres south of the Agincourt Platform, Lansdowne-1 will continue drilling to a total depth of 3815 metres.

A development well will be drilled from the existing South Plato Platform if Lansdowne-1 confirms the presence of hydrocarbons in the Double Island and Flag reservoirs, said Tap.

The company said this was the first well drilled with the Ensco-67, after a major re-fit in Singapore. It is expected to take another three to four days to reach total depth.

Also in TL/6 and being drilled from the Agincourt platform, the Artreus-1 exploration well is currently at 3200 metres with a projected total depth of 4092 metres.

Spudded on September 8, the Artreus-1 is a deviated well testing for hydrocarbons in a structural closure of the Flag Sandstone reservoir. As with Landsdowne-1, success in this well would result in almost immediate incremental production, said Tap.

Meanwhile, the Bambra-7H deviated development well is drilling ahead at 1700 metres to reach a total depth of 6675 metres.

Located in TL/1 at the Harriet Bravo Platform, Bambra-7H is a long-reach, dual lateral horizontal oil producer, designed to develop oil and gas fields in the Bambra Field, with first production expected by late October this year.

Joint venture partners are: Apache Northwest (operator and 68.5%), Kufpec Australia (19.3%) and Tap Oil (12.2%).