Last week, the joint venture announced Winna-4 had reached total depth and encountered good oil shows in the primary objective Murta reservoir.

But a drill stem test conducted between 1228 to 1239 metres in the Westbourne formation produced no oil, only 22 barrels of water, Magellan said.

Winna-4 was the first of a three-well program in the Nockatunga block, to be immediately followed by Muthero-3.

Yesterday morning, drilling of this well had reached a depth of 243 metres and the Santos, the operator, was testing blow out preventers prior to drilling ahead.

With a planned total depth of 1422 metres, Muthero-3’s primary objective is the Birkhead/Hutton Formation, with the Murta Member as a secondary objective.

Participants in Winna-4 and Mutharo-3 are Santos Group (operator - 59.064%) and Magellan Petroleum (Eastern) Pty Ltd (40.936%).