The Sydney-based company said the well, which reached a total depth of 2045m, encountered gas shows in zones of poor porosity.

Located 55km east of York and 15km south of Scarborough, Willows-1 will be plugged and abandoned once wireline logging operations are completed.

The primary target was the Permian Rotliegendes sandstone, which Roc previously believed had potential to contain 50-100 billion cubic feet of recoverable gas reserves.