Joint venture partner Tap Oil told the Australian Stock Exchange this morning that the Libris-1, located in the north of the Dampier Sub-basin permit, was currently being plugged back to about 800m depth, after which drilling will restart.

Spudded last Thursday, Libris-1 was originally expected to take 25 days to reach a total vertical depth of 3450m.

Structurally, Libris is a faulted anticline that is well-defined by 3D seismic data, junior partner Pan Pacific Petroleum said in its most recent quarterly report. The prospect has a structural closure of five square kilometres with a vertical relief of 35-40m, indicating the potential for a recoverable oil accumulation of about 10 million barrels, the company said.

Other nearby wells have encountered good reservoir characteristics in the target Angel Formation, according to Pan Pacific.

If successful, the well would be tied back to the Stag oil field in the southeast of the field via a 30km pipeline. Commercial terms have been agreed to use the Stag facilities.

The WA-246-P partners are Apache (operator with a 45% stake), Kufpec Australia (20%), Santos (15%), Tap (Harriet) (10%) and Pan Pacific (10%).