The junior partner yesterday said the wireline logs were run over the interval 14,480-17,000 feet (4413.5-5181.6m).

“A decision as to whether any zone is sufficiently attractive to warrant production testing will be made by the joint venture once the well has reached total depth and final logs are available,” Aurora said.

The Perth-based company said the well was drilled to 2520ft in an 8½-inch diameter hole, mostly in a Cretaceous age limestone, which was a secondary gas target in the well.

Several methane-only gas shows were found in this interval, it said.

Following on from this, drilling was stopped at 17,000ft to enable a 7 5/8-inch liner to be run and cemented in place. Aurora said this was done in order to isolate the extensive interval of limestone in anticipation of higher pressures in the Hosston Formation target.

After the 7 5/8-inch casing has been run and set, drilling will continue towards and into the primary formation target, expected to be reached within a few days, the company said.

Based on seismic data and an offset well the formation is predicted to have more than 4000ft of inter-bedded sandstones and shales with the potential for multiple prospective intervals.

The proposed total depth of 21,000ft is expected to be reached next month.

Sugarloaf-1 partners are Texas Crude Energy (operator with a 41.5% stake), Aurora (20%), Adelphi Energy (20%), Eureka Energy (12.5%) and Empyrean Energy (6%).