Spudded last Thursday, the Megascolides-2 well, the second in a three-well exploration program, is located near the crest of the greater Megascolides structure, where it is also targeting the Rintouls Creek Formation 200m above.
“Here the well is mapped within a potential closure and at these shallower depths porosity and permeability are expected to be improved from those at Megascolides-1, offering an attractive target,” company secretary Scott Hosking said.
On December 28, Karoon reported that the first well, Megascolides-1, a sidetrack of a previous well, had recorded high gas readings with good oil fluorescence.
But permeability measurements were all very low, indicating very low potential for this formation to flow oil at this location.
But Karoon said the good oil shows seen at this well suggested that significant – although unquantifiable – volumes or oil have been generated and migrated through this site, which is encouraging for exploration of any shallower nearby structures.
Covering 2950 square kilometres, the PEP 162 permit lies 100km east of Melbourne and is close to existing oil and gas pipelines and infrastructure.
The Gippsland Basin was Australia’s largest producer until 1996, when it was surpassed by oil/condensate production from the North West Shelf project in offshore Western Australia.
