Other wells in the program have included Cabbots-1, Talia-1, Keeley-1 and Kiana-2, all of which have been unsuccessful.

Appadare-1 is the first well in this program to be participated in by Rawson Resources, which today said the hole would be drilled to 2095m using the Century Rig 3 and was expected to take 10 days to drill.

“Appadare is a Poolowanna and Patchawarra oil play developed by Rawson using results from a soil-gas survey conducted by the company and our geological and geophysical interpretation of the results and seismic data,” Rawson said.

It said Appadare-1 is on a structural feature defined by seismic with oil potential in reservoirs of Jurassic and Permian age.

A soil-gas survey run by the company in October 2005 identified anomalous hydrocarbon micro-seepage across several areas in PEL 107 including parts of the Appadare prospect.

“The occurrence of such hydrocarbon micro-seepage is testament to the migration of hydrocarbons into the Appadare area and certainly helps to upgrade the prospect, which is located 5km to west of the Santos Sturt oil field,” Rawson said.

The Sturt oil field has produced about 2.5 million barrels (MMbbl) to date.

Rawson said the speculated mean recoverable reserves at Appadare-1 are assessed at 1.2MMbbl with potential full-to-spill recoverable reserves estimated at 2.1MMbbl.

Appadare-1 is scheduled to spud on January 15 or 16 and is being operated by Beach

, which holds a 20% stake in the well.

Rawson is paying 80%, while its partner Ausam Resources is paying 20% of the cost of the well. Under the deal, Rawson will earn a 40% interest in any commercial discovery while Ausam will earn 10%.

Great Artesian Oil & Gas holds the remaining 30% interest.