The 11-well campaign, which started with the spudding of Dilkera North-1, comprises two near-field exploration wells, five appraisal wells and four development wells to be drilled back-to-back by Santos as operator using the PDI rig 721.

Santos said the Thungo-9 oil development well, the second in the program, spudded on January 8 and as of yesterday, was at 273m and preparing to drill out of 8-5/8-inch surface casing.

The Nockatunga drilling campaign is part of Santos' Cooper Oil Project, targeting low-to-moderate production reservoirs in the Cooper/Eromanga Basin.

"Typically, wells are drilled in six to 10 days and connection of successful wells is targeted in 40 to 60 days," Magellan said in an earlier report.

"Results to date of this project, which commenced in early 2006 in other parts of the Cooper Eromanga Basin, have been very successful."

Successful wells will be completed and connected to existing oil production facilities, which will be upgraded to handle increased production volumes.

Interests in the Nockatunga program are Santos with 61.006% and Magellan with 38.994%.