At 6am (Adelaide time) yesterday, the operation was waiting for a change in weather before drilling ahead at 108m.

Growler-2 is being drilled to test the 16m oil column discovered last September in the Jurassic Birkhead Formation in Growler-1. Secondary targets are the Namur and Hutton sandstones.

Growler-2 is 705m north of Growler-1 and interpreted to be an updip crestal test of the Growler oil field as currently mapped. Growler-2 is planned to be drilled to a depth of 1785m, according to VicPet.

“Following the incorporation of the velocity information from the recent successful Wirraway-1 drilling to generate the post drill near top Hutton depth map, the Growler structure is mapped as a four-way dip closed feature covering approximately 900 acres,” VicPet managing director John Kopcheff said.

“The P50 oil-in-place for the Growler structure alone is estimated to be 5.7 million barrels and most likely recoverable oil is estimated to be 1.4MMbbl.”

The results of Growler-2, together with Growler-1 and the recent adjacent Wirraway-1 oil discovery will be used to determine the forward development strategy for the Growler-1 Wirraway oil fields, the company said.

“Exploration success at Growler and Wirraway maintains our 100 percent exploration success rate in PEL 104,” Kopcheff said.

VicPet believes it has identified a new western Cooper Jurassic oil fairway that could have 100 million or more barrels of oil-in-place.

The company has mapped 32 prospects and leads as follow-up targets in PEL 104 and the block immediately adjacent to the north, PEL 111.

According to Kopcheff, recent production results for Growler-1, gave encouragement that good oil producing rates can be achieved from the area’s Birkhead reservoir sands.

“The current production characteristics of the Birkhead oil sand, if further confirmed by Growler-2, could lead to a large development drilling program of the same style as the Santos Cooper Oil Project, although it is early days yet for this area,” he said.

The participants in Growler-2 and PEL 104 are operator Victoria Petroleum with a 40% stake, Impress Energy (40%) and Roma Petroleum (20%).