Operator Roc Oil is using the Premium ‘Wilcraft’ jack-up rig to drill the two wells, with Lilac-1 located in 33m of water, about 2.5km east of the Dunsborough-1 oil and gas discovery made in the permit last year.
Lilac-1 is expected to reach a total depth of 1435m in mid-February, after which the rig will move to drill the Frankland-2 well located elsewhere in the permit.
Roc managing director John Dora said the two-well program was due to be completed by the end of this month.
“These two wells in the offshore Perth Basin will go a long way towards determining the near term potential for a new field development in the region,” he said.
“Therefore, although we can’t predict whether or not the wells will be successful, we can definitely say that they will be interesting.”
Interests in the WA-286-P joint venture comprises Roc Oil (operator – 37.5%), AWE Oil (27.5%), Arc (30%) and CIECO (5%).
