The NW Paua-1 ST2 has successfully departed from the original hole and is being directionally steered to the downhole target.

Current operations involve running in hole before drilling ahead to the next casing point.

The well, which has a planned total depth of 3600m, targets the Toro and Digimu sandstones in a more optimal location on the known hanging-wall structure than the Paua-1x well which was drilled in the mid 1990s, according to Oil Search.

Paua-1x encountered oil shows in the Toro sandstone and recovered oil from the Iagifu sandstone but was interpreted to have been drilled on the wrong side of the structure.

Participants in NW Paua-1 are Oil Search (52.5%) and ExxonMobil (47.5%).

Meanwhile, the company said the Shahd South East-1 well, located in the East Ras Qattara concession in Egypt's Western Desert, had reached a depth of 765m.

The well, which spudded on February 29, targets the Bahriya and Kharita formations that are productive reservoirs elsewhere in the licence.

Shahd SE-1 has a planned total depth of 2970m.

Participants in the well are operator Sipetrol (50.5%) and Oil Search (49.5%).