"Freshwater Point-1 is testing a seismically defined prospect with the potential to contain a mean

recoverable resource of 9 billion cubic feet of gas or 6.1 million barrels of oil, up to a P10 of 19 billion cubic feet of gas or 13 million barrels of oil in the High Cliff Sandstone, should oil or gas be present," Victoria Petroleum managing director John Kopcheff said.

"While the well is an exploration well with attendant risk, the target sandstone is oil productive in the offshore Cliff Head oil field, some 16 kilometres to the northwest of the Freshwater Point Prospect."

At 6am Perth time today, the Ensign 48 drilling rig had reached a depth of 414m. The rig is expected to 10 days to reach the well's total planned depth of 1761m.

Secondary targets at Freshwater Point-1 include the Early Permian Irwin River Coal Measures and Holmwood Shale.

Freshwater Point-1 is 34.5km south-southeast of the township of Dongara, 25km south of the Jingemia oil plant and 17.5km southwest of the Beharra Springs gas plant.

Participants in EP 413 are operator Origin Energy Developments (49.189%), Arc Energy (44.14%), Victoria Petroleum NL (5%), Norwest Energy NL (1.78%), Roc Oil (0.25%), and J.K Geary (0.142%).