Still six months shy of its second anniversary since listing Cooper Energy is now on the verge of the largest discovery in the region since the first oil strike in Moomba in 1997. Meanwhile Stuart Petroleum has confirmed its position as one of the top dogs in South Australian exploration.
Today's six metre column in the Hutton Sandstone is flowing at 2,880bopd and follows yesterday's 14m interval higher in the well, which flowed at a rate of 1,600bopd.
Although unexpected at this locality, the Hutton is a known good producing unit in the Cooper/Eromanga basin and it is not unusual for it to produce at this sort of rate.
The strike seems fortuitous as Cooper Energy chairman Greg Hancock said in his presentation at the recent Good Oil Conference in Perth, that someone was bound to make a major oil discovery in the Cooper/Eromanga basin.
"The joint venture was hoping to establish combined production from Worrior-1 of at least 3,000bopd, or greater," Hancock said.
"From our point of view the mean recoverable target was 1.5 million barrels of oil from one zone, but this could now be significantly on the low side considering we have two apparent commercial zones in the well."
"We expect to reach the next primary target, Patchawarra formation (1,713m), and planned total depth (1,830m) this week. After well completion and approvals, we should be in production by Christmas or early 2004."
Hancock said this would give Cooper shareholders at least three producing wells before the second anniversary of listing in March 2004.
Worrior-1, located 55km southwest of Moomba in PEL 93, is Cooper Energy's second oil discovery in three months and further confirms the south-western flank of the Cooper/Eromanga basin in South Australia as an important migration path for oil.
"We have made two oil discoveries from the first three wells drilled, and believe the next three wells to spud will provide significant upside for investors," said Hancock.
Interests in the well are Stuart Petroleum 70% and Cooper Energy 30%. At the time of printing Cooper Energy shares were at $0.22 and Stuart Petroleum shares were $0.56.
