This method is expected to dramatically cut drilling costs and allows the areas surrounding old production wells to be fully examined for additional oil and gas reserves.

The technology is first being tried on four wells- Tinker 2, Tinker 3, Tinker 4 and Lark 1. The wells are in Production Licence 16 in south east Qld and wholly owned by Mosaic Oil.

Drilling has begun and slots are being cut to allow the coiled tubing drill pipe to build an angle away from the main casing to drill horizontally up to 400m away.

During the week the drilling rig finished cutting the slots at Tinker 4, Lark 1 and Tinker 2 and is currently moving to the Tinker 3 location.

It is expected that this preparatory work and other onsite work will be completed by the end of October and drilling into the actual prospective oil and gas reservoirs should be in the first two weeks of November.