During the drilling of the target Permian section, trace oil shows were found in four zones and elevated background gas reading were observed in various zones. But none of these shows was significant.

Victoria Petroleum considered Canberra to be a high-risk, high-reward prospect.

The company and its partners are now moving on to another prospect in the PEL 115 lease – Mirage-1.

“Exploration will continue with the immediate commencement of drilling of the Mirage Prospect, a robust conventional anticlinal structure,” said Victoria Petroleum managing director John Kopcheff.

“The recovery of clean oil from Jurassic sandstones in the Ventura-1 oil discovery five kilometres to the west is encouraging for the chances of success at Mirage-1, as these same Jurassic sands are the target for Mirage-1.”