The well, located in VIC/P54, in the offshore Gippsland Basin, will continue to drill to a planned total depth of 2,919 metres measured depth.

Grayling-1A is 7.5 kilometres south west of the recent Longtom-2 well and will test a series of stacked structural closures in the Intra Latrobe and Golden Beach formations.

This is a much younger section than the Admiral Formation that was found to be gas bearing in the Longtom-2 well, according to Nexus.

The Grayling prospect is situated updip from the Turrum oil and gas field, about 7-8 kilometres to the north-east on the same structural high trend.

The field has the potential to contain mean reserves of 104 million bbls of oil, according to Nexus.

“Unfortunately, the respud of the Grayling-1 well has resulted in a delay of several days and on a trouble-free basis the well is now expected to reach the top of a series of stacked reservoir targets in approximately 10 days time,” Nexus said in a statement.

“The company looks forward to a successful outcome for its shareholders.”

Interests in VIC/P54 are Nexus Energy VICP54 Pty Ltd 37.5%, Apache Northwest Pty Ltd 62.5% and Apache Energy Ltd (operator) nil.