Tap said from Perth yesterday that Kakariki-1 would take about 11 days to drill to a total depth of 1825m, targeting oil plays in the Miocene-aged Mt Messenger and Moki sandstones.
Tap operates the licence and holds a 50% interest. Partners Austral Pacific Energy and Magellan Petroleum have 25% equity each.
In recent months Tap has participated in the Hihi-1 well (PEP 38748), Miromiro-1 (PEP 38765) and Hursthouse-1 (PEP 38745) - which have all targeted shallow Mt Messenger-Moki prospects containing 1-4 million barrels of oil, and all of which have been plugged and abandoned.
Also, Brisbane-based Magellan announced the second well in its 2005 drilling program would be the Almonta-1 well in PEL 95 of the Cooper Basin, South Australia, targeting a structural culmination on the southern flank of the Battunga Trough. Operator Beach Petroleum should spud Almonta-1 about the end of February.
Magellan also said its onshore UK drilling program was due to start early in the second quarter. It will start with the spudding of the Sandhills-2 well on the Isle of Wight to test the hydrocarbon-bearing potential of a large Jurassic Great Oolite Formation structure which the original (1982) Sandhills-1 well failed to test after significant hydrocarbon shows.
