At midnight (WST) last night, the well was drilling ahead at 177 metres below the rotary table (MBRT), after a 20-inch conductor pipe was set at 137 MBRT.

The well is expected to reach total depth of 1,431 metres this week, Roc said.

Located 230km northwest of the Cliff Head oil field, Flying Foam-1 is a vertical well in 65 metres of water. It will test a 3D seismic-defined structure, estimated to contain a potential recoverable reserve of 15 to 30 million barrels of oil.

Flying Foam joint venture participants are: Roc Oil (WA) Pty Ltd (operator and 37.5%), Apache Northwest (37.5%), Arc Energy (20%) and Wandoo Petroleum Pty Ltd (5%).