Arc Energy managing director Eric Streitberg told a corporatefile.com.au Open Briefing that the Denison 3D processing, due for completion in the next three to four weeks, had identified several good prospects.

“We’re mapping the data as we receive it and the next oil prospect that we’ve identified to drill is Bunjong, which is in the far northern part of the survey,” Streitberg said.

“We’re identifying many good prospects and using the knowledge we gain from each well to refine our knowledge of the area and then we’re basically drilling them as we identify them.”

Evandra-1, which intersected a 20-metre oil column, was the first oil exploration well drilled from the Denison data.

Streitberg said while this “very significant discovery” has been flowing oil to surface, the company plans to put Evandra-1 on pump to test the potential flow rates.

“Evandra was a proof of concept well and it was successful,” he said.

Next up were the Bartsia and Kunzia wildcats, which both failed to encounter any commercial hydrocarbons. But Streitberg was able to put a positive spin on these dusters.

“Once we found that the Bartsia well was dry, we reused the well bore and were able to test the Kunzia prospect very cost efficiently,” he said.

“We sidetracked out of the Bartsia well bore to an offset of nearly 1,500 metres to intersect the Kunzia structure.

“Unfortunately the trap didn’t work, but we’ll continue to use our directional drilling techniques in the future and in particular test some of the prospective structures in TP15, which lies immediately north from Dongara."

He said the first onshore well targeting these structures and using this deviated drilling technique would be spudded early next year.

Arc’s primary objective during its onshore exploration schedule is to build up its oil and gas reserves, Streitberg said.

“The most immediate wells are the Senecio re-entry to test the gas column, followed by Snottygobble and Bunjong,” he said.

Senecio is an existing, significant gas discovery, while Snottygobble, named after a bush tucker plant, is a gas target to the south east of Hovea.

Other wells will follow as Arc plans a virtually non-stop drilling program.

“We’ll drill additional oil wells as we identify them and get approvals,” Streitberg said.

This drilling and exploration technique was adopted by Arc in response to the accelerated nature of the industry at present, he said.

“Exploration companies worldwide are under increasing pressure to generate technically robust prospects to keep in front of the rigs,” he said.

“This is affecting us and our joint venture partners as well, as we have had a very hectic pace over the last couple of years.

“Of course, we are also under increasing pressure from our drillers who are getting much more efficient and drilling wells much more quickly than they used to."

To keep up, Streitberg said Arc would continue with a very aggressive exploration program both the onshore and offshore over the next 12 to 18 months.