The NE Waller Exploration Program, in which Amadeus and FAR will hold 30% and 34% interests respectively, will cover about 32,000 acres in Harris, Montgomery and Waller counties, Texas.
Under the agreement, the participants will reimburse the prospect generators for preliminary studies conducted in the project area and carry them through the seismic and leasehold acquisition phase of the program. All drilling operations thereafter will be on a heads-up basis, Amadeus said.
A 3D seismic shoot, expected to cover about 80.5 square kilometres, will be undertaken in an area on strike with multiple prolific oil and gas fields, comprising both structural and stratigraphic accumulations, according to Amadeus.
Amadeus executive director, Caroline Bentley, said very strong leads have been identified and leased from 100 miles of 2D seismic data as well as extensive regional and area subsurface geological mapping.
“The 3D seismic is expected to better identify and define these leads as well as others,” Bentley said.
Bentley said the primary objective was to locate the very prolific deep Wilcox accumulations, for which 3D seismic has been useful in identifying prospects over the past few years in this area of South Texas.
She said these types of accumulations have yielded recoveries in excess of 50 billion cubic feet of gas, along with a high liquid ratio.
Other objectives are also similar to those at Raccoon Bend, being the Eocene sands such as the Yegua, Cockfield, Grawunder and Gutowsky, as well as the Oligocene and Miocene intervals.
The seismic and leasehold part of the program is expected to cost a total US$4 to 4.5 million (A$3.3-3.7 million), with Amadeus’ share to be between US$1.6 to 1.8 million (A$1.3-1.5 million).
The participants and their respective working interests will be: First Australian Resources (34%), Amadeus Energy (30%), Reeder Energy (17%), Ayco Energy (15%), Gruy LLC (2%) and Calex Resources Inc (2%).
Meanwhile in South Louisiana, Amadeus and FAR’s Schwing A-1 well in Iberville Parish has a reached total depth of 3551 metres, but tests have confirmed three sands in the Upper Bolmex are non-oil bearing. The well will now be plugged and abandoned, the partners said.
The partners said data from the well would now be analysed and incorporated into the 3D data set.
“This will aid in the forward program to evaluate deeper objectives that remain to be tested,” FAR told the ASX.
“Consideration is being given to drilling the 40-1, 14,500 foot (4419m) Nodosaria test as our next well on the project, given its lowest risk of the three, multi-objective prospects with exceptional reserve potential.”
Partners in Schwing A-1 are FAR (18.3%), Amadeus Energy (52%) and private interests (29.7%).
In California, FAR says a cement plug was set at a depth of 3439 metres in the Eagle North-1 well, San Joaquin Basin, before directionally drilling away from the original wellbore obstruction to 3466 metres.
The company says operator Victoria Petroleum now plans to pick up a new drilling assembly and resume drilling.
Eagle North-1 is planned to be drilled to a total depth of 4206 metres to target the Gatchell Sandstone. It is 366 metres northwest of the Mary Bellocchi-1 well, which flowed tested oil and gas at up to 223 barrels of oil per day and 0.7 million cubic feet per day from this structure.
Eagle Oil Pool Development Project and Eagle North-1 partners are: Empyrean Energy PLC (38.5%), Victoria Petroleum NL (operator and 20%), First Australian Resources NL (15%), Lakes Oil NL (15%), Sun Resources NL (10%) and US private interests (1.5%).
