The company plans to drill or participate in drilling up to three exploration wells in its western Surat holdings in the third or fourth quarter, with timing depending on prospect generation and successfully farming-out its 100%-owned areas.
This drilling is in addition to possible appraisal drilling on the Donga Oil Field – in which Bow holds a 42.5% interest – and is conditional on a successful long-term flow test of the Donga-3 discovery well.
Bow said it was defining drilling targets in its Surat Basin tenements by carrying out detailed mapping and seismic reprocessing of selected seismic lines over high-graded areas.
The Donga-3 well is scheduled to be completed early next week, with a long-term production test to follow the installation of pumping equipment. Oil will be produced into facilities at the well site, including storage and truck-loading pumps. The facilities have not yet been installed.
If a viable flow rate is established at Donga-3, Bow said it would consider creating a full field development plan for the Donga Field.
Meantime, Bow says it plans to drill the Banff-1 well in May to a total depth of 1650m to test the oil potential of one of several large prospects on a structure trend identified in the Barcoo Block in ATP 794P, which is capable of hosting large oil fields.
Bow will fund 60% of the cost to drill Banff-1 to earn a 25% direct working interest in the 6578 square kilometre Barcoo Block.
The company says the Banff prospect is a “very large” four-way dip closed structure, with the potential to contain up to 85 million barrels of recoverable oil. But Bow said the most likely oil potential was estimated at 19 million barrels of recoverable oil.
Bow added that other prospects on the Banff structural trend have a combined recoverable oil potential exceeding 100 million barrels. Additional wells are planned for drilling later in the year.
Also in the Eromanga Basin, Bow has entered into a rig-sharing agreement with Beach Petroleum for the latter to undertake its planned exploratory drilling program.
Under the agreement, Beach will pay 75% of the costs to transport the Hunt Rig 2 from Victoria to the Eromanga Basin in Queensland. In addition, Bow will have the option of obtaining up to seven drilling slots this year and in early 2007.
In the Cooper-Eromanga Basin, Bow plans to drill up to five wells under a farm-in agreement with Avery Resources. Bow is fully carried on the exploration earning program and will retain a 25% direct working interest.
Drilling in ATP 752P is due to start in September using the Hunt Rig 2. But Bow is still waiting for the permit to be granted. This depends on agreements being reached with the three native title groups that have claims over the permit application.
Bow said it needed to contract a different rig for drilling prospects in the Bart Block section of the permit, as the drilling depths to basement are beyond the safe operating capacity of the Hunt Rig 2. Drilling in the Bart Block is now planned to start in the fourth quarter.
The company said a detailed seismic acquisition infill program, currently scheduled to start in July after the grant of the tenement, would be required before the exploration drilling locations in this block are finalised.
