Spudded two weeks ago on February 17, Merriwee-1 was drilled with the Century 7 rig in 8-1/2 inch hole to a total depth of 1548 metres. Wireline logs were then run and four drill stem tests undertaken.

DST 1 and DST 2 over the basal Evergreen sandstone were misruns due to mechanical problems, Origin said.

But DST 3 was successfully run over the basal Evergreen sandstone over the interval 1461 metres to 1480 metres. Origin said two barrels of oil at 45°API and one barrel of muddy water were recovered, in addition to a minor gas flow.

DST 4 was run over an interval of 1501 metres to 1548 metres to test the Showgrounds Sandstone. Only 20 barrels of formation water and seven barrels of muddy water were recovered.

Origin now plans to case and suspend this well with 5 ½ inch production casing for further evaluation.

The Century 7 drill rig will now be moved to Newstead-10 in PL 27 to drill a gas injection well.