The company said oil shows have been encountered in five wells previously drilled in the permit, which covers 5024 square kilometres in the centre of the basin.
“Even with the sparse drilling carried out by others in the past on less than adequate seismic grids, five wells in ATP 809P encountered oil shows,” Bow managing director Ron Prefontaine said.
“We are currently collating all of the data with the goal to drill a well in ATP 809P late in 2006 or early 2007.”
In the Cooper/Eromanga Basin, Bow says it plans to start its 2006 drilling program with the spudding of the Banff-1 exploration well in June using the Hunt Rig-2.
With a planned total depth of 1650m, Banff-1 will test an oil prospect with the potential to contain up to 34 million barrels of recoverable oil.
Bow will fund 60% of the costs to drill Banff-1 to earn a 25% working interest in the Barcoo Block in ATP 794P. In total, five wells are planned for drilling in this permit, collectively targeting 131 million bbls of oil.
After Banff-1, the rig will leave Bow’s possession until it returns in August to drill the first two wells in a multi-well farm-in program in ATP 752P. Under a farm-in agreement, Avery Resources will earn a 30% interest in the permit by drilling five wells and acquiring 100km of 2D seismic data.
ATP 752P lies in two sections covering oil prone fairways on the north central and south-east edges of the Cooper Basin. Historic commercial flow rates from third party oil discoveries, including the nearby Jackson Oil field, range up to 3400 bbls of oil per day, according to Bow.
Meanwhile in the Surat Basin, Bow says it has completed a 30-day flow test at the Donga Oil field.
Near the end of the test, the company achieved flow rates totalling about 50 bbls per day with a 25% oil cut.
Bow said it would now retrieve down-hole gauges and analyse the results to determine the commercial potential of a multi-well appraisal and development program.
Across its western Surat tenements, Bow said it had identified 35 leads and prospects with a combined recoverable oil potential of 50 million bbls. It plans to drill or participate in a minimum of three oil exploration wells later this year.
