The Toronto Stock Exchange-listed company said the well flowed for about 30 minutes at 2000psi during a gas kick before the well could be shut in.
A drill stem test conducted over the weekend was also said to have demonstrated a wet gas flow at surface and a surface pressure on the casing of 3150psi, which the company said indicated a bottom-hole pressure of 3700psi. Based on the drill stem test, the calculated absolute open flow was 150 mmcfd, InterOil said.
“While information from the well to date is positive, the data and the current interpretation are provisional and subject to confirmation after further drilling and testing,” InterOil said in a press release.
Drilling will continue to further evaluate the “potential commercial nature of the reservoir”.
“Due to the pressures being encountered in this well, the company is currently evaluating its options for continuing to drill this well.”
InterOil announced the Elk-1 discovery to the market last month, raising hopes of the company’s first commercial gas find in PNG.
InterOil is PNG's major downstream player. It owns the Napa Napa refinery in Port Moresby, the country's only petroleum refinery. The company says it also working towards developing PNG’s first liquefied natural gas facility.
Elk-1 is located within PPL-238 in the company’s Eastern Papuan Basin exploration portfolio, which includes PPL-237 and PPL-236.
