In late July, the company acquired a 10% working interest in the West Andrew Prospect, a three-way dip fault closure, located on a 400-acre (905-hectare) lease block in South Louisiana’s Vermillion Parish.

The Lucy B Thomas-1 well is expected to take 53 days to reach a total depth of 14,000 feet (4281m), targeting a prospect defined by subsurface well control and 3D seismic and on which lies on a prolific “Camerina” trend where historical production exceeds 1.7 trillion cubic feet of gas.

“With high energy prices creating a very tight rig market, this is positive news from the operator and timing of the well should enable FAR to capture winter gas pricing in the event of a successful outcome,” managing director Michael Evans said.

“Concurrently, progress is being made toward the drilling of at least three further wells in the gulf coast and one re-completion.”

FAR said sand maps of the area showed the West Andrew Prospect could have about 60ft of pay in the Camerina-1 sands and 40ft in the Camerina-2 sands, with total potential reserves estimated at 20 billion cubic feet of gas and 200,000 barrels of oil.

Existing nearby infrastructure provided for quick sales turnaround in the event of a successful well, with possible production exceeding 7 million cubic feet per day.

Texas-based Sandalwood Exploration is acting as operator of the West Andrew Prospect, where FAR’s working interest will reduce to 7.5% after casing point has been reached in the well. All other participants are North American entities and include the Reeder Energy group, which participates with FAR in a number of other ventures.