The company said although oil in Wardie-1 was confirmed by wireline sampling in the upper zone of the Latrobe Group, the reservoir quality didn't justify the suspension of the well as a future producer.

3D was planning to jointly develop the Wardie and West Seahorse fields.

Both West Seahorse-3 and Wardie-1 were drilled by the West Triton jackup rig.

While the West Seahorse-3 well didn't meet expectations, it was suspended as a future producer earlier this month.

Despite the poor results of Wardie-1, the company said the well showed the petroleum fairway extends further into VIC/P57 than previously confirmed. 3D says it still has several high-quality prospects in the permit, including Sea Lion.

According to 3D, the reservoir quality at the Top Latrobe in the Sea Lion should be "excellent".

3D now plans to fully evaluate the information gained from the Wardie-1 and the West Seahorse-3 wells to determine the field's oil reserves and to optimise the design for any West Seahorse development.

3D holds 100% of VIC/P57.

Meanwhile, in T41/P in the Bass Basin, 3D is planning to map and mature known leads into drillable prospects after acquiring 2200km of 2D seismic.

3D Oil holds 100% of T41/P, which covers 2805 square kilometres in water depths generally less than 80m.