The well is part of an aggressive Timor Sea exploration program aimed at finding more gas to drive the expansion of Darwin LNG.

The Adelaide-based company today said the rig at the Caldita-2 well, in exploration permit NT/P61, has been released.

“Caldita-2 was drilled to a total depth of 3973m and confirmed the presence of gas in the western part of the Caldita structure,” Santos said.

The company said field gas-water contact was confirmed and valuable core, wireline log and formation pressure data was obtained.

A reduced reservoir section of similar quality to that found in the Caldita-1 well was encountered, it said. Caldita-2 is 6km west-northwest of the Caldita-1 discovery well, which was drilled in 2005.

Caldita-2 was not drill-stem tested and has been plugged and abandoned as originally planned.

Santos said the forward program for the NT/P61 and NT/P69 exploration permits is to finish the acquisition and processing of 3D seismic data over the Caldita and nearby Barossa structures by the end of the 2008 first quarter.

The well data will then be integrated into the interpretation and subsequent reservoir modelling, leading to a better understanding of the likely resources and future development options.

Caldita-2 is 265km north-northwest of Darwin in water depth of 136m.

The participants in NT/P61 comprise an affiliate of ConocoPhillips (operator with a 60% stake) and Santos Offshore, a wholly owned Santos subsidiary (40%).