Elk-4, located about 1.5km south of the Elk-1 discovery well, will be drilled to a total depth of 2400m to test the Puri and Mendi limestone formations.
Drilling is expected to take between 85-110 days to complete.
"Elk-4 is targeted to drill the high pressure gas column experienced in the Elk-1 discovery well and to intersect the underlying Antelope structure identified by the newly acquired seismic program," Interoil chief executive Phil Mulacek said.
The Elk-1 well had successfully flowed up to 100 million cubic feet of gas per day during testing while results from the Elk-2 appraisal well led the company to upgrade in-place gas reserves at the field up from between 3 trillion cubic feet to 15Tcf of gas to 3.5-18.9Tcf.
The Elk gas field is expected to provide gas for Liquid Niugini Gas' proposed LNG project in PNG.
Liquid Niugini, an equal joint venture between InterOil, Merrill Lynch and Clarion Finance, is planning to build a two-train LNG plant capable of producing up to 9 million tonnes of LNG per annum from 2012.
