But Supplejack South-1 – due to be spudded from the Supplejack-1 wellsite early next year – will actually deviate into one of the adjoining licences, PEP 38765.
Two months ago Wellington-headquartered Austral said Supplejack-1 had flowed gas, with associated condensate, at rates of several hundred thousand cubic feet per day from a 3m-thick Miocene-aged sandstone zone near the 1950m drilled depth.
Remapping of the 3D seismic data covering the area indicated the well might have intersected the edge of a possible 1 sqkm trap, within which the seismic response indicated the reservoir sandstones might thicken, to contain a viable oil or gas accumulation.
Further testing, including the drilling of a second well to intersect the target reservoir at an optimal location, were options, said Austral at the time.
Today Austral chief executive Dave Bennett confirmed to EnergyReview.net that the partners -- NZX-listed Austral, ASX-listed Tap Oil and Toronto-listed Tag Oil – would be drilling the Supplejack South sidetrack well.
“Given that Magellan Petroleum is in the process of withdrawing from 765, and that Austral and Tag will be taking up their equity, we will have the same partners for both licences,” he told EnergyReview.net.
“So, it’s an obvious thing to do, to use the existing Supplejack-1 wellsite to drill this sidetrack into the same reservoir in an adjoining licence."
Once Brisbane-based ASX-listed Magellan had farmed out its 12.5% stake, the PEP 38765 partners and their interests would be: operator Tap (50%), Austral (36.5%) and Tag (13.5%).
Bennett said the next well in Austral’s onshore Taranaki exploration program - Pukengahu-1 in PEP 38716 (operator Austral 52.9%) – was scheduled to spud late this year. Supplejack South-1 was to be drilled after that, followed by Heaphy-1 in PEP 38746 (operator Austral, 66.7%).
All would be shallow wells, targeting Miocene-aged Mount Messenger-Moki formations.
In the event of discovery at Supplejack South, both Supplejack wells could be tied-in together and gas piped about 2.5km to an existing gas collector pipeline, enhancing the likelihood of commercial development, Bennett added.
The PEP 38741 partners are: operator Austral Pacific Energy (30%), Tap Oil (50%) and Tag Oil (20%).
