The company this morning said the Kupe South-7 Sidetrack 1 well had been drilled to a final depth of 3503m and the reservoir section it encountered will now be evaluated with wireline logs. On completion the liner will be set and cemented.

The jack-up Ensco Rig 107 sidetracked the Kupe South-7 well last week following failure to recover stuck drill pipe in the 8½-inch section of the well.

All wells in the development program, which were batch drilled by the rig, have now intersected the top of the targeted Paleocene-aged Farewell Formation reservoir.

The Kupe South-6 and 8 wells, which were drilled to depths of 3385m and 3834m respectively, both confirmed commercial hydrocarbons in the Farewell formation.

The Kupe partners are operator Origin Energy (50%), Genesis Energy (31%), New Zealand Oil & Gas (15%), and Mitsui E&P NZ (4%).