Located in VIC/P42 in water 56m deep, Speke South-1 will be drilled by the West Triton jack-up drilling rig to a total depth of about 3100m.
It will evaluate the primary target Golden Beach reservoir as well as secondary targets at the shallower Latrobe and intra-Latrobe levels.
The original Speke-1 well was located and drilled without the benefit of 3D seismic in 1984 and did not drill deep enough to penetrate the Golden Beach level.
Apache is acquiring a 60% stake in VIC/P42 from Bass Strait Oil Company, which will be free-carried through the drilling of the well and retain a 20% stake in the permit. The remaining 20% is owned by Japan's Inpex.
VIC/P42 is adjacent to Australia's largest oil field, Kingfish, and is close to several other Esso-BHP producing oil and gas fields.
The permit already holds the Zane Grey and Omeo gas and condensate discoveries, which are not commercial but could be developed if other finds are made in the area.
