Integration of the Moby survey with existing data provides good 3D seismic coverage over the entire southern portion of the permit, according to BSOC.

Interpretation is still continuing, but preliminary work shows this data has detailed several prospects and leads that were either unrecognised or poorly defined before this survey, BSOC general manager exploration Ian Reid said.

"The Maclean and Walton leads on the southern flank of the Flathead anticline are well located to trap oil and gas moving from deeper points in the Gippsland Basin to the south," Reid said.

"The prospectivity for oil at Maclean and Walton is enhanced by the good oil shows in the two wells drilled on the crest of the Flathead anticline."

Maclean is a downthrown fault closure at Latrobe Group level and Walton is a truncation play also in the Latrobe Group.

The 3D data has been interpreted to show these Latrobe sandstones ‘pinching-out’ on the southern flank of the Flathead anticline, Reid said.

The wells on the crest of the Flathead anticline - Flathead-1 and Whale-1 - both intersected only a ‘veneer’ of Latrobe group, with good oil shows in both wells.

This “augurs well” for the possibility for oil on the southern flank in the Maclean and Walton leads, Reid said

On the crest of the Flathead anticline, the company also identified a seismic anomaly that may be a separate gas accumulation to that discovered by the Moby-1 well.

The company plans to focus on short-term work to develop Maclean and Walton as oil drilling targets, Reid said.

Recoverable gas reserves at the field in Vic/P47 were estimated at 60 billion cubic feet of gas on a P50, or ‘most likely’, basis over the western half of the Flathead anticline.

Moby 3D work was carried out to clarify the extent of the accumulation to the east and south of the Moby-1 discovery well.

The data shows the amplitude anomaly did not extend over the Flathead anticline, Reid said.

The structure is similar to a complex exhibiting potential for several discrete accumulations like the Maclean and Walton.

The Moby-1 well sampled the westernmost of these and the Moby accumulation was most likely to be restricted to a reduced section of this western area, Reid said.

The company expects estimates for the Moby accumulation will now fall below 60 bcf.

Participants: Bass Strait Oil Company (operator) 40% Moby Oil & Gas Limited 35%, Eagle Bay Resources NL 25%