Junior partner Impress today said Drill Stem Test 1 of sandstones in the Jurassic Birkhead Formation recently recovered about 30 barrels of light oil over a two-hour flow period.

The interval tested was 1728-1737m.

Impress chief executive Eddy Buckovic said the full commercial significance of the oil column would be known once wireline logging operations have been carried out when drilling is finished.

“I am very pleased with the results of the well so far, which have significantly extended the western Jurassic oil fairway to the Patchawarra Trough,” Buckovic said.

“Further work needs to be done to assess the results of Growler-1 and the impact on prospectivity in the surrounding area,” he said.

“This is a good start to our drilling campaign.”

Growler-1 marks the beginning of the drilling by the PEL 104 joint venture in the under-explored Jurassic area of the permit covering the western flank of the productive Patchawarra Trough of the Cooper Basin.

Impress said there are a number of prospects and leads near Growler-1 and in the adjacent permit PEL 111, which could be follow-up candidates for drilling in the next three months.

This would take place once ongoing seismic reprocessing work is done, it said.

Growler-1 is located 16km west of the Santos-operated Callabonna field, which also recovered oil from the Jurassic Basal Birkhead sands on drill stem test.

The PEL 104 JV comprises Victoria Petroleum (operator with a 40% stake), Impress Venture (40%) and Roma Petroleum (20%).