Sydney-based Drillsearch today said despite being poor, the oil shows encountered in the Westbourne Formation confirmed that oil is present to the north of the Endeavour field.

Drilling continues at Tintaburra with Zenoni-1, which has also encountered oil shows, and Endeavour-20, which is drilling ahead in the shallow section.

Drillsearch said PD Rig I-735 spudded Endeavour-41 on November 28 and oil shows were encountered in the Westbourne Formation.

No shows were encountered in the Birkhead Formation.

The well was plugged and abandoned and the rig was released to the Endeavour-20 well location.

Endeavour-20 spudded December 4 and is drilling ahead at 350m, while rig PDI-724 spudded Zenoni-1, a near-field exploration well, on December 2.

Oil shows have been encountered in the Murta member, and current operations are running a drill search test over this target reservoir interval.

Participating interests in the block are operator Santos with 89%, Drillsearch (10%) and CPC Energy (1%).