The company yesterday said wireline logging has indicated the presence of over 30 feet of net oil and gas pay in two sands in the Snapper A-1 well being drilling in St Martin Parish, Louisiana.

The discovery is considered already sufficient to complete the well as a producer, Target said.

Snapper A-1 is currently at a depth of 2891m and is targeting a further 152.4m to drill test the well’s Hackberry Sand targets.

Target said a 7-inch casing was run at 2891m to ensure the integrity of the bore hole in the light of higher-than-expected pressures.

”The indication on logs of hydrocarbon pay in the third Marg Tex sand confirms our prognosis and is very encouraged for the deeper Hackberry Sand targets,” the company said.

“The additional presence on the logs of a hydrocarbon charged sand at the Marg Howie level is a bonus.”

Snapper A-1 will test potential recoverable reserves of up to 4.2 billion cubic feet of gas and 450,000 barrels of oil. It is expected to take four weeks to drill to the programmed depth of 3050m.