Located in offshore Carnarvon Basin production licence TL/9, the West Cycad-1 exploration well was spudded on Friday using the Ensco 67 drilling rig.
With a total depth of 2116m, the vertical well will test a four-way dip closed depositional mound in the Flag Sandstone, situated updip of the original exploration well Cycad-1 drilled in 1995.
West Cycad-1 is the latest well in an exploration program being undertaken by the HJV to try and offset dropping production at the project. The previous three wells – Priam, Agamemnon and Hector – have all been dusters.
For the September quarter, HJV liquids production averaged 6600 barrels of oil per day, according to Tap Oil, which holds a 12.22% stake. Current output is now just 6000bopd.
In addition to natural field decline, output from the HJV was also reduced after the Bambra oil and gas field was temporarily shut-in due to mechanical problems at the Harriet Bravo platform.
Tap said the HJV plans to evaluate the “disappointing” oil production at Bambra early next year, with the likely drilling of another appraisal well.
In better news, Tap said its Woollybutt oil field, in which it holds 15%, continues to “outperform production expectations”. During the quarter, the field produced its 26 millionth barrel from the three production wells – Woollybutt-1 and -2, and Scalybutt-1 in the Northern lobe.
But Woollybutt production during the September quarter remained in line with the previous three months at about 10,500bopd.
Currently the field is producing at about 6000bopd due to shut-ins at the Woollybutt-1 well, a result of problems with the hydraulic control line. Once repairs are complete, Tap expects output will return to about 12,000bopd.
Next year, the Woollybutt JV, in which Eni Australia is operator, plans to spud a development well in the southern lobe. A final investment decision for the Woollybutt South field is due to be announced in the current quarter.
Meanwhile, Tap said interim investigations into the commerciality of the Amulet field, located in the Dampier Sub-basin, were encouraging and work was ongoing.
Tap’s total production in the September quarter was 441,785 barrels of oil equivalent, 8% lower than the previous quarter. High oil prices meant that sales revenue rose 23% to $31.8 million.
