In a statement yesterday, the Perth-based company said production has stabilised around 9-10 barrels of oil per day through tubing on a 2-inch choke with minor associated gas from the Eocene EP IV interval.

“As anticipated, the Eocene reservoir is relatively low permeability, in common with the quality seen in other commercial fields that produce from this interval in the Cambay Basin,” Oilex said.

“The well will now be stimulated to assess the impact of the stimulation on the flow rate from the Eocene EP IV and will then be observed for several days.”

Depending on the results, Oilex will decide whether to complete Cambay-72 as a producer from the EP IV interval or move on to test the shallower, primary target Oligocene reservoirs, expected to be of better quality than the deeper Eocene interval.

“The test of the Eocene at Cambay-72 has provided pressure and fluid data that are fundamentally important for designing the future development program for this reservoir interval, which appears to be widely distributed over the block,” the company said.

“Wireline data acquired from Cambay-72 combined with the 3D seismic survey data, provide the basis for confident mapping of the Eocene EP IV and deeper potential targets across the entire Cambay block (160 square kilometres).”

Oilex’s interpretation of the 3D seismic data, undertaken after Cambay-72 was drilled, indicates that the Eocene EP IV reservoir may improve in quality towards the east in the main basin.

Looking ahead, the company said its upcoming three-well drilling program would continue to focus on exploring the potential higher quality reservoir intervals at the Oligocene and Miocene levels, as well as the deeper potential reservoirs along the main basin axis including the Eocene EP IV and older units.