Wellington-headquartered Austral told the NZX this morning that the Douglas-1 sidetrack, located in PPL 235, had reached total depth of 1978m last Friday.
Weekend wireline logging indicated the well had intersected two gas-bearing columns in Jurassic-aged formations - the first a 4m-gross interval in the Alene sand from 1785m-1589m, and the second a 17m-gross interval in the Toro sand from 1838m-1855m.
Formation pressure measurements were also recorded.
Austral, which operates PPL 235 and holds 35% equity in the licence, said the well would now be cased for production testing and that it had notified British partner Rift Oil, a 65% participant in the well, of this.
“We have a discovery, our first as operator in PNG, that will, hopefully, be able to be commercialised,” Austral chief executive Rick Webber told EnergyReview.net.
“While we are very, very encouraged by the results we have seen so far, we recognise the prospects for successfully commercialising the resource will require a lot of further evaluation.
“The results of the production test, particularly the condensate to gas ratio, as well as the outcome of any subsequent appraisal drilling, will be keys to determining the commerciality of the resource.
“If Douglas works then there is potential for a significant build in business for us in PNG,” Webber told ERN.
Douglas-1 was located on one of three structural highs that made up the Douglas prospect. In addition, there were a number of other prospects within the permit, which together constituted “significant follow-up potential”.
The drilling rig was currently conditioning the well before running production casing. Production testing will start once equipment becomes available and a testing program and budget agreed to, either by the joint venture or under the sole risk provisions.
“In either case, this is likely to mean several weeks before test results become available,” he added.
Webber told ERN that Austral had equity stakes in the PRL 4 Stanley discovery and the PRL 5 Elevala and Ketu finds, and that it and its relevant partners were also looking at options for commercialising these.
