Empire yet has to farm out 19% of the well, to leave it with 40%, but management was confident of getting the deal away.

The well is a 557 bcf prospect, and is the first of three targets the company have identified in EP 398.

It is the first work for Rig 16 for over 18 months after having been stuck on the problematic Patience well in the Canning Basin since February last year, working under contract to the enigmatic Nerdlihc which ran out of funds while attempting to reach target depth in the well.

OD&E chief, Ken Skirka, said it was good to have the rig back at work and providing some competition to the other big rig in the area, Century Resources' Rig 24.

After chewing through dozens of drill bits and millions of dollars on the hard rock encountered, the hole was suspended without reaching its target. A skeleton crew has been circulating drilling mud every week to keep the well - located in EP 376 between the remote Canning and Officer Basins - in good standing.

While officially the rig stopped drilling due to a shortage of parts, and then the access roads were washed away during the wet season, it is common industry knowledge that the Nerdlihc bank balance has been as dry as the surrounding countryside was wet.

A Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources spokesperson said the permit was still officially in good standing, and in recent correspondence Nerdlihc had promised to recommence drilling the well or to plug and abandon it.

With OD&E looking to shift their rig to greener pastures, it may turn out that abandoning the well is the only option Nerdlihc will have in the timeframe they have left - which is numbered in weeks.