The high-impact Kurnia-1 well is paused at 3029m in the target Kujung formation, according to Cooper.

“Elevated gas readings in the drilling mud and an influx of reservoir fluids into the wellbore necessitated increasing the mud-weight to prevent reservoir fluids flowing into the wellbore,” the company said. “The operation to weight up the drill mud is currently ongoing.”

Kurnia-1 is targeting up to 200 million barrels of oil and 256 billion cubic feet of gas, and has already encountered hydrocarbon shows at shallower intervals.

The forward plan for the well is to increase the mud weight to balance the pressure between the wellbore and reservoir, then drill ahead to 3037m, which would be about 20m into the hydrocarbon shows.

The company will then undertake an open-hole production test over the full section (3004-3037m).

The production test is expected to provide information about the Kujung formation’s productivity and the type of hydrocarbons encountered.

The thickness of the hydrocarbon column will only be known after the full section of the Kujung has been drilled and wireline logs have been acquired. The Kujung reservoir section is prognosed to be 250m thick at this location.

“It is expected that the production test will commence this week,” Cooper said.

Meanwhile, the company is bullish on the potential of the Beach Petroleum-operated Parsons-1 well drilled in Cooper Basin permit PEL 92 and confirmed as an oil discovery last week.

A 12m continuous gross oil column has been confirmed by wireline logging and Cooper expects the discovery will yield 400,000 barrels of oil in total and 800 barrels per day at its peak, boosting the company’s recoverable oil portfolio by 40%.