Oilex will fully fund the drilling of an exploration well next year, probably by July, subject to rig availability, Great Artesian managing director Dr Ray Shaw announced yesterday.
The proposed well will test a potential gas and oil-prone structural target in the Breaksea Reef-Havana area of the permit. Breaksea Reef-1 encountered good oil and gas shows before the well has prematurely abandoned due to structural difficulties in 1984.
“The permit contains more than 15 mapped structures each with the potential to accommodate several hundred bcf of gas and/or significant liquids,” Shaw said.
The proposed well will be only the third well drilled in the permit, the first being Argonaut-1 drilled by Esso in 1968, according to Shaw.
“It will represent an important milestone in assessing the prospectivity of this portion of the offshore Otway Basin, an area associated with natural hydrocarbon seeps and evidence on seismic data of gas chimneys and direct hydrocarbon indicators,” Shaw said.
Great Artesian currently has a 100% stake in EPP 27. Under the terms of the farmin agreement Oilex will earn a 60% participating interest in EPP 27 by fully funding the cost of the exploration well with an option to increase this interest to 75% by funding a second well.
Meanwhile, Great Artesian Oil & Gas Ltd has shifted its business office to new premises. The new office is at: Level 2, Walker House, 161 Walker Street, North Sydney, NSW 2060. Contact details: (Tel) 02 9929 3383, (Fax) 02 9929 3883.
For more details visit: http://www.greatoil.com.au/. For general enquiries contact admin@greatoil.com.au. For technical enquiries e-mail rayshaw@greatoil.com.au or normzillman@greatoil.com.au
