The Adelaide-based company yesterday said it had acquired a 100% interest in Calf Woman-1, which is producing at 25-30 barrels of oil per day.

It said some 12,000 leasehold acres surrounding Calf Woman-1 in the Williston Basin were included in the deal.

The move comes after Sundance last month announced it had acquired a 5% stake in the Goliath Prospect, also in North Dakota.

It expects to add to its oil production profile in coming weeks from the current drilling of a trilateral oil development well at Goliath, some 80km northwest of Calf Woman-1.

Sundance already has exposure to other oil and gas plays in Indiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Montana.

“We have always viewed the United States market as offering significant and cost competitive exploration, development and acquisition potential in both oil and gas,” managing director Jayme McCoy said.

“While our initial focus has been on gas, today’s milestone gives us exposure to oil production in line with out growth objectives, offering strong exploration upside for further commercial oil projects.”

Sundance said Calf Woman-1 is close to the Amerada Hess-operated Blue Buttes Unit and Elm Coulee field, which has produced more than 33 million barrels of oil and 19 billion cubic feet of gas since June 2000.

Calf Woman-1’s production is from the Mission Canyon formation at about 9500 feet (2900m), it said.

Cumulative production there, from April 2005 to October 2006, was 11,000 barrels with the potential for over 50,000 barrels of remaining oil reserves.

Sundance said it plans to begin an “aggressive” lease acquisition program in early 2007 to expand the play.

This will be followed by a 3D seismic program in order to identify potential drill sites for late next year, it said.