Tap Oil Limited announced that Santos, the operator of the WA-191-P joint venture, has advised that the Finucane South-1 exploration well will be drilled using the Stena Clyde semi-submersible drilling rig immediately following the conclusion of rig operations on the Zola-1 well (WA-290-P).
The Finucane South prospect is located at the northern end of the Carnarvon Basin, approximately 15km east of the Mutineer facility. Finucane South-1 will be drilled to potentially supplement the discovered resources contained in the adjacent Fletcher Field. Tap estimates the Finucane South prospect has a potential gross mean recoverable oil volume of 8 million barrels.
Finucane South is a moderate-sized structural closure mapped at the base of the Cretaceous regional seal. The underlying Late Jurassic Angel Formation primary target will be intersected at approximately 2,960m below sea level. Water depth at the well location is approximately 140m. Finucane South-1 will be drilled 2km SSW of the Finucane-1 well (1978) which intersected oil shows at the top of the Angel Formation despite having been drilled off structure.
Based on Finucane South-1’s proximity to other wells in the area (notably Finucane-1 and the Fletcher oil wells) plus its coverage by reprocessed 3D seismic, the risk attached with drilling can be categorised as low-moderate.
Finucane South-1 is expected to commence within a week and is planned to take approximately 20-25 days to reach a final total depth of around 3,500 metres. Weekly updates will be provided during drilling operations.
Tap Comment
Tap’s Managing Director and CEO, Troy Hayden , said:
“We are pleased to be able to follow the successful Zola-1 discovery well with another well in the highly productive Carnarvon Basin.
Although Finucane South is a relatively modest structure, it is targeting oil rather than gas, being close to the previous Fletcher oil discovery in the same permit. There are several development and monetisation options available in a success case.”
[mappress]
Source:Tap Oil , April 21,2011;