Dorado an ‘incredible find’ as Quadrant finds more oil

Quadrant Energy has made additional oil discoveries in the Crespin and Milne sections of its Dorado-1 well offshore Australia, following a recent find at the Caley formation.

According to Carnarvon Petroleum, Quadrant Energy’s partner, light oil has been recovered from the Crespin Member containing a gross hydrocarbon package of 50 meters and a net oil pay thickness of 22 meters. The company added that the quality of the reservoir encountered was better than pre-drill estimates with average porosities of 14 percent.

Light oil was also recovered from the Milne Member containing a gross hydrocarbon package of 30 meters and a net pay thickness of 18 meters with an average porosity of 13 percent, which was also better than the pre-drill estimates.

The Dorado-1 well is located in WA-437-P exploration permit where Quadrant Energy is the operator with an 80% interest, and Carnarvon Petroleum is its partner with the remaining 20% interest.

The well was spud in early June using the Ensco 107 jack-up drilling rig, and the company confirmed an oil discovery in the Caley Member and the presence of gas and condensate in the top of the Baxter Member that was drilled into to enable the evaluation of the Caley Member.

At the end of July, Quadrant observed elevated gas readings during drilling of the well, further indicating the presence of hydrocarbons.

Quadrant’s partner, Carnarvon, said on Wednesday that the results follow the completion of wireline evaluation.

Adrian Cook, Carnarvon’s managing director, said: “The oil discovered in the Caley Member is very significant in terms of its likely scale and in proving that this play works in the basin. Discovering more oil in the Crespin and Milne Members makes this a truly incredible find, for Dorado and for similar structures nearby that have been identified in Carnarvon and Quadrant’s prospect list.”

Carnarvon confirmed through pressure data that the Dorado structure contains multiple oil columns in the Caley, Crespin, and Milne Members and a gas and condensate column in the Baxter Member, aggregating to a total net hydrocarbon pay of 132 meters.

The Caley, Baxter, and Milne sands did not encounter any water, whereas the lower section of the Crespin sand contains an interpreted water contact.

“With drilling and evaluation of the Dorado-1 well now completed, Carnarvon’s assessment of the hydrocarbon volumes associated with this discovery is now well underway,” Cook added.