Offshore staff
PERTH, Australia – Santos Energy’s Apus-1 well offshore Western Australia appears to have been a dry hole.
The jackup Noble Tom Prosser drilled the well in the WA-437-P exploration permit, 27 km (16.8 mi) southwest of the successful Pavo-1 drilled earlier this year.
According to partner Carnarvon Petroleum, the 8 ½-in. hole section has been drilled to a final TD of around 2,900 m (9,514 ft) MD.
While LWD and mud logging analysis suggest the presence of hydrocarbons, there was no evidence of a commercial hydrocarbon pool.
Hydrocarbon charge and seal were seen as the key risks pre-drill, Carnarvon said. The Apus Island appears to be surrounded by shale-filled channels which isolates it from the Dorado and Pavo discoveries.
Running of wireline formation evaluation tools continues to garner information to support further exploration in the Bedout sub-basin, after which the well will be left in a safe condition.
Carnarvon’s managing director and CEO Adrian Cook said: “Collectively, the Pavo-1 and Apus-1 results open up the potential of the Bedout Sub-basin by proving the existence of hydrocarbons and high-quality reservoirs a considerable distance east and southeast from the Dorado and Roc fields.
“At this time, we remain highly confident of discovering additional resources in and around our two main fields and further across the Bedout Sub-basin, and plan to provide further information on these opportunities in due course.”
04.19.2022
