MEO Australia Limited advises that at 0600 Darwin time on Monday 8th October, Eni Australia Ltd (Eni) as operator of the NT/P68 exploration permit had drilled the 216mm (8 ½”) hole to 4,068.5mMDRT (metres Measured Depth below Rotary Table) and was preparing to cut core from 4,068.5m to 4,105mMDRT. There have been no reportable incidents.
Reservoir quality sands exhibiting gas shows were encountered below 4,059mMDRT. The core will provide a physical sample of the reservoir rock to allow reservoir properties to be measured and to provide a calibration for the well logs.
The forward plan is to complete the current coring operation and resume drilling in 216mm (8 ½”) hole to Total Depth (TD) at 4,265mMDRT or the gas water contact. At TD a full formation evaluation program will be run including formation pressures and fluid sampling. If warranted, a production test will be run to determine reservoir productivity.
Heron South-1 – spudded on 24th of August 2012 using the ENSCO-109 jack-up drilling rig and is expected to take up to 60 days to complete. Eni has 60 days following the conclusion of Heron South-1 drilling to elect whether to fund a second Heron well to fully earn its 50% interest in the Heron area of the permit or withdraw from the Heron area in which case the participating interest reverts to MEO.
[mappress] Press Release, October 8, 2012