Oil major BP is only about 460 meters shy of its primary reservoir target at the giant Ironbark prospect located offshore Australia with expectations to reach total depth by the end of the month.
BP, as the operator of the WA-359-P permit where Ironbark is located, started drilling the well on 31 October 2020.
The well is being drilled using the Diamond Offshore-owned semi-submersible rig Ocean Apex.
As at 22 December 2020, BP has advised that the Ironbark-1 well had reached a measured depth of 5202 metres and is currently preparing to case and cement.
This is according to a Wednesday report by one of BP’s partner in the WA-359-P permit, New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZOG).
In the past week, BP completed drilling the 12¼“ hole, NZOG added.
The company will give its next update on the progress made at the well on 31 December 2020.
The Ironbark well will test the Triassic Mungaroo Formation with multiple sand objectives.
The reservoir has been explored nearby at comparably shallower depths and includes discoveries at the Gorgon, Goodwyn and North Rankin gas condensate fields.
The primary target is at a depth of 5668 metres TVD subsea in water depths of 301 metres.
The well is expected to take around 85 days to drill and is currently expected to reach total depth (TD) by the end of December.
Exploration permit WA-359-P is located in the Carnarvon Basin, offshore Western Australia, some 50 kilometres from the existing North West Shelf LNG infrastructure.
Participants in WA-359-P are BP (operator, 42.5 per cent), Cue Exploration (21.5 per cent), Beach Energy (21 per cent) and NZOG (15 per cent).