Ordovician light oil flows at Amadeus reentry
Central Petroleum Ltd., Perth, has reported a maximum sustained flow rate of 300 b/d of 40° gravity light, sweet crude oil on a 24/64-in. choke in the western Amadeus basin of Australia.
The flow, with a low water cut, came from a 230-m lateral in tight Ordovician Lower Stairway sandstone at 2,543 m true vertical depth at the Surprise-1 reentry. The well is on Northern Territory Block EPA-115 about 190 km west of Mereenie oil and gas field. Central reported no evidence of hydrogen sulfide.
The company is still recovering drilling fluid from the horizontal section and plans further well clean-up and extended production tests.
Central will suspend the well as soon as it cleans up and, subject to government approvals, will fast-track additional storage to allow for an EPT to begin.
Central is also assessing the unconventional shale oil and gas potential of drilling samples taken from the Horn Valley siltstone, where the presence of hydrocarbons and elevated organic material in sections of this formation was previously noted (OGJ, Oct. 4, 2010, p. 48).
Central said it is determining its next exploratory moves, pursuing a TSX Ventures Exchange listing, and discussing farmouts with major companies.
Alan Petzet | Chief Editor Exploration
Alan Petzet is Chief Editor-Exploration of Oil & Gas Journal in Houston. He is editor of the Weekly E&D Newsletter, emailed to OGJ subscribers, and a regular contributor to the OGJ Online subscriber website.
Petzet joined OGJ in 1981 after 13 years in the Tulsa World business-oil department. He was named OGJ Exploration Editor in 1990. A native of Tulsa, he has a BA in journalism from the University of Tulsa.