In PEL 91 (Drillsearch 60%, Beach 40% and Operator) Pennington North-1, a vertical near-field exploration well located approximately 900 metres to the north of Pennington-1, spudded on Monday, 12 May 2014. The well encountered trace shows in the McKinlay/Namur reservoir but no pay was interpreted over the interval.

Good shows were however observed in the lower Birkhead Formation over a fairly well developed net-to-gross section. A Drill Stem Test (DST) was conducted from 1,718 metres to 1,722.5 metres (Measured Depth) and recovered 22 barrels of oil during a 4 hour flowing period, equating to an approximate flow rate of 120 barrels of oil per day. Based on the DST result and the potential for lateral continuity of oil filled lower Birkhead reservoir sands towards Pennington-1, the well was cased and suspended as a new Birkhead oil discovery.

Tags: Drillsearch Energy