Senex Energy (ASX: SXY) has received an encouraging start to its 30 well oil drilling campaign in the Cooper Basin for 2013-2014 with the Worrior-8 well successfully extending the Worrior field after intersecting multiple oil bearing formations.
Free oil was produced during drilling and initial interpretation of electric logs indicates that Worrior-8 intersected up to 18 metres of net oil pay across the McKinlay Member, Namur Sandstone and Patchawarra Formation.
The development well has been cased and suspended prior to conducting cased-hole drill stem tests to confirm productivity.
Worrior-8 is located 236 metres southwest of the Worrior-1 oil discovery well and was designed to assess the productivity potential of the Murta Formation, test for unswept oil in the Hutton Sandstone, McKinlay Member and Birkhead Formation, and test for gas in the Patchawarra Formation.
Core has been cut through the Murta Formation and will be analysed for permeability, porosity and rock strength to aid design of production enhancement techniques for this oil saturated reservoir.
Rig 948 will now move to the Worrior-9 exploration well location to test an oil target interpreted from 3D seismic in the Patchawarra Formation on the flank of the main Worrior structure.
This could potential contain up to 12 million barrels of in-place oil should the Patchawarra Formation reservoir be present at this location.
Senex’s 30 well program, is fully self funded and targets oil in the Cooper Basin. This includes a number of similar opportunities at other fields that have the potential to be quickly commercialised utilising existing infrastructure.
The Worrior field was discovered in 2003 by the Worrior-1 exploration well that proved the presence of oil in the McKinlay Member of the Murta Formation, the Birkhead Formation and the Hutton Sandstone.
Subsequent drilling occurred from 2004 to 2007 and in 2010 when Worrior-7 was drilled and completed for production.
The peak flow rate was 7,000 barrels of oil per day when production commenced in 2003, total oil production from the field to date is more than 3.7 million barrels.
Crude oil is trucked to Moomba and then piped to an export shipping facility at Port Bonython on the South Australian coast.
Senex has a 70% interest in PPL 207, which contains the Worrior oil field, while Cooper Energy (ASX: COE) holds the remaining 30%. Senex is sole risking the Worrior-9 well after Cooper elected not to participate in its drilling.
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