Buru Energy (ASX: BRU) has started drilling operations for the deepening of the Paradise-1 well in the onshore Canning Basin that aims to intersect the target Laurel Formation.
The Laurel extends across much of Buru’s acreage and has been assessed to have the characteristics of a basin centred gas accumulation that is potentially more productive and commercially attractive than traditional shale plays.
Paradise-1 in EP 428 was drilled in late 2010 by Buru and Mitsubishi Corporation to a depth of 1700 metres but was suspended before or just after intersecting the top of the Laurel Formation due to operational issues and the onset of the wet season.
The well had encountered a 9 metre oil zone in the Andreson Formation at a measured depth of about 900 metres though testing was inconclusive at that time and had started to detect increasing levels of background gas as it reached its total depth.
The present deepening operations by the Century Rig 7 will take the well to a prognosed total depth of 3200 metres in the Lower Laurel Formation, and is expected to take some 20 days to complete.
If the Laurel Formation encountered in the Paradise-1 has the same characteristics as seen in the Valhalla-2 and Valhalla North-1 wells, this will confirm a northwest extension of the Valhalla wet gas accumulation over a distance of some 21 kilometres.
This will in turn increase the potential hydrocarbon volumes associated with the Valhalla accumulation and reduce the risks ascribed to their presence.
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