Carnarvon Petroleum (ASX:CVN) has outlined that the Phoenix South-2 well has penetrated a definitive hydrocarbon-bearing interval at or near the primary Caley target.
Quadrant is the operator and holds 80%, with Carnarvon 20%.
The Phoenix South-2 well is located within the WA-435-P exploration permit in the North West Shelf of Australia.
Carnarvon is well-funded with $65 million in cash at the end of September 2016.
Adrian Cook, managing director and CEO for Carnarvon, commented:
"We are very encouraged with the results of this gas and condensate discovery and feel confident there is a significant amount of potential still to be assessed in the Caley formation beneath the current wellbore.
"The extent of the increase in reservoir pore pressure observed while drilling into the Caley formation could indicate a hydrocarbon body larger than any that we have previously encountered in the basin and even larger than we were expecting pre-drill.
"We’ve taken another very important step in unlocking this new basin and we certainly look forward to further clarifying its potential as our forward work programs are finalised.
"In the near term, we will work with the operator on the next phase of drilling in this and the other target structures in our Phoenix and Roc permits.
"The Carnarvon team will also take the opportunity to update the resource estimates for the Caley sandstone with this new information."
Details of the discovery
The well drilled an estimated 39 metre hydrocarbon-bearing zone between 5,176 and 5,215 metres with significant gas influx and elevated reservoir pore pressures.
The well was unable to assess as much as 185 metres of additional potential hydrocarbon bearing Caley reservoir beneath 5,215 metres due to the higher than anticipated pressures being encountered.
Encouragingly, higher formation pressures typically support both larger volumes and higher gas and condensate flows rates over a given reservoir.
They also require a different well bore design from that used in this well.
Accordingly, for safety reasons, no further drilling and formation evaluation can occur in the current well bore.
Next steps
The operator and Carnarvon will now assess these results and consider the most appropriate forward plan for assessing the entire Caley zone of interest.