Carnarvon Petroleum Limited (ASX:CVN) advises that drilling of the Phoenix South-3 well has reached 3,733 metres measured depth on its way down to gas and condensate in the Caley Member at about 5,300 metres.
After drilling the 17 1/2 inch hole to 3,733 metres, Phoenix project operator Quadrant Energy is setting the 13 5/8 casing in place.
READ: Carnarvon Petroleum on schedule with drilling at Phoenix South-3 well
When this casing is set and cemented operations will continue with drilling in 12 1/4 inch hole and concurrently opening to 14 3/4 inch diameter.
Opening the hole diameter allows for an additional casing string to be run over the Hove, prior to drilling the Caley objective in 8 1/2 inch hole.
Phoenix is on the prolific North West Shelf, off the coast of Western Australia.
Evaluating Caley Member
The primary objective for the well is to evaluate the gas and condensate potential of the Caley Member within a large, faulted anti-clinal closure.
This was partially penetrated with the Phoenix South-2 well, which encountered gas and condensate in the Caley Member but was unable to drill through and evaluate the formation.
The well being drilled is around 560 metres north-north-east of the Phoenix South-2 well.
It has been optimally designed to penetrate and evaluate the hydrocarbon-bearing formations of the Caley Member.
READ: Carnarvon Petroleum raises $16 million to assist in redeveloping the Buffalo oil field
Phoenix South-3 is targeting a closure estimated by Carnarvon to contain a gross mean recoverable prospective resource of 489 Bscf of gas and 57 million barrels of associated condensate.
This is equivalent to 143 million barrels of oil.
Prospective resources are the estimated quantities that may potentially be recovered by the application of a future development project and may relate to undiscovered accumulations.
Dorado-1 well next
Carnarvon and Quadrant aim to start drilling the second well at the Phoenix project, Dorado-1, by the end of May.
An Ensco 107 jackup drilling rig is heading to the Dorado location and will also assess the gas and liquids potential of the Caley Member.
The Dorado structure at Caley interval is estimated to contain a gross mean recoverable prospective resource of 545 Bscf of gas and 30 million barrels of associated condensate.
This is equivalent to 125 million barrels of oil.