Drillsearch-Beach JV Strikes Wet Gas Onshore Cooper Basin

Drillsearch Energy disclosed Thursday that it has cased and suspended the Coorabie-1 wet gas exploration well, sited in the Western Flank of the onshore Cooper Basin.

Drillsearch said in a statement that Coorabie-1, the first well drilled in the company’s four-well wet gas exploration campaign in PEL 106B, encountered good hydrocarbon fluorescence and gas shows in sands and coals throughout the Patchawarra and Tirrawarra Formations. Wireline logging highlighted potential hydrocarbon bearing zones in the Lower Patchawarra and Tirrawarra zones.

A drillstem test was carried out over a 33-foot (10-meter) interval, between 9,045 feet to 9,078 feet (2,757 meters to 2,767 meters), in the Patchawarra with hydrocarbon florescence and elevated gas readings. Although Drillsearch recovered liquid rich gas from the sands, the data suggests that the interval is tight.

Meanwhile, mud logs from a 66-foot (20-meter) interval in the deeper Tirrawarra Formation, between 9,127 feet to 9,192 feet (2,782 meters to 2,802 meters), showed moderately bright orange hydrocarbon florescence as well as elevated gas readings.

The drilling rig – Ensign 930 – is currently being moved 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) south-west to drill Rosetta-1; the second well of Drillsearch’s exploration campaign.

Drillsearch holds a 50 percent interest in PEL 106B, while the permit's operator Beach Energy holds the remaining stake.