Drillsearch Draws Up Conceptual Development Plan for Stunsail-1 in PEL 91

Drillsearch Energy Limited revealed Wednesday detailed results from the Stunsail-1 oil discovery in PEL 91 on the Western Flank Oil Fairway of Australia's Cooper Basin, which was announced to the ASX March 28. Drillsearch owns 60 percent of PEL 91. Beach Energy, the operator, owns the remaining 40 percent.

The Stunsail-1 well, located 10 miles (16 kilometers) northeast of the Bauer field in PEL 91 and 8.7 miles (14 kilometers) southwest of the Growler field (Senex 60 percent, Beach 40 percent), exceeded expectations by encountering both a thicker oil column at the main target level and discovering multiple hydrocarbon bearing zones. The well intersected the McKinlay/Upper Namur pool at a depth of 4,625 feet or 1,410 meters (measured depth) with a 32.8-foot (10-meter) gross oil column (25.6 feet or 7.8 meters net), 19.6 feet or 6 meters gross (18 feet or 5.5 meters net) of which was within the highly productive Namur Sandstone. A 5-meter gross oil column (15.4 feet or 4.7 meters net) was also penetrated in the Mid-Namur at a depth of 4,740 feet or 1,445 meters (measured depth).

Additional oil shows were encountered in the deeper Birkhead Formation, with two intervals tested. The first drill stem test (DST) tested a gross 49.2-foot or 15-meter section (13.1 feet or 4 meters net), at a top depth of 5,606 feet or 1,709 meters (measured depth), and recovered 46 barrels of oil and 3 barrels of filtrate over a 4-hour period, equating to a test rate in excess of 250 barrels of oil per day. The second DST tested a gross 37.7 foot (11.5-meter) section, with a top depth of 5,420 feet or 1,652 meters (measured depth) and recovered only water.

Following completion of the two DSTs, Stunsail-1 has been cased and suspended as a future oil producer.

Conceptual Development Plan

McKinlay-Namur Analysis

Under the new ASX reserves reporting guidelines, upon declaration of reserves for any hydrocarbon accumulation, a conceptual commercial development plan must be provided relating to that discovery.

Drillsearch has a high degree of confidence in the commercial productivity of the McKinlay-Namur reservoirs at Stunsail-1, which are directly analogous to 11 other discoveries in PEL 91, including Bauer, the largest oil discovery on the Western Flank. In total, 12 wells are currently producing from the McKinlay-Namur across the Bauer, Chiton and Hanson fields in PEL 91 and these have all been used as analogues for possible production from Stunsail-1. Drillsearch has carried out a preliminary economic evaluation of the project using costs based on analogous projects and the company’s reference oil price assumptions to confirm its commercial viability.