THREE strikes for Carnarvon Petroleum NL are likely to have its directors and shareholders, cracking open the Vintage Brut to celebrate.
The company has already had a healthy spike in its shares when Stanley-1 – in PPL 157 located in the foreland of the Papuan Basin in Papua New Guinea – intersected a 12 to 13 metre gross gas pay of which 9 to 10m is considered to be net pay of good reservoir quality.
Carnarvon has a 15 per cent stake in the well which has the potential for a recoverable volume of about 200 billion cubic feet of gas.
The entire Stanley prospect covers an area of more than 100 square kilometres and has the capacity to hold more than 600 million barrels of oil or more than one trillion cubic feet of gas.
Soon after this, in April, the Sage-1 well, in which Carnarvon has a 10.31 stake in WA 254-P (block 2) in the Carnarvon Basin, intersected three oil columns with an estimated recoverable volume of between 19 million barrels and 32 mmbbls of oil for the prospect.
Operator Apache Northwest Pty Ltd is studying 3D seismic data to locate an appraisal well.
Participants in an adjacent permit, WA 1-P, are considering an exploration well to the east of Sage-1.
This could have a significant economic impact on the Sage-1 discovery making a joint development of the play a possibility.
The wild card in Carnarvon’s pack is the next proposed well, Argos-1, due to spud in June. The prospect is on trend with the Legendre oil field and located offshore about 100 kilometres north of Dampier.
Carnarvon holds 7.8 per cent equity in WA 254-P, blocks 1, 3 and 4, including Argos-1.
The prime objective is the B. reticulaturn sandstone which forms the reservoir for the Legendre field which hosts 40.4 mmbbl of probable reserves.
The well is controlled by 3D seismic and the target depth is 2,052m.
A successful well at Argos may have the ability to produce through adjacent development at Legendre.
