Central Petroleum gets positive with Surprise-1 core

Rick Wilkinson
OGJ Correspondent

MELBOURNE, Feb. 4 -- Central Petroleum Ltd., Perth, says a positive analysis of core taken from its recently halted Surprise-1 wildcat in the Amadeus basin of central Australia points to a potential for it to flow oil.

A 9-m long core cut from a depth of 2,546 m to evaluate oil and gas shows interested in the top of the lower Stairway Sandstone reservoir indicated high oil saturations with good permeability and porosity.

Central goes as far as saying the cored zone could produce up to 1,000 b/d, although admits that the preliminary interpretation requires further validation with electric logs and other tools.

Nevertheless the result so far provides incentive to go back to Surprise-1 and test the cored zone as well as other deeper zones in the Stairway reservoir along with the Horn Valley Siltstone and the main target Pacoota Sandstone target zone which is deeper again.

Drilling of Surprise-1 was halted in December 2010 after the monkey board and 129 stands of racked drill pipe in the rig twisted around the rig mast by 30°.

Central plans to return and drill the remaining 400 m planned for the well during this year.