Wireline logs have confirmed last week’s oil discovery at the Norwest Energy Ltd. group’s Xanadu-1 wildcat in inshore permit TP/15 in the north Perth basin offshore Western Australia.
The company said today that logs over a 330-m section confirmed reservoir quality sand intervals throughout the Irwin River Coal Measures with porosities of 15-16%.
Three discreet sand intervals at the top of this formation have log-derived hydrocarbon saturations of 41-66% with a 4.6-m net pay in the top sand.
Fluorescence in rock cuttings seen during the drilling program and log-derived hydrocarbon saturations persist for 120-m in sands below the three upper zones.
Assay results from oil samples obtained from Xanadu-1 are expected by the end of the week.
Plans are now under way for an up-dip sidetrack appraisal from the Xanadu-1 casing shoe. Norwest said that the first well in the Cliff Head oil field discovery further offshore identified a 4.8-m oil column at the top of the Irwin River Coal Measures—the same stratigraphy encountered in Xanadu-1. Cliff Head was then sidetracked to a more favourable up-dip location an intersected a 36-m gross oil column.
The company believes that a similar side track from Xanadu-1 is a good option. The joint venture is investigating the idea of acquiring more seismic data with a mini-survey of short infill lines over the Xanadu discovery prior to the drilling of Xanadu-2.
The discovery well was drilled as a directional well from an onshore coastal location into the offshore Xanadu structure.
Norwest has 25%, with Triangle (Global) Energy Ltd. and 3C IC Ltd. each having 30% and Whitebark Energy Ltd. 15%.
