Queensland: Exoma well probes Galilee Toolebuc shale

July 24, 2012
Exoma Energy Ltd. has completed the Sancho-1 exploratory well on ATP 999P in central Queensland, Australia, after an operating delay due to wet weather.

Exoma Energy Ltd. has completed the Sancho-1 exploratory well on ATP 999P in central Queensland, Australia, after an operating delay due to wet weather.

Sancho-1 went to 1,266 m and chip sampled a 26-m section of Cretaceous Toolebuc shale. The shale samples will be subject to geochemical analysis. Data from the well forms part of the Galilee Joint Venture’s assessment of the extent of maturity of the Toolebuc shale as an oil and gas resource.

The well was deepened to test for the presence of the Jurassic Hutton and Adori as a potential oil play, but these sandstones were not present at this location.

The well has been plugged and abandoned as planned. The rig has been released to move to drill Katherine West-1, just west of Longreach, a conventional oil test in ATP 999P adjacent to the Katherine-1 discovery well drilled by Exoma in 2011.

Exoma has a 50% beneficial interest in both ATP 999P and the Sancho-1 well. CNOOC Galilee Gas Co. Pty. Ltd. is earning its participating interest under farmout by providing the first $50 million of joint venture expenditures on Exoma’s five Galilee basin ATPs.

About the Author

Alan Petzet | Chief Editor Exploration

Alan Petzet is Chief Editor-Exploration of Oil & Gas Journal in Houston. He is editor of the Weekly E&D Newsletter, emailed to OGJ subscribers, and a regular contributor to the OGJ Online subscriber website.

Petzet joined OGJ in 1981 after 13 years in the Tulsa World business-oil department. He was named OGJ Exploration Editor in 1990. A native of Tulsa, he has a BA in journalism from the University of Tulsa.