Exploration
During the year the Company executed a drilling and seismic program under the terms of its farmout agreement with Origin Energy. The exploration drilling program consisted of two wells, both targeting conventional reservoirs. Currajong 1 was drilled to evaluate a structure on the Ungani Oilfield geological trend. Despite some initial encouragement, testing failed to recover any hydrocarbons. The Rafael 1 well was drilled to evaluate a large structural closure to the east of the Ungani Oilfield. The well resulted in a wet gas discovery with a successful flow test with gas and condensate to surface in early 2022.
In addition to the exploration wells, some 990 kilometres of 2D seismic data was acquired during the year over geologically prospective areas to delineate future drilling targets.
Currajong 1 Exploration Well (EP391 – Buru 50% and Operator)
Currajong 1 was the first well in the 2021 exploration program drilled with the Ensign 963 rig. The well is located on Exploration Permit 391 in the Canning Basin, some 30 kilometres to the west of the Ungani Oilfield and some 70 kilometres east of Broome. The well was spudded on 1 July and drilled to a measured depth of 2,340 metres.
The well encountered a number of zones in the Ungani Dolomite section that were interpreted from wireline log data to have potential for oil recoveries. Although good reservoir quality was confirmed in all zones during a subsequent testing program, no oil was recovered and pressure data acquired indicates that the zones are water bearing. The well was therefore suspended while the data are examined. The well has confirmed the presence of good quality Ungani Dolomite reservoir some 30 kms west of the Ungani Oilfield and has therefore increased the size of the prospective area of Ungani Dolomite conventional reservoir potential in the Basin.
Rafael 1 Exploration Well (EP428 – Buru 50% and Operator)
Rafael 1 was the second well in the 2021 exploration program drilled with the Ensign 963 rig. The well is located on Exploration Permit 428 in the Canning Basin, some 50 kilometres to the east of the Ungani Oilfield and some 150 kilometres east of Broome. Drilling commenced on 22 August and the well was drilled to a total measured depth of 4,141 metres.
Three potential gas columns were encountered in the well with testing undertaken in early 2022 on the lower zone interpreted to be similar to the highly productive conventional dolomite reservoir at the Ungani Oilfield resulting in a wet gas discovery.
In addition to the gas column in the Ungani Dolomite section, the Upper Laurel Carbonate section above the Ungani Dolomite equivalent section is also dolomitised with further significant regional hydrocarbon potential.
2021 Seismic Program (Buru 40%/50% and Operator)
As part of the 2021 exploration program, a multi-permit 2D seismic acquisition program was undertaken by Buru on behalf of its Canning Basin joint venture partners to delineate additional exploration targets for subsequent drilling campaigns. The seismic was acquired over highly prospective areas of the Joint Ventures’ extensive acreage holdings with a total of some 990 kilometres of data acquired over three separate surveys: Celestine (~630 line kilometres across EP457 and EP458), Willare (~240km in EP428), and Paradise (~120km in EP428).
Seismic processing is being progressed with subsequent interpretation expected to be concluded during the second quarter of 2022.