Tap Oil, an independent oil and gas exploration company from Australia, has announced that Apache has completed Taunton 5/5H wireline evaluation operations followed by well suspension activities.
Mechanical difficulties during the suspension operations resulted in the Apache-operated well, located offshore W. Australia, being permanently abandoned.
The Taunton-5/5H well, drilled to appraise the Taunton oil field, located in the TL/2 production license and the TP/7 exploration permit, in the offshore Carnarvon Basin, approximately 40 kilometres north-northeast of Onslow, has taken 76 days to drill with a true vertical total depth of approximately 1,353 metres with a horizontal well path of approximately 2,000 metres drilled through the Early Cretaceous target formations.
The well will now be abandoned with the well data being incorporated by the Operator into the field geological model to update the oil in place estimates for the Taunton Field.
The operator will update the contingent resource estimates for the field and ascertain if a commercial project can be achieved.
Tap Managing Director and CEO, Troy Hayden said: “Despite the operational difficulties associated with drilling this lateral well, at this early stage, Tap is pleased with the drilling results at Taunton and is working towards a strategy for commercialisation.”