Eni Australia Drills Galahad-1 Well to Total Depth of 3448m MDRT

Octanex N.L. has been advised by Eni Australia Limited, the Operator of the Galahad-1 well located in the outer Exmouth Plateau permit, WA-363-P, that at 07:00 hours WST (Western Standard Time) on Monday, 16 May 2011, the well had reached its total depth (TD) of 3448m MDRT (measured depth below rotary table).

Operations over the next week are to run a suite of wireline logs prior to plugging and abandoning the well as planned.

Since the last progress report of 11 May 2011, the well has drilled the 12 ¼ hole from 2380m MDRT to TD. There were no indications of hydrocarbons in the sands encountered while drilling the shallower sections of the Mungaroo Formation within the well. The Mungaroo Formation is the target formation for the well, with mapped closure at the Top Mungaroo and a series of intra Mungaroo fluvial channel sand targets down to 3344m MDRT that possessed AVO anomalies.

However, a thin sand with elevated gas readings has been encountered in the section of the well below the deepest AVO anomaly target. The significance of this sand will be determined from analysis of the Logged While Drilling data and cuttings from the well. Encountering a sand with elevated gas readings within closure provides some potential to support the presence of a working hydrocarbon system in the drainage area of the Galahad-1 well.

The Galahad-1 well is being drilled by the Saipem 10000 drillship.

The participants in the WA-363-P Joint Venture are:

Eni Australia Limited 40%

OMV Australia Pty 40 %

Ltd Octanex Group 20 %

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Source:Octanex, May 16, 2011; Image:SHI