InterOil: Antelope-7 comes up dry

InterOil Corporation said the Antelope-7 sidetrack appraisal well reached 2,383 meters depth without any evidence of intersecting the Antelope reservoir. 

Total E&P PNG, the operator of the petroleum retention license 15 (PRL15) in Papua new Guinea, is drilling ahead to explore a deeper exploration target on behalf of the joint venture.

The proposed total depth of the Antelope-7 appraisal section of the well was around 2,300 meters.

Total E&P PNG has a 40.1275 percent interest in the well while InterOil holds a 36.5375 percent, Oil Search has 22.8350 percent and the remaining 0.5000 percent is held by minority parties.

InterOil, in the midst of a $2.5 billion takeover by the US-based energy giant ExxonMobil recently received renewed shareholder support with 91 percent of the votes cast during a special meeting favoring the transaction.

Upon conclusion of the transaction, ExxonMobil would gain access to InterOil’s resource base, which includes interests in six licenses in Papua New Guinea covering about four million acres. These licenses include the Elk-Antelope field which is the anchor field for the proposed Papua LNG project.