Norwest finds oil at Xanadu-1 well, offshore Australia

Norwest Energy has found oil in its Xanadu- 1 exploration well, in the northern Perth Basin, offshore Western Australia.

Xanadu-1, spudded on September 4 using the Enerdrill Rig-3, was drilled as a conventional oil exploration well from an onshore location, designed to test for the presence of hydrocarbons in the Xanadu prospect, located offshore in shallow waters, 40km south of Dongara, Western Australia.

“With total depth (TD) reached late yesterday, it can be confirmed that Xanadu-1 has intersected hydrocarbon bearing reservoirs demonstrated by elevated gas readings, oil shows, fluorescence and cut fluorescence whilst drilling reservoir sections. Drilling results provided sufficient encouragement for the TP/15 Joint Venture (JV) to commit to running a wireline logging suite that includes pressure testing and fluid sampling,”Norwest said on Monday, adding that logging was expected to start “within the next 24 hours.”

In addition to the pending logging program, a 7” casing string is currently enroute to site from the North West, so that in the event that logging results are positive, the well will be cased and suspended in preparation for an extended well test, once planning and approvals are complete.

Operations on location have gone exceptionally well, and as a result the JV agreed to extend drilling beyond the base of the High Cliff Sandstone to include the deeper sandstones of the Holmwood Shale, reaching a TD of 2035 mMDRT (TD previously 1863 mMDRT) on Sunday, 17th September 2017. Norwest CEO

Shelley Robertson said “I am extremely pleased to have these early positive indicators of hydrocarbons encountered during the drilling of Xanadu-1. Although further evaluation is required to understand the full potential, these are excellent first results. It’s been a while in the making, and now we have drilled the well – what a fabulous achievement.

“I look forward to the program ahead, and would like to thank the team involved in getting us to this point –Aztech Well Construction, Enerdrill and my
team at Norwest, our Joint Venture partners, and our shareholders that have supported us in reaching this significant milestone. Thank you to all.”