Clontarf Energy shares declined 1.4% to 0.08p in early afternoon trading on Tuesday, after the oil and gas firm announced the completion of its Sasanof-1 exploration well located 207 kilometres north-west of Onslow, Western Australia.
The well had been operated by Western Gas, who reported that the well was drilled by the Balaris MS-1 semi-submersible without incident and the rig had de-mobilised from the well and departed the exploration permit, listed as WA-519-P, on 12 June 2022.
Clontarf Energy confirmed that the well had been plugged and permanently abandoned, with wellhead infrastructure removed from the site.
The well had been drilled to a total depth of 2,390 metres on 5 June 2022, and intersected the Lower Barrow Group target sands at a depth of 2252.9 metres, 3.9 metres below the pre-drill prediction.
The oil and gas exploration firm said a preliminary evaluation indicated that 40 metres of net sand was encountered, however logs confirmed that the sands contained water, with no commercial hydrocarbons detected in the area.
Clontarf Energy highlighted that initial technical analysis indicated that the expected western seal of the targeted stratigraphic trap was breached, and allowed migration of gas out of the prospect.
The company confirmed that the total operation cost less than $25 million with a timeline of 25 days overall.
Contarf Energy commented that the WA-519-P block remained highly prospective, with reported material leads identified in the proven Lower Barrow Group and Triassic Mungaroo plays, along with play opening leads in the Jurassic ‘Perseus’ Syn-rift.
The group said it intended to review and assess the leads alongside its joint-venture partners with the aim of progressing them to prospects, using data taken from the Sasanof-1 well to support exploration and targeted farm-out discussions in the company’s future.
“Clontarf will retain its 10% interest in the WA-519-P Block and will work with its JV partners in further evaluating the remaining exploration targets within the field, with a view to commence targeted farm-out discussions,” said Clontarf Energy chairman David Horgan.
“While Sasanof-1 did not intersect commercial hydrocarbons, we did show that a consortium of juniors can identify, work-up, fund and drill a high potential gas well in over a kilometre of water depth.”
“The partners will review deeper targets on this Block, utilising the Sasanof-1 well data, to progress new prospects through targeted farm-out discussions.”
