Semi-submersible drilling rig Atwood Eagle is being used to drill the well in the WA-351-P permit and target 0.8 to 1.3 trillion cubic feet of gas.
Drilling is expected to test the gas potential of sandstones in the prolific Triassic age, Mungaroo Formation, in a well defined horst block seen in modern 3D seismic data.
The rig will drill the vertical well in a water depth of 1,141m and is expected to take 37 days to drill with a projected total depth of 4,250m.
Tap Oil managing director/CEO Troy Hayden said the Tallaganda-1 well which has the potential to deliver a resource multiple times larger than Tap’s current 2P reserves.
Tap Oil’s drilling cost is estimated at $10m, following Tap’s farmout of 25% of its participating interest in the permit to BHP Billiton Petroleum last year.
BHP Billiton Petroleum, the operator of the well, owns a 55% stake, Apache Northwest holds 25% and Tap (Shelfal) owns 20%.
