Petroz finds 85m Timor Sea gas column

Petroz finds 85m Timor Sea gas column

SYDNEY (Reuter): Oil and gas explorer Petroz NL said yesterday drilling encountered a gross gas column of about 85 meters in the Hingkip-1 well in the Timor Sea Zone of Cooperation (ZOCA).

The well is located in ZOCA block 91-12 on a prominent structural trend 6.6 km north of the Undan-1 well and 9.9 km north west of the Bayu-4 well.

"Preliminary analysis suggest a higher liquid content in the gas at Hingkip compared to the Bayu-Undan Field," Petroz said.

Petroz, which holds a 14.948 percent interest in the block, said wireline logging operations were continuing at the well site.

The well's operator, The Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd, has a 42.417 percent stake while Santos Ltd has 21.426 percent and Indonesia's Inpex Sahul 21.209 percent.

The adjoining ZOCA 91-13 Bayu permit is held by a Phillips Petroleum consortium, which includes Oryx Energy Co and Britain's Hardy Oil and Gas Plc.

The BHP-led Undan consortium is currently in talks with the Phillips consortium about whether to proceed with joint processing facilities for the established Bayu-Undan gas field, which at last estimate had proven and probable reserves of 3.1 trillion cubic feet of gas and about 400 million barrels of gas condensate liquids.

Santos' exploration manager Al Haydock said Santos may be in a position to announce early next week whether or not the gas and condensate structure was different to that in the Bayu-Undan field and why the liquid and gas contents appeared to be different to that in the Bayu Undan field.