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- Norwest Energy (NWE) updates the market on progress made at the Lockyer Deep-1 well, located in Western Australia’s Perth Basin
- NWE has cased and cemented the intermediate section to 3097 metres and began drilling the final well section on August 28
- The company has encountered oil shows within the Dongara Sandstone and Wagina Formation as well as significant gas peaks
- Shares are sitting steady at one cent at 12:43 pm AEST
Oil and gas explorer Norwest Energy (NWE) has updated the market on progress made at the Lockyer Deep-1 well, located in Western Australia’s Perth Basin.
The well is situated on exploration permit 368, which is a joint venture between 20-per-cent-owner NWE and 80-per-cent-holder Energy Resources — a subsidiary of ASX-lister Mineral Resources (MIN).
It is designed to test a large structure at the Kingia and High Cliff formations. Notably, this prospect lies on a trend where significant discoveries have been recorded at other locations within the Permian gas play’s “sweet spot”.
Norwest began drilling the final well section at Lockyer Deep-1 on August 28, with all depths measured depth below rotary table (MDRT). Drilling had reportedly reached a depth of 3329 metres early on August 29.
NWE has also cased and cemented the intermediate section to 3097 metres.
The well will be directionally steered to a deviated section of roughly 30 degrees, allowing the well path to track subparallel to the Lockyer Fault and thereby hone in on the primary reservoir targets at an optimal location.
Meanwhile, Norwest reportedly encountered the Dongara Sandstone and Wagina Formation secondary objectives at 3117 metres and 3165 metres respectively.
The top of the Dongara Sandstone coincided with a notable drilling “break”, with oil fluorescence observed over a 158-metre gross section from the top and into the Wagina Formation.
NWE reported good to fair oil shows within the upper 68 metres of the interval, of which around 48 metres are interpreted as Dongara Sandstone.
In a statement today, the company said based on available data, it was too early to speculate on the presence of net oil pay zones within the section, which remains subject to the results of wireline logging once the well has reached its total depth.
Significantly however, NWE observed elevated gas peaks at various depths throughout the Dongara and Wagina section and recorded a maximum total gas reading of 19.6 per cent from 3175 metres at Wagina.
Looking ahead, the company plans to issue a further update upon the well reaching its estimated total depth of 4383 metres MDRT.
Shares were in the grey at one cent at 11:32 am AEST.
