Central Petroleum’s Palm Valley 12 (PV12) well in Permit OL3 has reached a depth of 1880m in the P1 unit of the Pacoota Formation. The well is located Southwest of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory and reached the aforementioned depth on the 23 May 2022.
Gas was initially discovered at the Palm Valley 1 well in 1965. The gas primarily dwelled in an extensive fracture system in the Lower Stairway Sandstone, Horn Valley Siltstone and Pacoota Sandstones. The system varied in depth between 1,800 to 2,200 m.
The P1 unit of the Pacoota Formation is the primary productive zone in the Palm Valley field and is a proposed side-track candidate in this well if the deep exploration target at the Arumbera level is not successful.
Gas production at Palm Valley predominantly comes from natural fractures which have potential to provide solid production rates. While drilling through the P1, PV12 appears to have intersected the fracture system which is encouraging for potential production rates from a horizontal well bore in the P1.
Encountering this degree of fracturing in the P1 also increases the likelihood of encountering production-enhancing fractures in the deeper target zones.
The fractures have the potential to slow drilling progress due to losses of drilling fluids into the fractures. Subsequently, this results in 193m of hole having been drilled since the 17 May 2022.
Currently, drilling practices are underway to reduce these losses prior to drilling ahead of the total depth of the 12 ¼-inch hole section of 2,009m. Following this, the 9 ⅝-inch casting string will be run and cemented.
Moreover, the PV12 well has two alternate objectives. The objectives consist of a deeper gas exploration target or a shallower gas appraisal later which could potentially become a production well. The primary target of exploration is the Arumbera Sandstone at an approximate depth of 3560m.
The PV12 well is the first of a two-well program which also includes the Dingo-5 exploration and production well. Both wells are set to be drilled under joint ventures between Central, New Zealand Oil & Gas, and Cue Energy Resources. The companies have 50 percent, 35 per cent and 15 percent interest respectively.
The drilling is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022.