Offshore staff
SIDNEY, Australia -- Apache Oil Australia Pty. Ltd. and its partners have begun drilling the Maitland-2 well in permit WA-33-R in the Carnarvon basin, offshore Western Australia. The objective of the appraisal well is to assess the potential of the Maitland gas field.
The Maitland gas field, discovered in Aug. 1992, has remained undeveloped for the past decade for two main reasons. First, the two earlier wells flowed gas at relatively low rates and also produced sand. Second, the permeability and well deliverability encountered at that time were low when compared to other nearby offshore gas fields.
Based on new analyses carried out by Apache, the Maitland gas field has a gross gas column thickness of at least 23 m (75.5 ft). The Maitland-2 appraisal well, now under way, is to complete the test of the gas column.
Apache Oil Australia Pty. Ltd. operates block WA-33-R with 48.82% interest. Partners include Pan Pacific Petroleum NL with 10% interest, Santos (BOL) Pty. Ltd. with 18.71% interest, and Tap Oil Ltd. with 22.47% interest.
9/7/2007
