Prospectivity of Pilot Energy's WA-481-P Validated by the Recent Xanadu-1 Discovery
Tuesday 3 October 2017
The WA-481-P Joint Venture (Pilot Energy 60%, Key Energy 40%) notes with keen interest the discovery of oil in reservoir quality sands of the Irwin River Coal Measures (IRCM) by the Xanadu-1 well in TP/15 , as announced by Norwest Energy on 25 September.
The discovery is significant for Pilot Energy and Key Petroleum as it appears to validate the interpreted oil migration pathways from the known oil sources of the Kockatea Shale and the IRCM in the Abrolhos Sub-Basin in the central portion of WA-481-P. Oil from the source kitchen is interpreted to have migrated up-dip through the southern portion of WA-481-P into the Cliff Head and now into the Xanadu structure located in the adjacent permit to the east.
The Xanadu-1 technical success has reduced a key risk of migration for both the Cliff Head South Oil Trend and the Leander Reef Trend. Together the Cliff Head South and Leander Reef Trends comprise over 80% of the currently assessed 247.8 MMbbl best case (148.7 MMbbl net Pilot Energy, 99.1 MMbbl net Key Petroleum ) prospective resources for the permit .
The current exploration permit commitments for WA-481-P comprise seismic data reprocessing and geological/geophysical studies. As announced on 3 July 2017, these studies are designed to address the primary geological risk s associated with each of the various prospects and leads, such that a prioritised inventory of drill-ready prospects can be finalised to facilitate joint venture participation in a drilling program.
The Joint Venture is currently seeking quotes for seismic reprocessing (pre-stack depth migration, or PSDM) of the existing seismic data to improve the chance of success of future drilling activities. The reprocessing work is likely to take 6 to 9 months to complete and the Joint Venture are working cooperatively to ensure a quality reprocessing product and subsequent interpretation are undertaken to support additional joint venture participation and drilling activities as soon as is practicable.