Kerry: In their press conference, Murphy were very upbeatas to what they have learned from the dryhole
in the Turonian at Caracara. The target was
better than prognosis (so either thicker or better
porosity) but didn’t have oil shows. CGX interprets
Caracara to be a long way east of the mature
source that is under our licenses, so to be
successful, Murphy needed significant lateral
migration. They didn’t get it into the Turonian, but
did in the overlying shales where there were significant
oil shows, confirming lateral migration is
working at the Tertiary level. Their next target is
being drilled into a Paleocene fan in the Tertiary
that is within these shales, so they now view migration
and seal as being low-risk elements for
Aracari. Because it is 300 km from our targets, it
wouldn’t change our probability of success, but
would attract global interest to this Basin. It
would also confirm that the Tertiary, including our
Eagle Shallow Eocene fan, contains significant
targets.
Dave: They’ve been waiting for over 2 months to move
the Atwood Beacon jack-up rig to their second
location. How does this affect your schedule?
Kerry: To move the rig in a wet-tow requires a swell of
less than 5 feet. The seas are roughest in this
basin from November thru February, but would
normally have brief windows for a move. Now
that we are into March, there will be a lot more
opportunity. This will set our schedule back by
about 3 months for drilling of Jaguar to start in
Q3. Once Murphy starts, that well should only
take a month to drill.
Dave: But then the Beacon will go to drill for Inpex?
Kerry: Yes, and we view that as a very material well for
us. It is targeting a third play type, an Albian reef.
This is the new play type that OGX has been very
successful with along the shelf margin in Brazil.
We have 4 Albian leads on our licences that
would be derisked by an Inpex discovery. The
Inpex well will take about 3 months to drill.
Dave: And then it’s finally your turn?