Omega’s Canyon-2 gas exploration well in Queensland’s Bowen Basin is looking particularly promising with better than expected net reservoir pay and porosity.

Wireline logging had confirmed the presence of hydrocarbon shows within the Kianga and upper Back Creek Group Formations and also returned better than expected interpreted porosities averaging more than 9%.

Omega Oil & Gas (ASX:OMA) had previously noted that gas was recorded over the entire 221m interval of the Kianga Formation while significant gas peaks were recorded while drilling over an interval of 72m in the upper Back Creek Group.

Porosity, which is the tiny spaces between the grains that make up rocks, is – along with permeability – one of the factors that determine if a discovery can produce gas or oil commercially.

Encouragingly, Canyon-2’s average porosity also exceeds that of BG’s (now Shell) Tasmania-1 discovery well, which flowed gas at a peak rate of 0.2 million cubic feet per gas after it was fracture stimulated and tested.

“The results continue to be encouraging and better than expected. Petrophysical analysis on the open-hole logging data confirm porosities which are better than those encountered by BG in Tasmania-1,” managing director Lauren Bennett said.

“Based on these results, we are excited about the prospectivity of Canyon 1, where we expect the Kianga formation to be similar to that encountered in Canyon 2.”

She added that the successful execution of Canyon-2 ahead of schedule and under the pre-drill budget had added to the company’s knowledge of the play and placed it in position to advance the project with this new data point that will be tested in the near future.

Drill results

Canyon-2 was drilled to a total depth of 3,807m with wireline logs confirming that the series of hydrocarbon charged sands and coals previously reported is consistent with the mud logs.

Omega noted that its preliminary view is that the target formations are feasible hydraulic stimulation targets which aligns with pre-drill expectations.

Data from Canyon-2 along with existing completion and production data from surrounding wells such as Shell’s Tasmania 1 and Daydream 1 will be used to inform the design of the stimulation program and improve the chances of success.

Additionally, analysis of the wireline logs also confirmed the presence of coal throughout both the Kianga and upper Back Creek Group Formations.

These coal packages will be considered as a potential target for future completion activities along with the adjacent Permian Sandstones.

Upcoming work

Production casing has been successfully completed at Canyon-2 and the drill rig is mobilising to spud the Canyon-1 well in mid-May.

Analysis on the hydrocarbon composition, including gas-to-liquids ratio, is currently underway with results expected within the next fortnight.

A resource update is also expected in the near future.

This article was developed in collaboration with Omega Oil & Gas, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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