A reason to smile: Aussie minnow Linc Energy hits surprise oil find in coalbed methane well.
Linc finds oil shows in CBM wildcat
Australia-listed Linc Energy has found oil shows in the Maglia-1 coalbed methane exploration well in South Australia’s Arckaringa basin.
The well struck oil at 366-369 metres and 393-396 metres depth. Although the find was only resididual, the company said it was the largest find to date in the Archaringa basin.
Linc said analysis of the oil suggested it probably came from the older shallow marine carbonates of the Cambrian Ouldburra formation and not from within the host Permian Mount Toondina sands it was targetting in the CBM drilling.
It was now investigating how the oil migrated into the Permian coal sequence at the site, Linc said.
Based on the find, the company said it was planning to reprocess existing seismic data for the area and gather more detailed gravity and geotechnic data for the area. It said hoped to identify the source of the oil as well as any possible stratigraphic traps before launching a targeted exploration programme.
Linc holds exploration rights to over 74,000 square kilometres in the Arckaringa basin.
Maglia-1 is among six wells drilled using Boart Longyear Rig 9 to test coalbed methane potential on the licence. Coalbed methane was found in five of the six wildcats drilled, Linc said.