Strike Energy completes gas discover...

A 50-50 joint venture led by Strike Energy Ltd. with Warrego Energy Ltd. has confirmed a natural gas discovery in a third reservoir in its West Erregulla-2 well in the onshore North Perth basin of Western Australia.

Strike said gas was encountered in the High Cliff sandstone reservoir at a depth of 4,918 m with a gross column of at least 22 m thickness. The entire 22-m section was found to be gas saturated with a net pay of 10 m and an average porosity of 10.3%. Some sections had a porosity up to 16%.

The well did not encounter a gas-water contact in the High Cliff formation, a finding that Strike said is consistent with the seismic amplitude model that supports the interpreted field boundaries.

Stuart Nicholls, Strike managing director, said the High Cliff reservoir quality at West Erregulla is comparable to the same reservoir in the nearby Waitsia-1 well, which flowed 25 MMcfd of gas when tested.

Nicholls said West Erregulla-2 reached a total depth of 5,100 m making it the deepest onshore well drilled in Australia and one that has discovered the deepest ever hydrocarbons.

"The presence of both gas and porosity at such depths add further significance to the evolving Kingia-High Cliff gas fairway within the Perth basin," Nicholls said.

The High Cliff find completes a trifecta following discovery of significant gas columns in the Wagina and Kingia sands higher in the well.

Strike is now running an additional advanced logging program. This will be followed by the setting of production casing in preparation for flow testing of both the Kingia and High Cliff zones in the coming weeks.