Central Petroleum Limited announced that on 1 August 2022, the Palm Valley 12 (PV12) well in OL3, Southwest of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory was at a depth of 2,020mMD in the P2 unit of the Pacoota Formation. Operations over the last week included placing cement plugs in the build section and installing and cementing the 7 liner in place. The tie-back assembly including the downhole deployment valve was installed to enable the air drilling of the lateral sidetrack.
The rig is expected to commence air-drilling the lateral in the P2/P3 formations within the next 24 hours. Depending on the rate of penetration, the P2/P3 lateral is anticipated to be completed the next 3 weeks. The objective of the sidetrack is to test the vertically fractured lower P2 sandstone, encountered in the original well, from a horizontal well bore for approximately 450mMD before entering the P3 sandstone and drilling approximately 450mMD at a near horizontal angle.
The PV12 ST1 well is being drilled under a joint venture between Central (50% interest), New Zealand Oil & Gas Limited (35% interest) and Cue Energy Resources Limited(15% interest) and is scheduled to be completed this month.