InterOil Corporation has suspended the Wahoo-1 well in PPL474 in Papua New Guinea after intersecting gas and higher-than-expected pressures that could compromise rig safety.

Significant concentrations of methane, ethane, propane and butane have been recorded and are believed to be entering the well bore from permeable zones above the predicted reservoir zone, which is yet to be penetrated.

The gas is characteristic of thermogenic hydrocarbons, which are indicative of an active hydrocarbon-generating source rock.

The Wahoo-1 well was designed for high pressures based on data from other wells in the region but the pressures have exceeded by nearly 50% even those of InterOil's Antelope discovery, 170km to the north-west.

Tags: InterOil Corporation