Stuart Petroleum Limited will spud its maiden offshore well, Bazzard-1, in the offshore Gippsland Basin offshore Australia this week. The West Triton jackup is preparing to move to the Bazzard location.

Bazzard-1 targets a probabilistic mean recoverable oil potential of approximately 100 million barrels in five Intra-Latrobe Group reservoirs

It is expected to take 22 days to drill and evaluate, in an area surrounded by worldclass oil and gas fields, including the Esso-BHPB Kingfish and Fortescue oil fields.

Stuart will operate the well and will fund 100% of its costs in order to earn a 50% participating interest in the Bazzard closure. Stuart is entitled to drill and fund a second well to extend its 50% interest to the remainder of the Vic P53 licensearea.

Intra-Latrobe Group sandstones similar to those targeted in Bazzard-1 are host to significant hydrocarbon resources in the Fortescue Field, 18 kilometers to the east of Bazzard and in the Marlin/Turrum oil and gas field, 15 kilometers to the northeast of Bazzard. Esso/BHPB recently announced a decision to develop 110 million barrels of oil and one trillion cubic feet of gas reserves from Intra-Latrobe sands at Turrum.

Regionally, Bazzard-1 is located on a northeast-southwest trending ridge which links the Marlin/Turrum field to the north with the Bream field to the south. This ridge is transected by a series of northwest-southeast trending normal faults, two of which define the outer limits of the Bazzard structure.

Tags: Gippsland Basin, Stuart Petroleum Limited