Austin targets new SA oil and gas

South Australia's Yorke Peninsula is the target of a new oil and gas drilling program....

South Australia's Yorke Peninsula is the target of a new oil and gas drilling program expected to commence next year by Australian oil and gas developer, Austin Exploration.This follows the completion of a comprehensive geologic data review by Austin at its previously drilled PEL 73 prospect test well near Stansbury, which confirmed the likelihood of "fault-trapped" geophysical features that could be prospective for oil and gas. "Two separate and independent third party studies have now confirmed that the PEL 73 prospect should contain numerous separate closures and stratigraphic features, with some being possibly fault-trapped that could potentially be positive hydrocarbon reservoirs," Austin Exploration's Managing Director, David Schuette said. Austin will now begin an extensive and proprietary "Direct Hydrocarbon Sensing" study designed to pinpoint multiple drilling locations on this large South Australian prospect. The company will determine drill site locations before the end of the current calendar year, with expectations of drilling commencing during calendar 2009. "These two separate findings confirm that our initial hydrocarbon show of 8m from our first test well was not an anomaly," Mr Schuette said. "By utilising this proven hydrocarbon sensing system we will now be able to more precisely pinpoint our next well site, but more importantly increase the likelihood that this second site will find the most potentially productive location," he said. Independent geological assessment performed between 2001 and 2006 of the PEL 73 license area estimates a range of potential recovery from 197 million barrels of oil and 78 billion cubic feet of gas to 788 million barrels of oil and 315 billion cubic feet of gas, with best potential recoverable reserves of 394 million barrels of oil and 157 billion cubic feet of gas. Austin maintains a 16.666% Working Interest in the PEL 73 prospect.