Drilling On Jabiru Well Abandoned
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday March 27, 1987
BHP Petroleum admitted yesterday that the Jabiru 5 well, being drilled to help exploit the new 15,000 barrel-a-day oilfield in the Timor Sea, had been abandoned on Wednesday because of drilling difficulties.
The news is a setback for the drilling program, since it already had gone down more than 1,100 metres and had taken several weeks to drill. But a new well, Jabiru 5A, will be put down alongside the failed well by the drillship Energy Searcher, as soon as possible.
BHP is devoting much planning to the Jabiru and nearby Challis discoveries, since the flow rate from Jabiru has become a steady 15,000 barrels a day from an original 13,000. The higher rate comes after a choke change but BHP is very pleased that the pressure remains very strong, suggesting a very forgiving reservoir.
The company, which has 50 per cent of permit AC1 and is the operator, is hoping to lay a sub-sea completion from the Challis field 20 kilometres away, discovered more recently, to the converted tanker, Jabiru Venture, which has now been functioning successfully for more than six months.
© 1987 Sydney Morning Herald
