Santos Ltd said Aug. 8 that its Barikewa-3 well, located in Papua New Guinea's onshore Forelands region, intersected 25 meters of net gas pay within the Toro and Hedinia reservoir objectives.

Reservoir quality exceeded pre-drill expectations and the appraisal well successfully intersected a gas-water contact in the Hedinia, according to a press release.

A drill-stem test was carried out across the Toro interval at 1,729 to 1,743 meters and flowed gas to surface at 35 MMcf/d on a 68/64-inch choke. On-site analysis of the gas from the drill-stem test and earlier wireline sampling confirms a dry gas with approximately 20% nitrogen and very low levels of other impurities, in line with pre-drill expectations.

The well, in petroleum permit PRL9, was spudded in late June and reached total depth of 1,943 meters on July 15 and will be plugged and abandoned as planned upon completion of the test and data retrieval.

Santos, through its wholly owned subsidiary Barracuda Limited, holds a 40% interest in the PRL9 joint venture, operated by Oil Search Ltd.