Senex Energy Ltd. has struck oil in the Birkhead sands of the South Australian Cooper Basin, the company said in a news release July 25.

The company said its Marauder-1 well, located in PEL 104, encountered good oil shows within Birkhead sands with evaluation of logs indicating net pay of up to 8.6 m within a 17.5 m gross oil column. The well, which flowed 655 barrels of oil per day on a drillstem test, will be cased and suspended.

Plans are to place it on production in the coming months via a flowline to connect the well to existing infrastructure on producing western flank fields, Senex said. The well is located about 2 km north of the producing Growler and Spitfire oil fields.

The discovery shows material untapped potential remaining on the prolific western flank, according to Senex Managing Director and CEO Ian Davies. “We are delighted to commence the FY18 financial year with this discovery,” Davies said in the release. “We look forward to bringing Marauder-1 online at the earliest opportunity, while assessing further drilling prospects in this area.”

Senex is the operator of PEL 104, holding 60% interest. The rest is held by partner Beach Energy.

Senex Energy, Cooper Basin, Australia, Marauder-1, oil discovery