Drilling is still underway on a deepwater probe operated by Shell in the southern Carnarvon Basin offshore Western Australia, despite weather-related delays.

According to WHL Energy, the Palta prospect in Block WA-384-P has been delayed by adverse local weather conditions that led to rig downtime. However the Palta-1 well, being drilled in approximately 1,350 m (4,429 ft) of water, is still continuing.

It is being drilled to a planned Total Depth of between 5,325- 5,675 m (17, 470-18,618 ft), and was spudded mid-October.

Under the original timeframe the well was expected to take between 60-90 days to drill.

WHL does not have a stake in Shell’s permit but holds an interest in adjacent block WA-460-P, where it, Cott Oil and Gas and Strike Energy all have equal 33.3% stakes. As a result they are keeping a close watch on the progress of Shell's wildcat.

The Palta-1 well is being drilled by the semisub Noble Clyde Boudreaux, which is due to continue drilling for Shell on its Prelude LNG project after this probe is completed.

The prospect has pre-drill reserve estimates of up to 13.5 Tcf of gas in place, with up to 20% of the gas to possibly extend over the permit boundary into WA-460-P, according to WHL.