MEL to farm in

"Metgasco farms into Cooper

METGASCO hopes to trigger a revival in the southwestern Cooper Basin having joined Senex Energy and Cooper Energy for a share of the Frey-1 well – and is hunting more plays there.

The company moves into the sprawling and highly prospective Cooper after a sojourn in the Gulf of Mexico after exiting New South Wales when the state government started buying back permits and banned further drilling.

The move to take 20% of the large undrilled structure at Frey-1 says much about the ongoing viability of the basin, especially as despite the remoteness of some parts it becomes the best option for many oilers.

Metgasco said the move was a high risk but high return oil exploration objective which could see a revival of exploration in the southwestern area of the basin.

There are other oil fields close to the proposed well which improves the economics of the project and makes the development of any discoveries quick and effective.

The well spudded three days ago should reach total depth of 1502m over 11 days.

Metgasco has committed more than $600,000 and is evaluating further farm-in possibilities with Senex.

The Frey prospect, which has the potential for stacked pay in multiple formations, is a four-way dip closed anticline which is evident on stratigraphic levels.

2D seismic shows 30m of closure with an area of 9.5sq.km at the lowest closing contour.

Metgasco will pay 30% of the aggregate costs associated with the drilling of Frey-1 to a maximum cost of 100% of $2 million.

The company is also evaluating other assets in the Cooper basin.

Metgasco recently secured a 10% non-operating farm-in interest in Byron Energy's Bivouac Peak Littoral Louisiana hydrocarbon project with a planned initial well testing a gross prospective resource of 32,270 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The junior holds cash equivalent investments worth about $10.2 million."