Kea Petroleum (LON:KEA) has suffered a setback in its drilling...

Kea Petroleum (LON:KEA) has suffered a setback in its drilling program at Puka, onshore New Zealand, with a third well abandoned and plugged.

The well was drilled to a depth of 2,200 metres, but the quality of the sands above an oil water contract was deemed not to be commercial.

Puka-3 was the first well drilled following the farm-in by MEO Australia (ASX:MEO) into the acreage.

MEO is entitled to 30% of Puka’s production and has up to six months to decide whether to move to the next stage of development.

Ian Gowrie-Smith, Kea’s chairman, said: "We are disappointed with the result of the Puka-3 well; however, the data we have recovered will be used to plan development of the Puka field and allow us to devise a suitable program moving forward."