Falcon Oil & Gas spuds Australian Kalala S-1 well

Falcon Oil & Gas has began drilling at its Australian Kalala S-1 shale well.

The Kalala S-1 is the first of three planned wells on the site. It is expected to take between 35 and 50 days to reach the target depth of 2,800 metres.

Falcon's 30% of the drilling costs will be covered by its drilling partners Sasol and Origin Resources, following 2014's farm out-deal.

The drilling will analyse oil and gas maturity, providing Falcon with more information about the wider Velkerri formation that could inform future programmes.

“The spudding of Kalala S-1 well is an important milestone for the company and marks the start of our initial three well fully funded 2015 drilling campaign,” said chief executive Phillip O’Quigley.

“The initial drilling programme is designed to test the hydrocarbon saturation and reservoir quality of the basin and determine the prospectivity of this highly attractive basin,” he added.

As of 0900 BST, Falcon was trading 3.6% higher at 8.4p.