Quadrant Energy has experienced a delay while drilling the Roc-2 appraisal well offshore Australia due to a mechanical issue with the drilling rig.

The Roc-2 well is located within the WA-437-P exploration permit in the North West Shelf of Australia. The equity interest holders are Quadrant Energy as the operator with 80% interest and Carnarvon Petroleum with the remaining 20% interest.

Carnarvon said on Wednesday that, since the last report in July, the 17 ½” (445 mm) hole has been drilled to around 2,230 meters measured depth.

However, a mechanical issue with the rig’s drilling system also occurred since the last report. The issue has been rectified and the operator minimized costs during this period. As a result, the well is around 10 days behind schedule, Carnarvon said. The well is continuing to drill in the 17 ½” (445 mm) hole section.

The rig is expected to take around 1 week to drill the 17 ½” (445 mm) hole down to a depth of approximately 3,500 meters measured depth before running the 13 5/8” (346 mm) intermediate casing. No reservoir objectives are anticipated to be intersected in this hole section. The well will then be deepened in 8 ½” (216 mm) hole to just above the reservoir target.

The primary target for the Roc-2 well, the Caley sands which were gas and condensate charged at Roc-1, is expected to be cored with coring activities expected to start late August or early September 2016.

The coring process is anticipated to take 5-10 days. The company expects to be in a position to report on whether the target formations are hydrocarbon-bearing, and the extent of any reservoir sands intersected, after completion of a drilling wiper trip with Logging While Drilling (LWD) tools at the completion of the coring process.

The well will then be deepened to explore for the secondary targets to a total depth of up to 5,250 meters, Carnarvon concluded.