Good news from onshore Timor-Leste, where private Australian firm Timor Resources, in a 50:50 Joint Venture with NOC Timor Gap, has made an oil discovery. Karau-1 (locally known as Feto Kmaus), which spudded late October 2021 in Block TL-OT-17-08, was reported in mid-December 2021 as discovering oil and gas, identified on wireline logging. A second well was spud in late December, Kumbili-1, locally known as Liurai, and was drilling ahead at the time of writing.
Map showing location of the Karau-1 well, onshore Timor-Leste.
Part of a three-well campaign, the wells are located in the Suai Basin of Timor-Leste, where oil and gas has been tested in legacy wells drilled around 50 years ago, but there has been no subsequent drilling until the current programme. The Suai Basin is a Late Miocene to Recent synorogenic basin, perched on top of the Timor fold and thrust belt. The news will come as a timely boost to the appeal of the current Timor-Leste onshore and offshore licensing round, scheduled to close 4 March 2022.
Author: Ian Blakeley, NVentures
