Hess reports gas discovery in Australia

Hess Corporation has discovered natural gas from the Briseis-1 exploration well, located in Jurassic and Triassic sandstones on Australia’s Northwest Shelf.

The well, which was drilled in 3,668 feet of water by the semi-submersible rig, Jack Bates, encountered 151 feet of net gas pay, in line with pre-drill estimates.

Briseis-1 is the second of four exploration wells being drilled on the WA-390-P Permit by Hess in 2008 and follows the successful Glencoe-1 well, which was announced as a discovery on June 10, 2008. Hess holds a 100 percent interest in the 780,000 acre WA-390-P permit.

John O’Connor, President of Exploration and Production, said while we are still in the early stages of our exploration program in Australia, the results of these first two wells reinforce our view of the high impact potential of the WA-390-P Permit.