Strata-X Energy received a permit to drill the Kuhlig #1 well, the second well in the company's Lingle Oil project in Australia. The project targets light sweet oil from the Devonian-aged Lingle Formation.

The Kuhlig #1 is a 12-kilometer stepout of Burkett 5-34, the first completed Lingle horizontal well, the company said Aug. 19.

Burkett 5-34’s peak production rate was 300 barrels of oil per day. Burkett 5-34 was a proof of concept well that proved the Lingle can be drilled and completed horizontally and has commercial oil production capability.

Many of the pre-drill targets were accomplished. The next horizontal well will have even better results, the company said. It will have twice the horizontal leg length and will use an improved completion method.

Kuhlig #1 is a low-cost vertical well that will core and pressure test the Lingle to gather reservoir data, including confirmation of oil saturation, reservoir thickness and porosity, needed to design the proposed Raccoon Creek #1 horizontal well. A core will be taken from the bottom of the New Albany through the primary reservoir of the Lingle Formation.

The pressure test will help design completion methods for future horizontal wells.

Kuhlig #1 is expected to intersect up to 16 feet of the Lingle reservoir, and to encounter higher initial reservoir pressure and oil saturations than the Burkett well. It will be drilled a short distance from a historical well that has log data indicating oil saturations in the reservoir.

The subsequent Raccoon Creek #1 horizontal well will be drilled updip from Kuhlig #1 and toward the historical well. Raccoon Creek #1 is scheduled to be drilled in early 2016, subject to funding.

Denver-based Strata-X Energy Ltd. has assets in the U.S. and Western Australia.