ODNL Penola No 1 Well: Geological Log of a 1961 South Australian Oil Exploration Bore

4985 feet was the total depth of the O.D.N.L. Penola No. 1 Well, drilled between February 7 and May 5, 1961, and abandoned as a dry hole. The dataset, provided by Geoscience Australia, documents the geological sequence and minor gas showings encountered during the drilling operation. It was designed to test the petroleum potential of the Coonawarra subsurface structure, penetrating marine and non-marine rocks from the Oligocene to probable Upper Jurassic periods.

Use Cases

• Stratigraphic analysis based on the detailed geological column describing rock units and depths.
• Assessing historical petroleum exploration outcomes based on the documented gas showings and final dry hole status.
• Studying basin geology and structural interpretation based on the seismic reflection traverse and angular unconformity mentioned.
• Researching drilling technologies and practices of the 1960s based on the specified contractor and rig type.

Strengths

• Contains specific operational details including exact drilling dates (7th February to 5th May, 1961) and total depth (4985 feet).
• Provides a detailed geological log with formation names, ages, and thicknesses (e.g., 215 feet of Gambier Limestone).
• Documents the specific objective (testing the Coonawarra structure) and methodology (electric and mud logging, testing, coring).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic/temporal bias inherent to a single, historical well report.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Drilling and logging operations conducted by Oil Development N.L. under a farm-out agreement.

Time Range

1961 (drilling period)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 14:45:00.264328; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Penola, South Australia (north-east corner of Section 500, Hundred of Penola)