• Drilling operations ongoing at Wombat-5 well, side-track-1 (ST-1) in Gippsland Basin
• Loss of suction on mud pumps led to inability to circulate mud, causing drill-string to get stuck
• Drill-string to be retrieved, and well to be re-drilled around the stuck pipe

The Board of Lakes Blue Energy has provided an update on the drilling operations at the Wombat-5 well, side-track-1 (ST-1), in the Gippsland Basin, Victoria. As of 8:00 am AEST today, the well has been drilled to a depth of 1,091 meters measured depth (mRT), with no progress made in the last 24 hours. The well was targeting the Strzelecki Formation, with a target depth of 1,360 meters true vertical depth (TVD). However, due to a loss of suction on the mud pumps, preventing the circulation of mud in the hole, the Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA) has become stuck at approximately 1,088 mRT. Attempts to jar the BHA free have been unsuccessful, and it has been decided to sever and retrieve the drill-string above the sticking point. The necessary equipment has been sourced and is expected to be on-site this evening to conduct the retrieval tomorrow morning. Lakes has insurance in place to cover the cost of most of the lost drill-string. Once the drill-string has been recovered, another cement plug will be set to enable the well to be kicked off around the stuck pipe and drilled ahead to the 7' casing point at approximately 1,548 mRT (MD). Any future drilling is subject to a review of the Contractor's report by the Company.