Bass Strait Oil Company has announced it will begin the work to find a possible drilling location for its 1987 Windermere-1 oil discovery around Sunday. Increased traffic can be expected around the 41km survey area near Yambuk and Orford during the survey, which should take about 12 days.

In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, the company said field operations for the seismic survey began last month. The data recording phase of the Port Fairy development had been delayed as recording equipment has been stuck in central Australia due to heavy rains.

The contractor, Terrex Seismic, has since re-arranged its schedule to source alternative equipment for the project.

The south-west permit area contains two discovery wells - Windermere-1 and the 2002 Port Fairy-1 oil and gas well.

Windermere-1 has produced 32 barrels of oil from an open-hole test and a review indicates there is good potential to achieve commercial flow rates from the well.

"The economics of any oil production that may be established in this area are favourable, with good access and relatively short transport distance to the Geelong refinery," the company said.

The project is a joint venture between operator Bass Strait Oil Company and its partner Interra Resources, which is funding all of the Windermere 3-D survey.