ADX Energy (ASX: ADX) is on the verge of reaching the targeted drilling depth of its Welchau-1 exploration well in Austria after confirming its hole had reached 1028m in its hunt for European gas reservoirs.
Management says the drilling has been faster than projected – about four days ahead of the original well plan – and is nearing its targeted depth of between 1100m and 1800m. It reached the 1028m mark in 9⅝-inch casing and is drilling ahead with an 8½-inch hole.
The campaign has drilled through another 98m in the past six days, including a stop for wireline logging and changing from the previous 12¼-inch hole diameter.
The company’s Upper Austrian Welchau-1 gas exploration well was spudded on its “ADX-AT-II” exploration licence on February 24 and is using a RED Drilling & Services E200 drill rig. Management’s anticipated total depth of the drilling program is between 1500m and 1900m, with the main target depth being between 1100m and 1800m.
ADX says the current plan is to continue to the target with the 8½-inch hole inside the 9⅝-inch casing, which was cemented into the Lunz Formation in a clay and siltstone section that is expected to maintain good well integrity and which may also provide a good seal for an underlying reservoir. The company says its drilling has progressed safely and efficiently, with only minor fluid losses.
It says carbonate formations were intersected, which show fracturing, faulting and gentle folding that would be considered typical for the hole location near the crest of the Welchau anticline, with confirmation by Quickview imaging.
ADX says minor hydrocarbon shows were encountered in the carbonate formations, with formation gas increasing from 0.0099 to 0.1765 per cent mainly for methane, but including ethane and propane, which were also detected on entering the Lunz Formation.
Formation gas is entrained in the drilling fluid during the pulling of drill pipe from the hole and is not expected to be producible from the shallow carbonate or Lunz formations. But, importantly, the company says formation gas is evidence of an active petroleum system at Welchau-1 and could presage better flows from a targeted production section of the hole.
ADX believes its Welchau prospect has significant potential, with an estimated best technical prospective resource as of June last year of 807 BCFE (billion cubic feet equivalent) of gas.
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