ADX Energy poised to drill key gas well that could help feed Europe’s hunger for energy

ADX Energy to spud the Welchau-1 gas well in Upper Austria next week
Well construction work is complete and the drill rig is expected to be released from its current job at the end of this week
Welchau-1 targets 807Bcfe of gas in the middle of energy-hungry Europe

Special Report: The moment of truth is almost upon ADX Energy with the potentially transformational Welchau-1 well targeting 807Bcfe of gas in Upper Austria poised to spud next week.

Welchau has a best technical prospective resource of 807 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe) of gas in relatively shallow reservoirs updip from the nearby Moln-1 gas discovery, that intersected a gas column of at least 400m in 1989 and flowed 4 million cubic feet of gas per day during testing.

Given that a single Bcf of gas can power more than 24,000 average homes for a year, ADX Energy (ASX:ADX) is understandably keen to get to grips with Welchau-1, which sits right smack in the middle of energy-hungry Europe.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that there is easy access to established pipelines, which will make commercialisation a lot simpler, nor does the de-risking that partner MCF Energy brings with it by funding 50% of the drill costs – to a cap of €5.1m – to earn a 25% interest in the field.

The completed Welchau-1 well site. Pic supplied (ADX)

Anticipation nearly at an end

Having already put all regulatory requirements in place, the company has now completed well site construction and expects the RED Drilling & Services GmbH (RED) E202 drilling rig to become available at the end of this week.

It will then take about seven days after release from its previous job to mobilise to the Welchau-1 site and complete rig assembly for drilling to begin.

Drilling operations are expected to take about 39 days to complete in the event of a success case.

The same rig had drilled ADX’s first exploration well (Anshof-3) and the subsequent Anshof-2 wells without any lost time safety incidents and within budget, which certainly bodes well for the drilling of Welchau-1.

“We are poised to commence operations at Welchau. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank our Austrian team for their diligence in securing all the necessary regulatory approvals and achieving operational readiness to drill this important gas well,” executive chairman Ian Tchacos said.

“Achieving regulatory approvals at Welchau has exceeded the usual less than six-month licensing process in Austria due to greater environmental sensitivities at the Welchau location as result of its proximity to an area of touristic interest and a small nature protection area.

“Despite these additional environmental and community considerations the licensing process in Austria has been far more predictable and timely than other jurisdictions such as many other parts of Europe, the UK and Australia where such approvals can take up to two years.”

 

This article was developed in collaboration with ADX Energy, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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