ADX spuds well to ramp up Austrian oil production

ADX Energy has launched into the drilling of its much-anticipated Anshof-2A oil appraisal well in Upper Austria.

The company has designed the well to bring a second oil source into production at its Anshof field permanent production facility (PPS) and comes ahead of a second planned exploration well, 40km to the west, that is expected to spud next month.

The new appraisal well sits within the ADX-AT-II exploration licence and will be targeting the already-intersected and thicker Eocene reservoir section.

ADX anticipates the well will add a further 300 to 500 barrels of oil per day (BOPD) at the Anshof PPF. The company’s goal is to continue drilling wells at Anshof to produce more than 1000 BOPD at the PPF by the 2025-26 financial year.

The design for the appraisal well is based on previous exploration at the Anshof-2 well, which was drilled in November last year. Eocene sands encountered in the well were some six-times thicker than those found at the Anshof-3 discovery well, which is currently producing about 110 BOPD.

The Anshof-2A well is planned to reach a total depth of 2160m and is expected to take about a fortnight to drill. ADX says it plans to update the market weekly on the operations at well and if successful, management intends it to be tied into the Anshof PPF. The appraisal well marks the first of a planned two additional production wells to be connected at the PPF. The company believes each well drilled could net up to $20 million in profit at current oil prices.

The current well is the first of a two-well program scheduled for this year and management expects it to be followed by the Lichtenberg 1 (LICHT-1) gas exploration well at its nearby ADX-AT-I licence, some 40km to the west. The drilling of the exploration well is planned for early next month within European giant MND’s investment area, where that company will fund the first €4.5 million (AU$7.4 million) worth of well costs to earn a 50 per cent economic interest.

The LICHT-1 prospect is fully-permitted to spud and will target shallow onshore gas prospects ADX says offer significant resource potential proximal to onshore gas infrastructure.

The company’s flagship Anshof oilfield was discovered via the Anshof-3 exploration well in early 2022. Anshof-3 was completed to become an oil producer in October of that year, with its production performance exceeding expectations during the first 11 months of long-term testing.

The prospect is producing some 110 BOPD, with the Anshof field showing potential for several further oil production tie-ins. The company says it remains well-funded following a $13.5 million capital raising in May as it also prepares its Welchau-1 well for production testing later this year.

The potentially large-scale Welchau prospect lies in the heart of Europe. It features a shallow drill depth and is near major gas pipelines in a gas-hungry continent.

In the meantime, it seems the Anshof-2A appraisal well has only limited potential risk as ADX has built plenty of structural knowledge at the site. All that remains now is for the company is to wait with bated breath to see what the all-important BOPD flow rate returns at the end of drilling in a fortnight.

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