ADX Energy has finally cracked the seal at its Welchau-1 well in Upper Austria, with early flow-testing delivering the company its first confirmed hydrocarbon gas to surface from its shallow Reifling Formation.

After resuming testing following a prolonged regulatory delay, ADX has successfully triggered gas flows from a reservoir that previously refused to play ball. A modest six cubic metres of acid was pumped into the Reifling Formation to stimulate fractures in the carbonate rocks, followed by a brine flush and a soak period. When the well was swabbed to unload the hydrostatic column, the result was brine, carbon dioxide and, critically, methane gas flowing to surface.

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