Elixir Energy Ltd (ASX:EXR) continues to progress towards the spud of its Daydream-2 appraisal well — the “highest impact well in Elixir’s history” — at its 100% owned Grandis Gas Project in Queensland’s Taroom Trough.
With the well due spud in the first few weeks of November, Elixir confirms that construction of the well pad and upgrade of pre-existing access roads is now complete, the water well production casing is in place and the surface conductor has been installed prior to the rig arriving.
Water well drilled
An on-site water well has been successfully drilled, with the target formation encountered at 1,006 metres, and the production casing now cemented in place. This formation initially free-flowed — a positive sign for water productivity.
Drilling the water well provided useful offset geological information, allowing Daydream-2’s surface conductor to be installed in the concrete cellar at the well pad before the rig arrives. This saves two to three days of rig time upfront and associated spread rate costs.
Elixir says the high pressure rated blow-out preventer (BOP) that it requested the drilling contractor, SLB (previously known as Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB)), to procure has arrived in Australia and has been successfully pressure tested.
November spud on track
The latest advice from SLB is that the contracted rig, SLR 185, will be released by its current operator in the first week of November. It will then be immediately mobilised to the Daydream-2 site and then spud within a week after that.
Elixir managing director Neil Young said: “The spud of the Daydream-2 well now only a few weeks away, with strong progress being made on all the required fronts to deliver what will be the highest impact well in Elixir’s history.
"We look forward to providing the market with regular updates on our progress in the weeks and months to come.”