Elixir Energy flows gas from Mongolian well

Australian gas explorer Elixir Energy has flowed gas and water from Nomgon-6 well in the Nomgon IX coalbed methane (CBM) project in Mongolia, it said on October 27.

The well was drilled a total depth of 501 m and intersected 84 m of coal. Cores were taken and gas content and gas composition were consistent with prior wells in the area, the company said. A cumulative stabilised water rate of 280 barrels/day was recorded.

Elixir recorded a presence of gas at the surface which recorded methane at concentrations of up to 25,000 ppm over a background of zero. The information gathered from this well will now feed directly into the planning for a long-term pilot production testing program planned for 2022, which is currently underway, it said. The Nomgon 6 well has been suspended and will be used as a monitoring well in that programme.

“This is the first time that Elixir has flowed gas to surface in a Mongolian CBM well and this early flow – and the high water flow rates – bode very well for the success of that programme,” Elixir’s managing director, Neil Young, said. 

The Nomgon production sharing contract is located in the Gobi Desert on the Mongolia-China border. Elixir late last year raised its prospective resource estimate from 7.6 trillion ft³ to 14.6 trillion ft³ on a risked basis.