AWE Ltd. said it has confirmed the flow potential of the conventional Kingia and High Cliff Sandstone formations in the Waitsia Field after yielding encouraging results from flow testing of the second zone in the Waitsia-1 well.

Flow testing is being undertaken to further appraise the conventional Waitsia gas discovery in the onshore Perth Basin, with the testing program designed to determine well deliverability from two conventional reservoir zones and to collect gas samples for compositional analysis.

The first zone tested, the High Cliff Sandstone, flowed gas at a rate of 24.7 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d), while AWE said Oct. 27 that the second zone, the shallower Kingia Formation, had flowed gas at an average rate and pressure of 25.7 mmscf/d.

Interim AWE managing director Bruce Clement said it was an outstanding result.

“Both reservoir intervals tested in Waitsia-1 have each flowed at 25 mmscf/d, constrained by tubing size, giving us a combined flow rate greater than 50 mmscf/d,” he said.

“The excellent flow rates achieved will enable us to reduce the number of wells, and development costs, to achieve the targeted production rate of 100 mmscf/d for the full field development with the potential to increase the field production rate.”

Clement, who recently announced he would step down from his role in 2016, said engineering and planning work for the first stage of the Waitsia development was well advanced.

Early stage production of approximately 10 mmscf/d is earmarked for mid-2016.

The Waitsia-1 well will now be shut in for a brief pressure build-up survey prior to a series of flow tests at various choke settings, rates and well head pressures.

The Waitsia-1 appraisal well is located about 3 km east of the Senecio-3 well and 17 km east of Dongara.

AWE is the operator and 50 percent owner of permits L1/L2 which contain the Waitsia gas field. Origin Energy holds the remaining interest.