Testing of RBD01 will help guide D3 Energy’s ongoing exploration and development strategy. Pic: Getty Images
D3 Energy starts helium, natural gas production test at another former gold exploration hole
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- D3 Energy starts helium and natural gas production testing of historical gold exploration hole RBD01
- Work will evaluate reservoir characteristics, flow rates and pressure responses as well as gas composition
- Testing of recently completed RBD12 well will follow once operations at RBD01 are completed
Special Report: D3 Energy will soon have a better idea of the helium and natural gas potential of its ER315 permit in South Africa’s Free State after starting production testing of historical exploration borehole RBD01.
Like the successful RBD03, which flowed gas at an average rate of 147 thousand standard cubic feet per day (Mscf/d) over a 16-day period, RBD01 is a historical gold exploration hole that was originally drilled in 1982 and encountered gas.
RBD01 has been producing gas since that time and will form a key component of D3 Energy’s (ASX:D3E) multi-borehole testing program focused on natural gas and helium.
Natural gas is in high demand in energy-starved South Africa, which sees load shedding – the interruption of electricity supply – on a nearly daily basis.
While that alone would ensure the offtake of any commercial quantities of gas produced at ER315, the real prize is the high helium content given the massive value of the noble gas.
Helium has traded between US$1000 and US$2500 per thousand cubic feet on the US spot market due to its irreplaceable uses in high-tech industries, including semiconductor manufacturing, nuclear energy, solar panels, optic fibre and the cooling of superconducting magnets in MRI scanning machines.
Recent retesting of the RBD10 well yielded gas flow rates averaging 191,000Msf/d with world-class helium concentrations of 4.7% and methane (natural gas) making up another 87.7%.
Production testing
Production testing of RBD01 will evaluate its reservoir characteristics, flow rates and pressure responses.
Along with testing the gas composition, this work will provide critical data that will inform the company’s ongoing exploration and development strategy, which seeks to unlock the full potential of the helium and natural gas resources within ER315.
Additionally, results from the production testing will contribute to the assessment of resource potential within the permit, which will support the future application of a production right.
Testing of RBD01 also follows closely on the heels of drilling the purpose-drilled RBD12 well, which successfully reached a total depth of 594m after intersecting the gas section in the target Witwatersrand Formation, which flowed gas to surface.
D3E has installed the wellhead at RBD12 and will start production testing in several weeks after it completes testing of RBD01.
This article was developed in collaboration with D3 Energy, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
