Elixir Pauses Diona-1 Flow Testing, Moves to Artificial Lift as JV Advances Resource Certification
Elixir Energy Ltd (ASX:EXR, OTC:ELXPF) has paused flow testing at the Diona-1 exploration well in Queensland's Surat-Bowen Basin while its ATP2077 Diona joint venture reviews artificial lift options designed to speed up fluid recovery and move the well toward a stable testing phase.
Diona-1 has flowed back roughly 46% of the injected stimulation fluid, falling short of the 50–60% recovery threshold the JV had aimed for before initiating stabilized flow tests. Despite the shortfall, the well has continued to produce gas with near-zero impurities, and the volume of returning fluid is being viewed as an encouraging sign for reservoir connectivity, the company said.
The joint venture — in which Elixir holds a 49% operating stake and Xstate Resources Ltd holds 51% — is now evaluating various artificial lift systems. Non-essential equipment has already been demobilized to reduce operational costs, while wellhead pressure and fluid levels remain under continuous monitoring.
Looking ahead, the JV has appointed Sproule ERCE to prepare an independently certified Contingent Resource assessment covering the 375-square-kilometer Diona sub-block. This move underscores the project's transition from early exploration toward more formal resource delineation, a step that could inform future appraisal and development plans.
Elixir's managing director and CEO, Stuart Nicholls, said the installation of artificial lift is essential to reach the testing phase and assess ultimate recoveries. “Diona-1 has provided valuable information about the recoverability of Elixir's greater Taroom Trough gas-condensate and light oil resource,” he noted. Over the longer term, Nicholls indicated that the more optimal drilling and completion strategy for the project would involve multi-stage stimulated horizontal wells — a technique already proven elsewhere in the Taroom Trough.
“Given the known gas-condensate-bearing reservoirs within the shallower setting of Diona, this can likely be done cost-effectively in the future and would be the logical next appraisal and development step for the Diona resource, where the size of that resource is now under independent assessment,” Nicholls added. He also highlighted the proximity of Diona to the Waggamba pipeline, which could provide a relatively fast route to market.
The results to date, Elixir said, support the potential for a new material Permian gas-condensate resource in the Surat-Bowen Basin. If successfully appraised, the Diona sub-block could add a meaningful new liquids-rich gas play to Queensland's already active CSG-dominated landscape.