The Arrowsmith-2 well in western Australia continues to produce gas during the flow back and clean up of Stage 1, the High Cliff Sandstone (HCSS) target of the fracture stimulation program, Norwest Energy reported.

The gas flow rate is now steadily increasing as the water production rate drops, and overnight the well was diverted through the Expro separator in order to measure rates. Over a period of 40 minutes, Expro reported that the gas rate peaked at 777 Mscf/d, with an average rate over that period of 446 Mscf/d.

Once the well has produced back the majority of the injected fluid, it is expected that the gas flow rate will further stabilize, and a more established rate of flow will be determined.

Norwest is now preparing for Stage 2 of the hydraulic fracture stimulation program – the Irwin River Coal Measures (IRCM) target. The IRCM is at a depth of 2,949 m (9,675 ft) and approximately 330 m (1,083 ft) thick in the vicinity of Arrowsmith-2, and is a hybrid shale/sandstone interval.

Norwest will continue to release a weekly update each Thursday for the duration of the activities on site, with operations expected to continue for another 5-6 weeks.

The participants in the EP413/Arrowsmith joint venture are Norwest Energy NL (operator), 27.945%; AWE Ltd. (via subsidiary ARC Energy Ltd., 44.252%; and Bharat PetroResources Ltd., 27.803%.