ADX Energy has got its 2026 drilling campaign off to a spectacular start, sniffing out gas-filled sands at its HOCH-1 exploration well in Upper Austria.
The new discovery, tucked inside the company’s ADX-AT-I exploration licence, has not only confirmed a working hydrocarbon system, it’s also delivered a massive validation for the company’s technical crew.
The HOCH-1 drill rods started spinning just 21 days ago, and by yesterday evening, it was reaming through a 6 1/8-inch hole to a target depth of 1367 metres.
The first smell of success came at 1350 metres when riggers intercepted gas-filled sands. In a savvy move, hinting there is plenty more potential, ADX has already decided to push the hole deeper to at least 1550 metres.
The company’s move to deepen the hole came after elevated gas readings and additional shows appeared while drilling, potentially pointing to a larger gas-charged reservoir system than initially expected. The gas is biogenic and 100 per cent methane, sitting within the Miocene-aged Hall formation.
The reservoir intersection correlates almost exactly with the geoscientists’ pre-drill 3D seismic predictions. This precise result could prove to be a game-changer, helping de-risk ADX’s entire shallow gas play and adding a significant boost of confidence to its upcoming, similarly styled GOLD and SCHOE prospects, slated for later this year.
HOCH-1 is the company’s first well in a three-well program for 2026. The prospect carries a mean prospective resource of 8.0 billion cubic feet (Bcf), with a high-case upside of 17.3 Bcf.
"The excellent pre-drill 3D seismic prediction provides confidence in the potential of the shallow gas play and increases the expectation of success for the permitted GOLD and SCHOEN prospects," said ADX Energy executive chairman Ian Tchacos.
With ADX holding a 50 per cent economic interest, the plan is to move as rapidly as possible. Sitting a convenient two kilometres from open-access pipeline infrastructure, any commercial gas hit at HOCH-1 could be swiftly tied into the grid, potentially turning a drilling success into a fast-track cashflow story.
Notably, nearby analogue wells have flowed at up to 9 million standard cubic feet per day, demonstrating what these shallow targets can achieve when they are operational.
The company is not a one-trick pony. While the shallow gas is the immediate prize, ADX is maintaining steady cash flow from its Vienna basin and Anshof operations. It also has its deeper Welchau project waiting in the wings, a much larger oil and gas system that could eventually reshape the company’s production profile.
For ADX, the macro backdrop could not be better. With Europe desperate for domestic energy and pivoting away from Russian imports, a near-field, fast-track gas discovery like this is extremely valuable.
With the drill rods still spinning at HOCH-1, the market is anticipating the wireline logging program, due to start today, and a quick-look interpretation to confirm the gas-filled prize found so far.
If the data stacks up, ADX will waste no time running casing and completing the well for production testing. That critical next step could finally reveal the true productivity and reserve potential of this fresh Austrian discovery.
It is a cracking start to the season in Austria. If the flow tests live up to the drilling data, ADX might just be on the cusp of a repeatable, revenue-ready gas story in the heart of Europe.
