ARMOUR Energy has become the first Australian company to flow gas from shale using the fracking technique that has revolutionised US energy markets. Armour announced it had successfully received continuous gas flows from the well in the Lawn shale formation in north-west Queensland. Armour announced that it was the first successful gas flows in Australia from a horizontal fracked well, which is the drilling technology that has driven the US shale revolution. The boom in shale gas – which is gas trapped in rocks at deeper levels than both conventional and coal seam gas – due to advances in drilling technology has given US industry a boost by providing cheaper energy. Armour’s chief executive Robbert (Robbert) de Weijer said the company wanted to provide a similar solution in Australia, supporting new LNG export contracts and supply to Australia’s east coast. Armour’s results to date support northern Australia as an emerging new hydrocarbon province, he said. The company owns 133,000 sq km of exploration licences in the Macarthur Basin and South Nicolson Basin in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Production or sales would still be several years away at least, with no pipelines in the area to get the gas to market. Mr de Weijer said the the company had signed an agreement with pipeline operator APA Group to link its gas to east coast markets. However first it has to prove over a three-four year program that there is enough gas to supply the equivalent of six million tonnes of LNG a year. Despite the good news investors are yet to be convinced, with the share price falling 2.5 cents, or 9.3 per cent, to 24.5 cents.
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