Managing director Howard McLaughlin said the well was producing gas at the same rate and pressure that it tested up several months ago.

“Production from this well will give us key information in relation to the Morrow potential in this part of our acreage and hence the economics of future drilling,” he said.

Antares owns 79.4% of Ellis-4, which was spudded last June and reached a total depth of 11,623 feet in July.

A major gas kick was encountered upon entering the top Morrow A sand and a significant amount of gas was flowed to surface. Hole instability due to the gas entering the well bore precluded the running of open hole logs over the Morrow section. The well was cased and logging tools were run inside casing to evaluate the Morrow section.

The upper Morrow A was perforated in October in preparation for a hydraulic fracture program over the Morrow A and upper B sands. A fracture stimulation of the Morrow A and upper B sands failed to flow significant volumes of gas.

Following the frac, operations were suspended pending the results of two offset wells drilled by Mewbourne (Kelln Trust-5-1) and Unit Drilling (Yoder-1), according to Antares.