Falcon reports Beetaloo gas flow

Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd., JV partner to Origin Energy Ltd. in the Beetaloo basin of the Northern Territory, has reported a normalized gas flow rate equivalent to 5 MMcfd per 1,000 m of horizontal section in the group’s Amungee NW-1H well.

The well, in exploration permit EP 98 about 60 km east of Daly Waters, is the first horizontal well to be drilled and the first to be fractured in the basin.

Amungee NW-1H was drilled in November 2015 to a total measured depth of 3,808 m, including a 1,100 m horizontal section.

Eleven hydraulic stimulation stages were completed in September 2016 along the horizontal section in the Middle Velkerri B shale zone.

In December 2016, a 57-day extended production test was completed with production averaging 1.1 MMcfd.

The well was put back on production testing on Aug. 7 with initial flow rates during the first 48 hours ranging from 2-4 MMcfd. Flow rates averaged 1.23 MMcfd over the first 23 days.

Origin, as operator, ran a production log test on Aug. 19 which confirmed that only 5-15% of the production came from stages 1-7 beyond the casing deformation point at 3,112 m, while 85-95% of the production came from stages 8-11 spanning a 200 m horizontal section prior to the casing deformation.

The production log test results equate to a normalized gas flow rate of 5.2-5.8 MMcfd per 1,000 m of horizontal section.

Stages 8-11 may be representative of the deliverability that can be achieved within the Middle Velkerri B shale at Amungee, Falcon said, adding that a typical future production well would be likely to have a horizontal production section of up to 3 km.

The result significantly increases the company’s assessment of the Velkerri dry gas play and the potential of the Beetaloo basin, the company continued.