feature sponsor

the future for australian energy

An Overview Of Tight Gas Resources In Australia

by Ingrid Campbell, Lakes Oil

Introduction

ight gas represents a significant portion of natural gas reservoirs worldwide. Currently, about one-third of the gas production in the US comes from so-called unconventional sources, which include tight gas. Similarly, large reserves of tight gas have been identified in Canada, India, China as well as several European countries. In Australia, there are very clear signs of the emergence of a tight gas industry and one that is following the North American model. The success of the tight gas story in Australia will be interesting and challenging. Exploration and development will also need to deal with complex regulations and differing fiscal policies across the states and territories.

Fig. 1. Schematic cross-section showing the general setting of basin centred /low permeability regional gas accumulations (after Schenk & Pollastro, 2002).

Tight gas
The significant feature of tight gas is that the gas is immobile and hence has been preserved from leakage. Tight gas is held in low permeability reservoirs that generally do not naturally flow gas to surface at commercial rates. In order to release the gas, the reservoir must be effectively stimulated before hydrocarbon production. In contrast to conventionally trapped hydrocarbon accumulations, regional low permeability gas systems (RLPGS) or basin-centred gas accumulations (BCGA) are typically gas saturated and regionally pervasive hydrocarbon accumulations. The gas accumulates as a continuous fluid on a regional scale and is bounded by aquifers vertically and laterally, commonly lacking a down-dip water contact. Tight gas is not necessarily structurally bound nor readily identified from conventional geophysical logs (Figures.1 and 2). Commerciality of gas from RLPGSs is generally associated with areas of enhanced reservoir quality, known as sweet spots. These are areas of enhanced porosity and permeability thought to be controlled by: 1) depositional trends of enhanced porosity and permeability; 2) enhanced natural fracturing, hence increased permeability; or 3) overpressuring and improved reservoir properties in a pressure compartment. Identification and mapping of sweet spots

Fig. 2. Shows diffuse capillary pressure seal envisioned for basin centred /low permeability regional gas accumulations (Modified after Law (2002)

can be facilitated by advanced 3D seismic mapping techniques and detailed reservoir characterisation. The accumulations range from single, isolated reservoirs a few metres thick to multiple, stacked reservoirs of several thousand metres thickness. Permeabilities in these systems range from 0.1 millidarcies (mD) to 0.0001md and the reservoir, source and seal are often one and the same, thus forming a petroleum system. The source rocks are generating, or must have

generated, significant volumes of gas creating tall gas chimneys. Pressures within RLPGS can be the same, higher, or lower than the regional aquifer.

The history of tight gas extraction

The defining feature of the history of tight gas exploration in North America has been the high level of scepticism by the major global oil and gas companies towards the commercialisation of this unconventional resource. It was, and is, the smaller independent explorers, who were motivated to develop the techniques and

June/July 2009 | PESA News |

95

the future for australian energy

feature sponsor

has produced over 2.4 Tscf. These two fields contain very large gas reserves that, 20 years ago, could not be economically extracted. Another example, the Barnett Shale play, now with over 11,000 wells with cumulative production of 4.8 Tscf, has a similar development history. The key to producing these reservoirs was in the stimulation technology and the advances in horizontal drilling. Development of tight gas sands/shales in North America has only been possible because of modern stimulation techniques and a pipeline infrastructure that allows the wells to be produced immediately after completion. The path which Australia is taking in tight gas is remarkably similar to the North American experience. In Western Australia, in the Perth Basin, WAPET discovered Gingin and Warro in 1965 and 1977 respectively, and Whicher Range was discovered by Union Oil in 1968. A similar discovery pattern occurred in Victoria in the onshore Gippsland Basin, when Arco made its first gas discovery in North Seaspray-1 in the mid1960s in a formation (Strzelecki Group), which is considered by many to be economic basement. In 2000, Lakes Oil extended the tight gas potential of the onshore Gippsland Basin when it discovered the North Seaspray and Trifon tight gas fields, followed by the Wombat field in 2004. More recently, in the Cooper Basin in South Australia, Santos has identified highly prospective,

Fig.3. A typical Canadian fracture stimulation spread : Note the large number of pumping trucks used on site certainly far greater capacity than currently used in Australia.

technology for extracting gas commercially from tight reservoirs. This slow process of acceptance of the commerciality of tight gas extraction has now altered markedly, culminating in the presentday rush by the majors to participate in tight gas in North America. The Jonah field and the Pinedale Anticline, both in Sublette County, Wyoming and the

Barnett Shale play in the Fort Worth Basin in Texas are prime examples of the slow progress and long lead times which the independent producers experienced in achieving commercial production. Gas was first detected in the Pinedale Anticline around 1957, but significant production took another 40 years to emerge. The field has now produced over 1.2 Tscf. Similarly, a 10 year gap followed the discovery of the Jonah Field, which

Fig. 4. Locality map of the Warro and Gingin gas fields in the northern Perth Basin.
96 | PESA News | June/July 2009

Fig. 5. Locality map of the Whicher Range gas field in the southern Perth Basin.

feature sponsor

the future for australian energy

Fig. 6. Locality map showing Santoss Moomba /Big Lake fields in the Cooper Basin.

extensive tight gas resources in addition to its conventional gas resources (Figure 3).

Current state of play in Australia an overview

Perth Basin Western Australias onshore Perth Basin has several tight gas reservoirs that may contain an estimated cumulative gas-in-place resource of about 10 Tscf (DoIR, 2008). The three most advanced tight gas plays are the Whicher Range in the south Perth Basin and the Warro and Gingin fields in the north Perth Basin. All these fields are in close proximity to existing pipelines and within about 200 km of Perth. There are some five less advanced fields in the northern Perth Basin which are also prospective for tight gas. These include the West Euregulla, Ocean Hill, Corybas, Senecio and Snottygobble fields. At the time of writing, the most advanced project in WA is the Warro field, in the northern Perth Basin where the testing (after fracing) of the first tight gas well being drilled by Latent

Petroleum (Warro-3) has resulted in initial flow rates of 2.1 MMcf of gas per day and 1565 bbl of frac fluids per day (12 May 2009). After further flow testing, the gas flow rate then increased to 2.3 MMcf of gas per day and the frac fluids decreased to 750 bblpd (18 May 2009). The company, in partnership with Alcoa and Transerv Energy, is planning to drill more than 200 wells in this tight gas field which, by some estimates, could hold up to 7.5 Tcf of gas initially in place (GIIP) (Figure 4). The Whicher Range field in the southern Perth Basin, near Busselton, is now operated by Whicher Range Energy (WRE). Five wells have
Basin
Perth Cooper Gippsland

encountered tight gas at Whicher Range field and two wells (WR-1 and WR-4) will produce around 1 to 1.5 MMcfpd. The rate from WR-4 was recently validated from an extended well test, conducted by the company in October 2008. Working with Advanced Well Technologies (AWT), the company plans to drill a sidetrack of WR-4 using underbalanced drilling methods, hoping to prove production rates in excess of 3 MMcf are possible from one well using this technology. Pending success, WR-1 may also be sidetracked with the intention to establish a small scale pilot extended production project. Commercialisation options are currently being evaluated but the field is well positioned
Depth to reservoir (m)
~3500 ~2700 ~1400

Tight Gas Reservoir

Cattamara Coal Measures, Irwin River Coal Measures and Sue Group Gidgealpa Group Strzelecki Group

Reservoir Age(s)
Jurrasic and Permian Permian Lower Cretaceous

Reservoir Permeability (md)

0.1 to 0.0001 0.1 to 0.0001 2.0 to 0.0001

Table 1. Tight gas reservoirs and their properties in three tight gas Australian fields.

June/July 2009 | PESA News |

97

the future for australian energy

feature sponsor

onshore Gippsland Basin. One of these, the Wombat field, has been assessed as having a mean contingent GIIP resource of 700 Bscf. The Wombat field is currently the most advanced of the untapped onshore gas fields in Lakes Oils PRL 2 acreage, which include the Trifon, Gangell and Wombat fields and the very large Baragwanath Anticline. To date, three wells have been drilled across the Wombat structure, all of which encountered encouraging gas flows in the Lower Cretaceous Strzelecki Group during DSTs and increased flows following fracture stimulation programs. Its near term program includes further testing and fracing of its tight gas fields to prove the commerciality of its tight gas and unconventional resources. Part of the upcoming program will be to test an oil zone in the Strzelecki Group that flowed oil in Wombat 3 at ~2100 m depth. The company recovered 8 bbl of 39 degree API oil (the first recovered Strzelecki oil) from a natural fracture and believes that it originates from a deeper terrestrial source which was not reached at the Wombat 3 location. There is potential for deeper unconventional or conventional oil to be found in deeper Lower Cretaceous sediments (such as known organic-rich shales within the Rintouls Ck Sst) and the possibility of the discovery of a commercial oil play beneath the conventional Tertiary oil plays. Strzelecki oil (Barber, 2006) has also been indicated in small amounts at numerous

Fig. 7. Locality map of the Wombat and Trifon gas fields in Lakes Oils PRL2 acreage, onshore Gippsland Basin showing field locations in relation to existing pipeline infrastructure.

adjacent to a high demand region in the South West. WRE believes that once commerciality can be established, a phased field development will be progressed targeting the expanding South West market. Gas in place for Whicher Range has been estimated at between 1.5 and 3.7 Tcf (Figure 5). The Gingin field in the northern Perth Basin is currently operated by Empire Oil and Gas N.L. Three wells have intersected gas saturated sandstones with gross intervals of about 300 m in the Jurassic Catamurra Coal Measures. Initial production commenced in 1972, but further production at sustained rates could not be sustained after 1976. A cumulative total of 1.7 Bcf and 19.9 MMbbl of condensate were produced over that period. The resource potential in the greater Gingin area is estimated to be as much as 1Tcf, some of which could be conventional reservoirs. Further high density seismic is required to more clearly define the structure, but is currently hampered by environmental constraints. Cooper Basin As well as its conventional resources in the Cooper Basin, Santos and others have identified additional unconventional resources and have an ongoing program for developing these tight gas plays. Over the last four years, Santos has been trialling several completion methods, including fracture stimulation, in an attempt to commercialise its tight gas resources in the Moomba and Big Lakes fields. To date, Santos estimates there is a mean tight gas contingent resource of 8 Tcf in the Moomba/ Big Lake fields, with permeabilities

ranging from 0.01 mD to nannodarcy levels at average depths of about 2,700 m. Additionally, at an investor briefing in June 2008, Santos disclosed that its Cooper Basin properties had an estimated potential resource of greater than 7 Tcf in unconventional reservoirs (Figure 6). Onshore Gippsland Basin Despite being one of the smaller players, Lakes Oil has spent over $40 MM in the last nine years proving up its tight gas resources in the

Fig. 8. Australian sedimentary basins showing areas of known and potential tight gas regions.

98

| PESA News | June/July 2009

the future for australian energy

locations across the onshore Gippsland Basin (at Loy Yang 2, Megascolides 2 and Boundary Creek 2), all of which have similar characteristics to the oils found in the Tertiary reservoirs in the offshore fields These wells are located up to 150 km inland from the coast (Figure 7.) The economics of tight gas production from these locations will largely depend on the resource volumes and their proximity to pipelines and markets. A first pass review of possible onshore tight gas regions in Australian reveals that there are numerous basins that have tight gas potential and could be targeted for exploration. These basins have source, seal and reservoir sequences of varying ages that have the characteristics of potential RLPGSs. The list is by no means exhaustive. These areas of interest are indicated in figure 8.

feature sponsor

Australian sedimentary basins showing areas of known and potential tight gas regions.

Tight gaslooking ahead

Momentum in tight gas exploration is building fast in Australia, as witnessed by Santos and Alcoa, which are now close to commercial production of tight gas from the Perth and Cooper basins. In the onshore Gippsland Basin, Lakes Oil believes it is close to proving up its commercial tight gas resource at its Wombat and Trifon fields. Tight gas clearly has the potential to occupy the energy headlines in precisely the same manner as has occurred with Queensland/NSW coal seam gas, where both domestic and offshore energy needs have led to rapid infrastructure developments. As already noted from the North American experience, the key to success of commercial development of tight gas in Australia lies in the rapid development of modern stimulation techniques and a pipeline infrastructure that allows the wells to be produced immediately after completion. In the medium term, the disparity between east and west coast gas prices will likely impact on the project timelines, development, commerciality and the deliverability of gas tight resources. Other factors such as equipment availability, royalties and government support will also affect the rate of development of the tight gas industry in Australia.

Other possible tight gas plays in Australia

Investigation of potential tight gas plays in Australia suggests that several basins contain potential tight gas hydrocarbon systems that are currently in the gas generating window or have generated gas.

Acknowledgements
The author thanks Santos, Whicher Range Energy, Empire Oil and Gas, AWE and Latent Petroleum for their assistance and also my colleagues in Lakes Oil for their contributions.

The more extreme the environment, the more you need Geokinetics. Because our highly capable crews have earned their world-class reputation by adapting to the toughest challenges and elding an impressive array of data-acquisition tools. They have planted geophones, transported drills and deployed telemetry units in some of the planets most hostile environments: from Indonesias steamy jungles to Colombias treacherous mountains to Bangladeshs precarious transition zones. The tougher the challenge, the greater their satisfaction. Which is why more and more results-oriented energy companies depend on Geokinetics. We deliver the decision-critical intelligence it takes to cut the cost of every barrel of oil you discover.

References cited
Barber, C., 2006. . Hydrocarbon characterisation study for Lakes Oil. Geotech unpubl.report (confidential) Law, B.E., 2002. Basin-centred gas systems. AAPG Bulletin v.86, p.18911919. Sharifzadeh, A.,2007 . Tight Gas Resources in Western Australia. Petroleum W.A Magazine, 2007 p.2831. Schenk, C. J., and Pollastro, R. M., 2002. Natural gas production in the United States. US Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS- 11301 2p.

100 | PESA News | June/July 2009