Reservoir quality and diagenesis of the West Erregulla field, North Perth Basin, Western Australia
Matthew Wright A * , Andrew Farley A , Hannah Karena A and Anthony Cortis BA Strike Energy Limited, West Perth, WA, Australia.
B IGESI Consulting, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The APPEA Journal 62 S508-S513 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ21136
Accepted: 24 February 2022 Published: 13 May 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.
Abstract
The West Erregulla field is the deepest onshore gas discovery in Australia today, with three wells drilled to more than 5000 m vertical depth. The reservoir quality has been preserved at depth by clay coating, which shows a similar trend with core from other shallower fields in the northern Perth Basin such as Waitsia and Beharra Springs Deep. The primary reservoir in the West Erregulla field is the Permian Kingia Sandstone that was deposited in a tidal estuary environment, which allowed for mixing of meteoric and saline waters. This depositional setting has been inferred from core, image logs and seismic interpretation. This setting resulted in quartz grains coated in chlorite/illite that has limited quartz overgrowth cements and maintained intergranular porosity. This paper presents Strike’s interpretations of the depositional environment that resulted in the anomalous depth–porosity trend based on core analysis, high-resolution borehole image log interpretation and cuttings.
Keywords: anomalous porosity, Beharra Springs Deep, clay coating, Kingia Sandstone, north Perth Basin, Permian, Strike Energy, Waitsia, West Erregulla.
Matthew Wright has over 15 years of oil and gas experience and graduated from Curtin University (Perth) with a B.Sc. in Geology. He spent the first 12 years of his career working with Baker Hughes supporting Australia and Asia Pacific operations as a log analyst and geosteering supervisor while being involved in advancements in both LWD and mudlogging technology. Matthew joined Strike Energy in early 2020 as a Senior Geoscientist just prior to the start of the West Erregulla appraisal campaign and is responsible for operations and formation evaluation. |
Andrew Farley graduated from the University of Newcastle (Australia) in 2002 with a B.Sc. in Geology. He has 20 years of experience working with onshore oil and gas operators on exploration and development projects in all five mainland states of Australia. Prior to joining Strike Energy in 2012, Andrew worked with AGL Energy in Sydney. Andrew has held a number of technical positions at Strike Energy, becoming Exploration Manager in September 2019. Andrew has been a key member of the Strike team during the design and execution of the company’s exploration and development projects, most notably the West Erregulla discovery in the Perth Basin. |
Hannah Karena graduated from Queensland University of Technology with a B.Sc. in Geology and Environmental Science. She has over 10 years of oil and gas experience, starting off her career at Santos in Reservoir Development before spending 6 years with Origin Energy working on their Coal Seam Gas assets in Queensland overseeing the planning, drilling and completion of their vertical and horizontal wells. In 2018 Hannah made the move to Western Australia where she started working for KUFPEC on their non-operated Northwest Shelf Assets. Hannah joined Strike Energy in early 2020 mid-way through the West Erregulla development campaign and is responsible for well planning, operations and formation evaluation. |
Anthony (Tony) Cortis is a Professional Geologist (APEGA) and Principal in Igesi Consulting Inc. based in Canada. Tony has worked closely with Strike Energy Ltd since 2017 and has been part of teams evaluating both deep coals in the Cooper Basin and the various plays in the North Perth Basin. He holds a B.Sc. in Geology from Laurentian University and M.Sc. in Geology from the University of Manitoba. His company provides integrated upstream and venture management consulting to clients. Previously he worked 28 years for both Shell Canada and Royal Dutch Shell in various roles both in Canada and worldwide. |
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