Northern Territory gas development – how access to technology is unlocking resources
Simon Molyneux A * , Alexander Weber A and Alex Fuerst AA
Simon is the Managing Director of Molyneux Advisors, amalgamating over 23 years of experience acquired during his time at Santos, Talisman Energy and Shell. Simon enjoys communicating about the energy industry and creating value for his clients and their resources. |
Alexander Weber is a senior leader with expertise in petroleum engineering, joint venture management and asset integrity performance. Through strategic foresight, drive, and being a recognised facilitator for transformational organisational change, Alex’s career has seen him work for nearly 30 years in various top-tier roles within the global Shell Group. In his last role as Development Manager Malaysia/Philippines, he has led over 100 professionals, spread across four locations, delivering integrated technical assurance and project reviews at key delivery milestones. |
Alex Fuerst is a dynamic geoscientist with a diverse background in geology, geophysics, geochemistry and petrophysics. With over 10 years of geological experience, Alex has established a reputation for his well-rounded exploration skillset and advanced seismic interpretation skills, effectively identifying new, technically robust prospectivity in heavily-explored acreage, and generating multiple commercial stratigraphic prospects. Throughout his career, Alex has applied his cross-discipline approach to prospect identification and maturation, applying his solid understanding of different techniques to reduce risk and uncertainty. |
Abstract
The Beetaloo Sub-basin is a gas-rich part of the Northern Territory, Australia. In this work, the impact of technology in unlocking the resources in this basin will be considered. The Beetaloo Sub-basin has been the locus of unconventional shale gas development activity in Australia. Local operators have capitalised on technological advancements in North America, leading to a significant increase in estimated ultimate recovery per well compared to the production levels seen at the onset of the unconventional shale industry in the mid-2000s. Specifically, the implementation of state-of-the-art drilling and fracturing technology in the most recent wells has improved the gas recovery factor in the vicinity of the well from ~5% to 20–25%. This improvement in recovery factor per well is a step-change in unconventional well performance. This improvement upgrades possible recoverable resource across the Beetaloo Sub-basin. To economically develop this resource an increase in scale and pace of activity is necessary.
Keywords: Australia, Beetaloo, development, exploration, gas, shale, unconventional, Velkerri.
Simon is the Managing Director of Molyneux Advisors, amalgamating over 23 years of experience acquired during his time at Santos, Talisman Energy and Shell. Simon enjoys communicating about the energy industry and creating value for his clients and their resources. |
Alexander Weber is a senior leader with expertise in petroleum engineering, joint venture management and asset integrity performance. Through strategic foresight, drive, and being a recognised facilitator for transformational organisational change, Alex’s career has seen him work for nearly 30 years in various top-tier roles within the global Shell Group. In his last role as Development Manager Malaysia/Philippines, he has led over 100 professionals, spread across four locations, delivering integrated technical assurance and project reviews at key delivery milestones. |
Alex Fuerst is a dynamic geoscientist with a diverse background in geology, geophysics, geochemistry and petrophysics. With over 10 years of geological experience, Alex has established a reputation for his well-rounded exploration skillset and advanced seismic interpretation skills, effectively identifying new, technically robust prospectivity in heavily-explored acreage, and generating multiple commercial stratigraphic prospects. Throughout his career, Alex has applied his cross-discipline approach to prospect identification and maturation, applying his solid understanding of different techniques to reduce risk and uncertainty. |
