Maximising deliverability of the Kipper Field to ensure reliable supply of gas into the east coast Australia market
Steven Spencer A * , Izaz-ul Haque A , Afif Jais A , Arvo Nagel A , Melanie Ryan A , Grant Shaw A and Jianlin Wang AA
Steven is an ExxonMobil exploration and production geoscientist (Melbourne, Australia). He completed a BSc (Hons)/BCom double degree at La Trobe University/The University of Melbourne and joined Esso Australia in 2008. He has worked on multiple projects across the Gippsland Basin, North West Shelf and Gulf of Papua. With interest in quantitative seismic interpretation and geophysics, Steve has also honed a broad skillset in assessment, well planning and geological modelling. He is currently the lead production geoscientist for the Kipper Field (Gippsland Basin). Steven is a longstanding member of PESA and has also been an SEG member. |
Izaz-ul Haque has a Bachelor of Petroleum Engineering Degree (University of New South Wales) and an MSc in Petroleum Engineering. He is currently the Reservoir Engineering Team lead for the Gippsland Basin and the Reserves Coordinator for the asset. Prior to joining Exxon in May 2023, Izaz worked for Schlumberger, Oil Search and Santos Limited across Saudi Arabia, Australia and Papua New Guinea over 15 years. His focus is on well testing, production forecasting, incremental production opportunity generation and reservoir surveillance. Izaz is a Fellow member with Engineers Australia and a member of SPE. |
Afif Jais is an ExxonMobil Production Engineer (Melbourne, Australia). He completed a BSc at Texas A&M University in 2012. He has worked on projects in Malaysia and New Zealand, prior to joining ExxonMobil in Australia. Afif is a CPEng in Australia, a member of SPE and secretary for the SPE Victoria and Tasmania Section committee. |
Arvo Nagel is a contract Reservoir Engineer supporting ExxonMobil’s Gippsland Basin subsurface team in Melbourne, Australia. He completed a BEng (Hons) at the University of Tasmania and a MSc in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Texas. He has worked for numerous companies including Schlumberger, ExxonMobil, Santos, Saudi Aramco, Delhi Petroleum, Anzon Australia and Origin Energy. He has expertise in reservoir engineering, reservoir management and production engineering. Arvo is lifetime member of SPE. |
Melanie Ryan graduated from the University of Adelaide with a BSc (Hons) in Geology. She joined Esso Australia in 2001 and has worked in various development and production roles across the Gippsland Basin, Malay Basin, North West Shelf and Papua New Guinea. Melanie is the Supervisor of the Gippsland Basin Geoscience team. |
Grant Shaw was the Project Manager for the execute stage of the Kipper Compression Project and is currently a Project Manager role within the projects organisation. He has a double degree in Chemical Engineering (Hons) and Science (University of Melbourne, 2008). Since graduating, he has worked for ExxonMobil in technical (facilities and subsea), development planning and project roles across both the production and projects organisations. He has experience within Esso Australia Upstream and also the Australian Midstream business. |
Jianlin Wang has BSc and MSc degrees in Civil Engineering (Tianjin University) and a PhD in Geomechanics (University of Minnesota). He has been with ExxonMobil for ~16 years and has held a variety of technical and leadership positions globally in reservoir engineering. Jianlin’s experiences include R&D, enhanced oil recovery, reservoir simulation, production optimisation and development of conventional, unconventional, heavy oil and deep-water resources. He has had over 30 publications and 17 granted patents in his fields. Jianlin joined ExxonMobil Australia in 2022 as the Production Subsurface Supervisor; prior to that he was the Reservoir Supervisor for Guyana development projects. |
Abstract
The Kipper gas field in Australia’s offshore Gippsland Basin has been in production since 2017 with two subsea wells in the initial development phase. With legacy fields from Bass Strait depleting, the Kipper Field plays an increasingly important role in the Gippsland Basin supply mix, where 100% of gas from the basin is sold into Australia’s east coast domestic market. The Kipper Unit Joint Venture (KUJV) partners are actively investing in field developments to responsibly manage the field and to secure reliable gas production into the next decade. The Kipper Field is unique as it is a Golden Beach Formation pressure depletion-drive reservoir. As such, the Kipper Compression Project, which was installed in 2024, will deliver the required infrastructure critical to maintaining plateau rates from the existing two production wells. Additionally, the KUJV partners have commenced planning a subsea infill well which, subject to final investment decision and regulatory approvals, is expected to come online in 2026, to accelerate and capture additional gas reserves. This effort has been underpinned by a collaborative multi-disciplinary approach which utilises new subsurface datasets, including 3D seismic acquired in 2020, to optimise this next phase of development. The Kipper Field is operated by Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd (32.5%), with partners Woodside Energy (Bass Strait) Pty Ltd (32.5%) and Mitsui E&P Australia Pty Ltd (35%).
Keywords: Bass Strait, compression, deliverability, east coast market, gas, gas supply, Gippsland Basin, Kipper Field, seismic data, volcanics.
Steven is an ExxonMobil exploration and production geoscientist (Melbourne, Australia). He completed a BSc (Hons)/BCom double degree at La Trobe University/The University of Melbourne and joined Esso Australia in 2008. He has worked on multiple projects across the Gippsland Basin, North West Shelf and Gulf of Papua. With interest in quantitative seismic interpretation and geophysics, Steve has also honed a broad skillset in assessment, well planning and geological modelling. He is currently the lead production geoscientist for the Kipper Field (Gippsland Basin). Steven is a longstanding member of PESA and has also been an SEG member. |
Izaz-ul Haque has a Bachelor of Petroleum Engineering Degree (University of New South Wales) and an MSc in Petroleum Engineering. He is currently the Reservoir Engineering Team lead for the Gippsland Basin and the Reserves Coordinator for the asset. Prior to joining Exxon in May 2023, Izaz worked for Schlumberger, Oil Search and Santos Limited across Saudi Arabia, Australia and Papua New Guinea over 15 years. His focus is on well testing, production forecasting, incremental production opportunity generation and reservoir surveillance. Izaz is a Fellow member with Engineers Australia and a member of SPE. |
Afif Jais is an ExxonMobil Production Engineer (Melbourne, Australia). He completed a BSc at Texas A&M University in 2012. He has worked on projects in Malaysia and New Zealand, prior to joining ExxonMobil in Australia. Afif is a CPEng in Australia, a member of SPE and secretary for the SPE Victoria and Tasmania Section committee. |
Arvo Nagel is a contract Reservoir Engineer supporting ExxonMobil’s Gippsland Basin subsurface team in Melbourne, Australia. He completed a BEng (Hons) at the University of Tasmania and a MSc in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Texas. He has worked for numerous companies including Schlumberger, ExxonMobil, Santos, Saudi Aramco, Delhi Petroleum, Anzon Australia and Origin Energy. He has expertise in reservoir engineering, reservoir management and production engineering. Arvo is lifetime member of SPE. |
Melanie Ryan graduated from the University of Adelaide with a BSc (Hons) in Geology. She joined Esso Australia in 2001 and has worked in various development and production roles across the Gippsland Basin, Malay Basin, North West Shelf and Papua New Guinea. Melanie is the Supervisor of the Gippsland Basin Geoscience team. |
Grant Shaw was the Project Manager for the execute stage of the Kipper Compression Project and is currently a Project Manager role within the projects organisation. He has a double degree in Chemical Engineering (Hons) and Science (University of Melbourne, 2008). Since graduating, he has worked for ExxonMobil in technical (facilities and subsea), development planning and project roles across both the production and projects organisations. He has experience within Esso Australia Upstream and also the Australian Midstream business. |
Jianlin Wang has BSc and MSc degrees in Civil Engineering (Tianjin University) and a PhD in Geomechanics (University of Minnesota). He has been with ExxonMobil for ~16 years and has held a variety of technical and leadership positions globally in reservoir engineering. Jianlin’s experiences include R&D, enhanced oil recovery, reservoir simulation, production optimisation and development of conventional, unconventional, heavy oil and deep-water resources. He has had over 30 publications and 17 granted patents in his fields. Jianlin joined ExxonMobil Australia in 2022 as the Production Subsurface Supervisor; prior to that he was the Reservoir Supervisor for Guyana development projects. |
