Logistical challenges of the largest fracture stimulation in Australian history
Kelvin Wuttke A * , Toseef Ahmad A , Daniel Kalinin A and Alex Bruce BA
B
Kelvin Wuttke is one of the Directors at inGauge Energy. Kelvin is a Drilling and Completions Engineer with over 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, encompassing onshore, offshore, and conventional and unconventional operations. With a wealth of leadership roles with Egis, Chevron, Santos and inGauge his expertise spans drilling and completions design, well integrity, stimulation, workovers, artificial lift and pipeline operations. Kelvin has successfully managed complex projects including international offshore operations, conventional onshore projects in the Cooper Basin, and unconventional CSG and shale developments in Queensland and the Northern Territory, including combined drilling, completion and stimulation activities, remediation workovers, underbalanced drilling and abandonments. As a Chartered Professional Engineer, Kelvin holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) and a Master of Business Administration. |
Toseef Ahmad is a Senior Completion Engineer with over 15 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. He specialises in the design and execution of well completions and related services, with extensive experience across the Middle East, West Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia. His expertise spans onshore, offshore and unconventional reservoirs, including shale and CSG. Toseef holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from U.E.T, Lahore, and a Master of Science degree in Project Management from Curtin University. He has authored several SPE papers on sand control and stimulation. Currently, he serves as the Project Manager for fracture stimulation operations in shale gas development in the Beetaloo Basin. |
Daniel Kalinin, Stimulation and Completions Consultant with over 30 years of international experience. Daniel was inGauge Energy’s Stimulation Engineer on Carpentaria wells and is actively involved in unconventional (shale, tight gas and CSG) reserves and integration of reservoir evaluation and characterisation into appraisal and stimulation activities. Daniel has held various technical positions with SLB in Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia. Before joining Schlumberger in 1999 he managed a team of engineers for Canadian Fracmaster in Western Siberia. Daniel has a major in structural geology from Novosibirsk State University in 1993 and economics from Tomsk Architecture and Construction Academy; attended post-grad programs at University of Tulsa, IFP and Imperial College. |
Dr Alex Bruce was appointed Chief Geoscientist of Empire Energy Group Limited in March 2020 to work the company’s Beetaloo Sub-basin unconventional shale assets in the Northern Territory. Dr Bruce has over 20 years of upstream oil and gas experience working for operating companies. Before joining Empire, he was most recently with Cooper Basin-focussed player Bridgeport Energy and has served in similar roles with mid-cap ASX oil and gas companies including AWE, Drillsearch Energy and ROC oil. Dr Bruce is a past President of the NSW Branch of the PESA, is a member of SPE and AAPG and earned his PhD from the University of NSW in reservoir characterisation using machine learning. |
Abstract
The stimulation of Empire Energy’s Carpentaria-3H shale well in the Beetaloo Basin of the Northern Territory (NT) was the largest in the Australian petroleum industry history, successfully placing 6000 tonnes, the entire stock of frac sand available in Australia at the time. The significantly larger planned fracture stimulation of Carpentaria-5H will stretch the logistical capability of the relatively small Australian petroleum industry and the capability of the Beetaloo region and the NT. This paper will discuss the logistical challenges of the initial frac campaigns and the way forward for ongoing operations. The challenging logistics will require extensive preparation and a coordinated approach with local and remote suppliers, and the NT government. In the future continuous operations will require an evolution in these techniques to ensure operations can be cost-effectively managed whilst minimising risks.
Keywords: Beetaloo, challenges, fracture stimulation, logistics, Northern Territory, optimisation, remote, sand sourcing.
Kelvin Wuttke is one of the Directors at inGauge Energy. Kelvin is a Drilling and Completions Engineer with over 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, encompassing onshore, offshore, and conventional and unconventional operations. With a wealth of leadership roles with Egis, Chevron, Santos and inGauge his expertise spans drilling and completions design, well integrity, stimulation, workovers, artificial lift and pipeline operations. Kelvin has successfully managed complex projects including international offshore operations, conventional onshore projects in the Cooper Basin, and unconventional CSG and shale developments in Queensland and the Northern Territory, including combined drilling, completion and stimulation activities, remediation workovers, underbalanced drilling and abandonments. As a Chartered Professional Engineer, Kelvin holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) and a Master of Business Administration. |
Toseef Ahmad is a Senior Completion Engineer with over 15 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. He specialises in the design and execution of well completions and related services, with extensive experience across the Middle East, West Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia. His expertise spans onshore, offshore and unconventional reservoirs, including shale and CSG. Toseef holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from U.E.T, Lahore, and a Master of Science degree in Project Management from Curtin University. He has authored several SPE papers on sand control and stimulation. Currently, he serves as the Project Manager for fracture stimulation operations in shale gas development in the Beetaloo Basin. |
Daniel Kalinin, Stimulation and Completions Consultant with over 30 years of international experience. Daniel was inGauge Energy’s Stimulation Engineer on Carpentaria wells and is actively involved in unconventional (shale, tight gas and CSG) reserves and integration of reservoir evaluation and characterisation into appraisal and stimulation activities. Daniel has held various technical positions with SLB in Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia. Before joining Schlumberger in 1999 he managed a team of engineers for Canadian Fracmaster in Western Siberia. Daniel has a major in structural geology from Novosibirsk State University in 1993 and economics from Tomsk Architecture and Construction Academy; attended post-grad programs at University of Tulsa, IFP and Imperial College. |
Dr Alex Bruce was appointed Chief Geoscientist of Empire Energy Group Limited in March 2020 to work the company’s Beetaloo Sub-basin unconventional shale assets in the Northern Territory. Dr Bruce has over 20 years of upstream oil and gas experience working for operating companies. Before joining Empire, he was most recently with Cooper Basin-focussed player Bridgeport Energy and has served in similar roles with mid-cap ASX oil and gas companies including AWE, Drillsearch Energy and ROC oil. Dr Bruce is a past President of the NSW Branch of the PESA, is a member of SPE and AAPG and earned his PhD from the University of NSW in reservoir characterisation using machine learning. |
