Tight radius drilling in coal, a re-emerging technology
Raymond L. JohnsonA
Prof Raymond Johnson Jr is currently General Manager of Technical Services at Novus Fuels and Professor of Well Engineering and Production Technology at the University of Queensland, Centre for Gas and Energy Transformation. He has 43 years of experience, a PhD in Mining Engineering, an MSc in Petroleum Engineering, a Graduate Diploma in Information Technology, and a BA in Chemistry. Prof Johnson is a Life Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), past Queensland SPE Section Chair, twice Co-Chair of the SPE Unconventional Reservoir Conference Asia Pacific, 2019 Co-Chair and 2021 Advisor of the URTeC Asia Pacific Conference, three-time SPE Regional Technical Award Recipient (Production Operations, Management and Information and Completion Optimisation) and 2023 SPE Regional Service Award Recipient. Ray has served in a number of Technical and Management positions in service, operating and consulting companies in the United States and Australia. |
Matthew Mason is currently General Manager of Operations at Novus Fuels, he has 12 years of experience in the resource industry and holds a BSc in Metallurgy and an MSc in Petroleum Engineering. Matt has held multiple roles including management across a range of technical and operational roles across conventional and unconventional resources relating to drilling and production technology. |
Abstract
Tight radius drilling (TRD) technology presents a novel drilling technique to enhance productivity from shallow coal seams, particularly at depths where drainage from surface-to-inseam (SIS) wells is limited and hydraulic fractures propagate horizontally. The technology works by boring multiple horizontal laterals at varying angles into the coal seam perpendicular to the originating vertical well bore. The laterals propagate using a flexible hose and hydraulic jetting nozzle, and lateral progress is measured using the wired transmission. TRD can be deployed in mining or coal seam gas (CSG) environments, particularly in low-permeability, highly compartmentalised coals. Historically, TRD laterals in mining applications have penetrated up to 200 m and total lengths of ~1400 m from a single coal wellbore. This study reports historical measured results of created lateral lengths in two past successful applications, illustrating TRD’s benefits for mining applications in the Bowen Basin. These findings indicate that TRD could complement SIS technologies for CSG applications and compete with SIS wells in shallow, compartmentalised or low-permeability CSG reservoirs where increased surface area and broader areal extent are necessary to achieve a commercial rate.
Keywords: CBM, coal seam gas, coalbed methane, CSG, drilling, mine predrainage, tight radius drilling, TRD.
Prof Raymond Johnson Jr is currently General Manager of Technical Services at Novus Fuels and Professor of Well Engineering and Production Technology at the University of Queensland, Centre for Gas and Energy Transformation. He has 43 years of experience, a PhD in Mining Engineering, an MSc in Petroleum Engineering, a Graduate Diploma in Information Technology, and a BA in Chemistry. Prof Johnson is a Life Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), past Queensland SPE Section Chair, twice Co-Chair of the SPE Unconventional Reservoir Conference Asia Pacific, 2019 Co-Chair and 2021 Advisor of the URTeC Asia Pacific Conference, three-time SPE Regional Technical Award Recipient (Production Operations, Management and Information and Completion Optimisation) and 2023 SPE Regional Service Award Recipient. Ray has served in a number of Technical and Management positions in service, operating and consulting companies in the United States and Australia. |
Matthew Mason is currently General Manager of Operations at Novus Fuels, he has 12 years of experience in the resource industry and holds a BSc in Metallurgy and an MSc in Petroleum Engineering. Matt has held multiple roles including management across a range of technical and operational roles across conventional and unconventional resources relating to drilling and production technology. |
