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Journal of Australian Energy Producers
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Exploiting the Cooper Basin: conventional lessons and appropriate analogues to guide an unconventional future

Brenton Richards A B and Alexander Côté A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Origin Energy, Level 3, 135 Coronation Drive, Milton, Queensland 4064, Australia.

B Corresponding authors. Email: brenton.richards@originenergy.com.au; alexander.cote@originenergy.com.au

The APPEA Journal 58(1) 339-366 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ17038
Submitted: 1 December 2017  Accepted: 2 February 2018   Published: 28 May 2018

Abstract

Over the past decade, there has been a paradigm shift in the exploitation strategy in North American tight gas plays from vertical to horizontal wells. This shift has yet to occur in Australia. The Cooper Basin has vast amounts of contingent and prospective tight gas resources that have yet to be unlocked commercially. These resources continue to be developed primarily with hydraulic fracture stimulated vertical wells. Operators have yet to challenge the status quo and test the Cooper Basin tight gas potential with a drilled, completed and tested horizontal well. There are many advantages to horizontal well developments, from the ability to target a specific high graded reservoir unit to increased capital efficiency. Operators need to break away from convention and take a new approach to Cooper Basin tight gas exploration and development in the quest to demonstrate commerciality. A review of the inherent challenges in Cooper Basin gas field developments and the current exploitation strategies employed in analogous tight gas plays have been integrated to produce a pragmatic workflow to identify potential reservoir units that would benefit from a change in development strategy.

Keywords: Cooper Basin, horizontal wells, hydraulic fracture stimulation, Permian, strategy, tight gas.

Brenton Richards is a Senior Geologist with Origin Energy in Brisbane, Australia. He has worked for numerous Australian operators on a range of conventional and unconventional oil and gas exploration, appraisal and development projects across Australia and New Zealand. Brenton received his B.A.Sc. with Distinction in Geoscience from the Queensland University of Technology and is currently completing his M.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering with Heriot-Watt University.

Alexander Côté is the Engineering Subsurface Lead for Growth Assets for Origin Energy in Brisbane, Australia. He is a CFA Charterholder, a Professional Engineer (P.Eng) registered with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta, and holds a B.A.Sc. with Distinction in Mechanical Engineering from Western University (Canada). Alexander has 10 years of shale and tight gas experience having worked across many premier unconventional plays in North America and Australia including the Montney, Deep Basin, Marcellus, Eagle Ford, Beetaloo, and Cooper during this time. He has developed expertise in unconventional resource exploration, evaluation, and development. Alexander is a member of SPE.


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