Unlocking material gas resources – Moomba South case study
Hayden Moriarty A B , Jennifer Clifford A , James Donley A and Lewis Maxwell AA Santos Limited, 60 Flinders St, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
B Corresponding author. Email: hayden.moriarty@santos.com
The APPEA Journal 60(2) 736-741 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ19222
Accepted: 3 April 2020 Published: 15 May 2020
Abstract
In the last two years, Santos has identified and unlocked a significant contingent resource in the Cooper Basin, onshore Australia. Commercialisation of these resources has been enabled through the application of phased appraisal programs, combined with Santos’ disciplined low-cost operating model. The implementation of a disciplined low-cost operating model as part of the current Santos strategy has resulted in unprecedented cost reductions in the Cooper Basin. Sub-economic contingent resources across many fields have become primary targets for appraisal and development for conversion to economic reserves. One of Santos’ largest contingent resources lies in the deep tight rocks of the Moomba Field.
Keywords: appraisal, exploration, field development planning, gas development, granite, low cost, Patchawarra, reserves.
Hayden Moriarty graduated from the University of Adelaide in 2010 with a BEng (Hons) in Petroleum Engineering. Commencing with Santos in 2011 as a Reservoir Engineer, he has since had broad experience working across frac, completions, drilling and reservoir teams, including four years of field experience. He is currently a chartered Senior Reservoir Engineer in the Cooper Reservoir Development team, where he leads the Moomba Asset appraisal and development. |
Jennifer Clifford graduated from the University of Adelaide in 1998 with a BSc (Hons) in Geology and Geophysics. She commenced work with Santos as a Geophysicist in 1999. Over her 20+ years with Santos, Jennifer has worked on a variety of basins, including the Cooper-Eromanga, Otway-Sorell, Gippsland and Amadeus basins. She is currently a Senior Staff Geophysicist in the Cooper Exploration team. She is a member of PESA and the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists. |
James Donley graduated from the University of South Australia in 1993 with a BSc (Hons) in Petroleum Geology. Upon graduation, James joined Origin Energy and has subsequently built a 26-year career as a Development Geologist with Shell-Todd Oil Services, Shell UK and Santos. With Shell came the opportunity to work at several world-class oil and gas fields, including the Maui Field in New Zealand and the Nelson Oil Field in the Central North Sea. Since joining Santos in 2009, James held the role of Geoscience Team Leader during the development phase of the Santos Fletcher/Finucane oil fields in Western Australia. More recently, James has worked in the Cooper Central Development team, focussing on the Moomba Gas Field. James’s areas of special interest and expertise include reservoir characterisation, sequence stratigraphy, geo-cellular modelling and reservoir appraisal and development. He is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and PESA. |
Lewis Maxwell completed his BSc (Hons) in Petroleum Geoscience at the University of Adelaide in 2012. He joined Santos in 2013 and is currently working as a Senior Geologist in the Papua New Guinea Sub-Surface technical team. He holds memberships with AAPG and PESA. |
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