Technologies that have transformed the Exmouth into Australia's premier oil producing basin
Richard Loro A , Robin Hill A , Mark Jackson A and Tony Slate ABHP Billiton Petroleum
The APPEA Journal 55(1) 233-246 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ14018
Published: 2015
Abstract
The oil and gas fields of the Exmouth Sub-basin, offshore WA, have presented a number of significant challenges to their exploitation since the first discoveries of heavy oil and lean gas were made in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Presently, some 20 oil and gas fields have been discovered in a variety of Late Jurassic to Cretaceous clastic reservoirs from slope turbidites to deltaic sands. Discovered oils are typically heavily biodegraded with densities ranging from 14–23° API and moderate viscosity. Seismic imaging is challenging across some areas due to pervasive multiples and gas escape features, while in other areas resolution is excellent. Most reservoirs are poorly cemented to unconsolidated and thus require sand control. Modest oil columns, most with gas caps, and variable permeability, present challenges for both maximising oil recovery and minimising the influx of water and gas. Oil-water emulsions also present difficulties for both maximising oil rate and metering production.
To date, more than 300 MMbbls have been produced from five developments (Enfield, Stybarrow, Vincent, Van Gogh and Pyrenees), and in 2013 the Macedon gasfield began production. This peer-reviewed paper focuses on the variety of technologies—geoscience, reservoir, drilling and production—that have underpinned the development of these challenging fields and in doing so, transformed the Exmouth into Australia’s premier oil producing basin.
Richard Loro graduated from The University of Queensland in 2000 with a BEng (Hons) in chemical engineering before joining Santos as a graduate engineer. During his 15 years of experience, Richard has enjoyed various assignments across the production and reservoir engineering spaces, contributing to projects in Australia and West Africa. He joined BHP Billiton in 2010 and is presently the Reservoir Engineering Supervisor for BHP Billiton’s Australian Production Unit in Perth. Member: Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). |
Robin Hill received a BSc (Hons) in geology from Kingston Polytechnic in 1980. During the past 34 years he has worked for a variety of companies on new ventures, exploration, development and production projects in numerous basins across Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, North America and Australasia. He is a Chartered Geologist with The Geological Society, and is presently Geoscience Manager at BHP Billiton Petroleum in Perth. Member: American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), SPE, Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (PESA), and Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain (PESGB). |
Mark Jackson received a BEng (Hons) in electrical engineering from the University of New South Wales in 1980 before joining Schlumberger wireline with assignments in the UK North Sea, Spain and Australia. He later received a MEng (Dist) in petroleum engineering from Heriot-Watt University in 1993. Mark has more than 30 years of petroleum engineering experience encompassing exploration, development and production phases. He is a Chartered Engineer with Engineers Australia, and is presently Production Engineering Supervisor for BHP Billiton’s Australian Production Unit in Perth. Member: SPE. |
Tony Slate graduated from RMIT University Melbourne in 1981 with a BSc in applied geology before joining SADMP in 1981. He joined BHP in 1984 and worked as an exploration geologist and later as a development geologist on BHP Billiton’s operated developments in offshore Carnarvon, Timor Sea and Bonaparte basins, in addition to operated onshore developments in Victoria, Vietnam and Pakistan. He is Subsurface Manager for the Australian Production Unit in Perth. Member: PESA and SPE. |
