Investigating depth structure uncertainty for horizontal well placement, Bauer Field, Cooper-Eromanga Basin
Erin ShirleyBeach Energy, 25 Conyngham Street, Glenside, SA 5065, Australia. Email: erin.shirley@beachenergy.com.au
The APPEA Journal 58(2) 865-870 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ17198
Accepted: 15 March 2018 Published: 28 May 2018
Abstract
The Bauer Field was discovered in August 2011 on the Western Flank of the Cooper-Eromanga Basin. Bauer 1 discovered an 11 m oil column in the Namur Sandstone, directly overlain by a 4 m oil column in the McKinlay Member. The Bauer Field has been developed by vertical wells targeting the high deliverability Namur Sandstone with the McKinlay Member as a secondary target. In 2017 the decision was made to specifically target the McKinlay Member with a horizontal well, requiring a multi-disciplinary approach to combine geological, geophysical and engineering datasets.
The McKinlay Member is 3–5 m in thickness and below seismic resolution with the wavelet being dominated by the larger acoustic impedance contrast produced from the Namur Sandstone. The McKinlay Member depth structure was mapped using various depth conversion methods to investigate the uncertainty in the depth structure expected for the landing of the well and along the lateral section. An average depth surface generated from the different techniques was useful for providing the general form of the structure and was used to predict dip changes along the lateral section. Understanding the uncertainty led to successful well placement of the first horizontal well in the McKinlay Member on the Western Flank.
Keywords: Cooper Basin, depth conversion, depth uncertainty, horizontal well, lateral drilling, McKinlay Member, thin beds.
Erin Shirley completed her honours in Geology and Geophysics with the Australian School of Petroleum, University of Adelaide. She has worked at Beach Energy since graduating in 2010. At Beach Energy she has worked on various exploration and development plays and currently works in the oil development team as a Geophysicist. Erin is a member of The Australian Society of Geophysicists and the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia. |
References
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