WANDOO: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MARGINAL FIELD

Abstract

The combination of characteristics of the Wandoo Oil Field is unusual and presented significant challenges for commercial development of this field. These characteristics are a shallow reservoir, high oil viscosity, thin oil column, unconsolidated sands and very high permeability.

A staged development of this field was adopted to enable evaluation of these characteristics, commencing with a 120-day extended production test (EPT). The EPT was further extended to address aquifer support and horizontal well length issues and for commercial reasons. The information gained from the EPT was used to calibrate the full field simulation model, which was used to quantify the benefits of various development scenarios. To date, the reservoir performance has been in accordance with pre-full field development expectations.