Impact of in-seam drilling performance on coal seam gas production and remaining gas distribution
Fengde Zhou A B , Glen Fernandes A , Joao Luft A , Kai Ma A , Mahmoud Oraby A , Mariano Ospina Guevara A , Dan Kuznetsov A , Brad Pinder A and Sean Keogh AA Arrow Energy Pty Ltd, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia.
B Corresponding author. Email: fengde.zhou@arrowenergy.com.au
The APPEA Journal 59(1) 328-342 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ18049
Submitted: 14 December 2018 Accepted: 22 February 2019 Published: 17 June 2019
Abstract
Drilling horizontal wells in low permeability coal seams is a key technology to increase the drainage area of a well, and hence, decrease costs. It’s unavoidable that some parts of the horizontal section will be drilled outside the targeted coal seam due to unforeseen subsurface conditions, such as sub-seismic faulting, seam rolls, basic geosteering tools, drilling practices and limited experiences. Therefore, understanding the impact of horizontal in-seam drilling performance on coal seam gas (CSG) production and remaining gas distribution is an important consideration in drilling and field development plans. This study presents a new workflow to investigate the impact of horizontal in-seam performance on CSG production and gas distribution for coal seams with different porosity, permeability, permeability anisotropy, initial gas content (GC), initial gas saturation and the ratio of in-coal length to in-seam length (RIIL). First, a box model with an area of 2 km × 0.3 km × 6 m was used for conceptual simulations. Reduction indexes of the cumulative gas production at the end of 10 years of simulations were compared. Then, a current Chevron well consisting of a vertical well and two lateral wells, was selected as a case study in which the impact of outside coal drilling on history matching and remaining gas distribution were analysed. Results show that the RIIL plays an increasing role for cases with decreasing permeability or initial gas saturation, while it plays a very similar role for cases with varied porosity, permeability anisotropy and GC. The size and location of outside coal drilling will affect the CSG production and remaining gas distribution.
Keywords: Chevron well, horizontal well, in-coal length, in-seam length, reservoir simulation.
Fengde Zhou is a Senior Geologist at the Arrow Energy Pty Ltd. Before joining Arrow, he was a Research Fellow at the University of Queensland and University of New South Wales and an associate professor at the China University of Geosciences. Fengde received his PhD in Petroleum Engineering from China University of Geosciences in 2009. He is a Professional Member of the SPE and an Editorial Board Member of the Journal ofPetroleum Science and Engineering. He was awarded as a Top Reviewer by the Journal of PetroleumScience and Engineering in 2012. He is interested in reservoir characterisation for conventional and unconventional oil and gas reservoirs. |
Glen Fernandes is a Reservoir Engineer at Arrow Energy Pty Ltd and has over 7 Years of experience in unconventional gas reservoirs, ranging from exploration, well testing, forecasting, dynamic modelling, and field development planning to operations. Glen has received his Msc in Oil and Gas Engineering from the University of Western Australia, Perth, in 2011 and his Bsc in Mechanical Engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum, India in 2009. Key areas of interest are: Dynamic Modelling, Well testing, Data analytics, Production Forecasting, Field development planning and production optimisation. |
Joao Luft is a Senior Geologist at the Arrow Energy Pty Ltd. In 2005, he received a PhD in Earth Sciences from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) in a project of geologic correlation between Brazil and Africa (Namibia). In Australia, Joao has more than 13 years' experience working initially as exploration and well site geologist for coal and coal seam gas industry in Queensland and Victoria. Key contributions include projects at Gippsland Basin (CSG), Surat, Nagoorin and Bowen Basins where he worked as consulting geologist. In the last 8 years, Joao Luft has been involved in Arrow's Moranbah Gas Project of the Bowen Basin as production and development geologist aiming to further extend this field production. Key areas of interest are: structural geology, geochemistry, static modelling, coal properties, geomechanics, and optimal lateral well placement into coal reservoirs. |
Kai Ma is a Reservoir Engineer at Arrow Energy Ltd and has 2 years of experience in unconventional resources. Before joining Arrow Energy Ltd,Kai Mahas worked as a Reservoir Engineer for conventional projects in South Sudan, Chad and Mozambique for 6 years. She received her Msc fromthe Petroleum University of China (Beijing) in 2011. |
Mahmoud Oraby is a Principal Petrophysicist at Arrow Energy Pty Ltd. Mahmoud holds a BSc in Petroleum and Mining Engineering and has global experience in both E&P and Service companies. He has global experience in high profile projects and has worked for reputed market leaders in Egypt, Middle East, US, Asia, New Zealand and Australia . Mahmoud has robust skills in sensor physics, core analysis, data processing and interpretation/integration, with maximum efficient utilisation in field development process and field studies in support of static or dynamic modelling and reservoir surveillance activities. |
Mariano Ospina is a Senior Production Technologist at Arrow Energy Pty Ltd and has over 5 years of experience in unconventional gas reservoirs. In prior the 6 years Mariano worked in conventional assets as a Production Technologist for an offshore greenfield in New Zealand, onshore brown fields in Austria and as a Completions Engineers in Austria. Mariano received MSc accreditation in Petroleum Engineering from Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland in 2007 and his BSc is in Mechanical Engineering from Universidad de America, Bogotá, Colombia in 2003. |
Dan Kuznetsov is a principal reservoir engineer at Arrow Energy. His current work focuses on the appraisal and development of coal seam gas fields. Previously, Dan worked on various conventional hydrocarbon projects with major E&P and service companies. He has a special interest in reservoir simulation and production forecasting.Dan holds a MSc degree in physics from Lomonosov Moscow State University and a PhD in physics and mathematics from the Russian Academy of Sciences. |
Brad Pinder received his Batchelor of Applied Science with Honours degree in Geoscience for the Queensland University of Technology in 2001. Since then he has been involved in CSG exploration and development in a variety of eastern Australian basins in a number of roles. Brad is currently the Geology Discipline Lead for Arrow Energy. |
Sean Keogh is employed by Arrow Energy Pty Ltd as Geology and Petrophysics Manager, and also as Subsurface Manager for the company's Bowen Basin assets. Sean has worked in unconventional reservoirs for over 15 years', with experience across assets in all stages of development, exploration, and appraisal. Sean graduated with a BSc (Geology) from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in 1991. |
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