Recent exploration results in the Lower Triassic, Bedout Sub-basin: Australia’s next petroleum province?
Melissa Thompson A B , Fred Wehr A , Jack Woodward A , Jon Minken A , Gino D’Orazio A , Fred Fernandes A , Margarita Kongowoin A , Laurence Hansen A , David Kuek A and Rylan Fabrici AA Quadrant Energy Limited, Level 7, 100 St Georges Terrace, Perth, WA 6000, Australia.
B Corresponding author. Email: melissa.thompson@quadrantenergy.com.au
The APPEA Journal 58(2) 871-877 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ17165
Accepted: 19 March 2018 Published: 28 May 2018
Abstract
Commencing in 2014, Quadrant Energy and partners have undertaken an active exploration program in the Bedout Sub-basin with a 100% success rate, discovering four hydrocarbon accumulations with four wells.
The primary exploration target in the basin, the Middle Triassic Lower Keraudren Formation, encompasses the reservoirs, source rocks and seals that have trapped hydrocarbons in a self-contained petroleum system. This petroleum system is older than the traditional plays on the North-West Shelf and before recent activity was very poorly understood and easily overlooked.
Key reservoirs occur at burial depths of 3500–5500 m, deeper than many of the traditional plays on the North-West Shelf and exhibit variable reservoir quality. Oil and gas-condensate discovered in the first two wells, Phoenix South-1 and Roc-1, raised key questions on the preservation of effective porosity and productivity sufficient to support a commercial development. With the acquisition and detailed interpretation of 119 m of core over the Caley Member reservoir in Roc-2 and a successful drill stem test that was surface equipment constrained to 55 MMscf/d, the productive potential of this reservoir interval has been confirmed.
The results of the exploration program to date, combined with acquisition of new 3D/2D seismic data, have enabled a deeper understanding of the potential of the Bedout Sub-basin. A detailed basin model has been developed and a large suite of prospects and leads are recognised across a family of hydrocarbon plays. Two key wells currently scheduled for 2018 (Phoenix South-3 and Dorado-1) will provide critical information about the scale of this opportunity.
Keywords: Barret Member, Caley Member, Lower Keraudren, Phoenix South, Roc, Roebuck.
Melissa Thompson has more than 26 years of experience in the petroleum industry with independent exploration and production companies in both Australia and internationally, working a variety of basins. With a broad exploration skill set, she has led successful exploration teams in opening up new plays and petroleum systems on the North-West Shelf and in North Africa. She has held various roles with Apache/Quadrant since joining in 2001, and is currently General Manager Exploration. Melissa holds a BSc (Petroleum Geology Hons I) from Sydney University and is a member of PESA. |
Fred Wehr has a broad international background in petroleum geology, with extensive capability in both exploration and development. With more than 30 years of experience in a range of international roles, he has led upstream exploration activities in Australia since 2010 and is currently Quadrant Energy’s Group Executive Subsurface. Fred holds a BSc (Geoscience) from Emory University in Atlanta and a PhD in Geoscience from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. |
Jack Woodward graduated in 1990 from the University of NSW with a BSc (Hons) in Geophysics/Geology. He initially worked in Sydney with Bridge Oil and Parker and Parsley Australasia Ltd before heading overseas to work in Oman and Malaysia with Petroleum Development of Oman and Shell Sarawak Berhad. On his return to Australia he worked for Origin Energy and BHP Petroleum before joining Apache Energy/Quadrant Energy in 2011, where he works as a Development Geoscience Manager. He is a member of EAGE, SEG and PESA. |
Jon Minken is a Senior Staff Geologist at Quadrant Energy with more than 14 years of experience in the petroleum industry. He received a BSc (Hons) from the University of Alberta in 2002 and an MSc (Hons) from the University of Oklahoma in 2004. Since joining the industry, Jon has explored for hydrocarbons in Australia, South Atlantic Margins, South-East Asia, East Africa and Canada. |
Gino D’Orazio is a Reservoir Engineer at Quadrant Energy. Gino has 10 years of petroleum engineering experience in varying exploration and development roles across multiple corporations. Gino has a Bachelor of Petroleum Engineers (Hons) and Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia. |
Fred Fernandes was appointed Senior Staff Operations Geologist at Quadrant Energy (formerly Apache Energy) in 2009. He is currently involved in well planning and coordinating field operations. Before joining Apache Energy, he worked as well site geologist for Santos, and was a mudlogger early on in his career. With more than 14 years in the field and 9 years in his current position, Fred has worked on several onshore and offshore projects including the Cooper Basin, North-West Shelf, Song Hong Basin in Vietnam and the Gulf of Suez in Egypt. Fred holds a Masters in Geology from the University of Bombay (Mumbai), India. |
Margarita Kongawoin is Senior Staff Geophysicist with Quadrant Energy. Margarita has over 10 years of international experience solving geophysical problems. Margarita’s primary experience is with rock physics and inversion. Margarita has a Masters of Philosophy (Geophysics) from Curtin University of Technology, Australia. |
Laurence Hansen is a Senior Geophysical Adviser with Quadrant Energy. Laurence graduated from London University with a BSc in Geology and an MSc in Natural Environments. After 17 years with processing contractors worldwide, he joined Apache Energy (now Quadrant Energy), where he has spent over 27 years working with and enhancing velocity model-building techniques and new processing technologies aimed at improving exploration success. |
David Kuek graduated from the University of Western Australia with a BSc (Hons) in Geology in 1984. He worked for Shell Malaysia as a geologist for 11 years, and for Shell UK as a seismic interpreter for three years. He joined Woodside in 1998, where he worked as a senior geologist, business analyst and commercial manager. He is currently General Manager – Geology at Quadrant Energy, and has been with the company (formerly Apache Energy) since 2007. |
Rylan Fabrici graduated from Curtin University with a BSc (Geophysics) and from the Australian School of Petroleum (University of Adelaide) with Honours in Petroleum Geology and Geophysics. He is a Geophysicist with Quadrant Energy, with 5 years of experience in petroleum exploration principally on the North-West Shelf. |
References
Minken, J., Thompson, M., Woodward, J., and Fabrici, R. (2018). Tectonostratigraphic framework of the Lower Keraudren Formation, Bedout Sub-Basin: interplay of tectonics and sedimentary systems. The APPEA Journal 58, .| Tectonostratigraphic framework of the Lower Keraudren Formation, Bedout Sub-Basin: interplay of tectonics and sedimentary systems.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
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Wehr, F., Ostby, J., Cook, A., and Yoshinori, I. (2015). The Phoenix South discovery: a new hydrocarbon province on the North-Western Shelf of Australia. AAPG 2015 International Conference Proceedings, Melbourne, Australia, abstract.
Woodward, J., Minken, J., Kongawoin, M., Hansen, L., Thompson, M., and Fabrici, R. (2018). The Lower Triassic Caley Member: depositional facies, reservoir quality and seismic expression. The APPEA Journal 58, .
| The Lower Triassic Caley Member: depositional facies, reservoir quality and seismic expression.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
