Australia: Comet Ridge Updates on Gunn 2 Well

Comet Ridge provided an operational update for the Extended Production Test (EPT) that has recently commenced at Gunn 2 in the Gunn Project Area (GPA) in ATP 744P in central Queensland. The GPA is approximately 90 km NNE of Aramac and 570 km NW of Gladstone and is immediately west of a number of the very large proposed Galilee Basin coal mines which are located on the eastern basin edge.

The Gunn 2 well was drilled in October 2012, intersecting a total net coal thickness of 16.2 metres. Downhole analysis confirmed the presence of significant natural fractures in the coal. Four separate coal intervals were individually flow tested with all zones demonstrating good to excellent productivity.

Production casing was run and cemented in place. During November 2012, the well was completed for production with tubing and a downhole pump installed to enable water to be produced. This operation involved perforating the casing into only one of the previously tested coal intervals – a four metre thick interval from 952.5 to 956.5 metres which is bounded above and below by impermeable mudstone. The Extended Production Test (EPT) was designed in this manner to ensure produced water would only come from the Betts Creek reservoir coal.

Additionally, by excluding water from other zones in the well, surface water handling requirements could be optimised and dewatering time could also be minimised. The objective of the EPT is to provide information to test the completion methodology for the full pilot scheme and to obtain good quality water samples from the Betts Creek coals.

During December 2012, surface facilities including water storage tanks, flowlines, metering facilities and power generation were installed on site and earlier this month these facilities were commissioned for operation.

The downhole pump was started on 11 January 2013 to commence the EPT. To date the pump and other equipment is performing as designed with no mechanical or electrical issues. The water rate is progressively being increased with the well currently producing over 120 bwpd (barrels of water per day) with minimal pressure drawdown on the coal, indicating that this coal has substantially more flow capacity.

Comet Ridge Managing Director, Tor McCaul, said he was pleased with the progress of the EPT to date, with this producing well an important milestone for the Company in the Galilee Basin. He said that although the Company had conducted a number of openhole tests on this well and other wells in the basin, which confirmed the Betts Creek coals were productive, the EPT is the first test for the company on a completed well, where the well has been set up for long term production.

Mr McCaul said early results from this EPT were indicating that the simple completion style employed here had proved very effective in connecting the wellbore to the fractures in the coal and could subsequently be applied to a pilot scheme to access selected coals.

He also indicated the four metre coal interval currently being tested in the Gunn 2 well, was capable of producing at significantly higher water rates and this would progressively occur over the coming weeks to fully evaluate this highly productive interval.

The Company plans to conduct the EPT on Gunn 2 over a number of months, before finalising the design for the pilot scheme in the Gunn Project Area with the intention of achieving independently certified gas reserves, which would be available to power, LNG or domestic gas markets.

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LNG World News Staff, January 17, 2013; Image: Comet Ridge