Santos preparing for Dorado-3 flow test

Australian energy company Santos is preparing for flow testing of the Dorado-3 appraisal well located offshore Australia. The first flow test will be undertaken on the Baxter reservoir.

The Dorado-3 appraisal well is located in WA-437-P where Santos is the operator and Carnarvon is its partner. The well was spudded late in July, using the Noble Tom Prosser jack-up rig.

In late August, Carnarvon reported that increased resistivity observed from Logging While Drilling tools had indicated porous and permeable zones with indications of hydrocarbons as anticipated in the Caley and Baxter Members.

In an update on Thursday, Carnarvon said that, since the last report, the wireline logging operations had been completed and the 7” casing liner had been set in place across the Caley and Baxter reservoirs in preparation for flow testing the well.

The rig is currently preparing equipment for flow testing the well.

First flow test on Baxter 

Carnarvon said that the first flow test would be undertaken on the Baxter reservoir. In flow test operations the deeper reservoir is tested first before it is closed off and the test equipment moves to the shallower reservoir, which in this case will be the Caley reservoir.

After preparing the surface equipment, a process expected to take a number of days, a Drill Stem Test (DST) string will be run in the hole which will enable the flow testing of the Dorado-3 well across the Baxter formation. The Baxter formation was interpreted from wireline to be condensate rich gas.

The well will then be perforated and opened for a number of controlled flow tests. The flow tests will enable the measurement of pressure, permeability, and flow capacity of the Baxter formation. The well test will also involve the collection of down-hole and surface samples for analysis and consideration in the design of the production facilities.

Caley test comes next

At the completion of testing in the Baxter, that reservoir section will be closed off and similar operations will be run over the Caley reservoir.

The Dorado-3 well is the second appraisal of the Dorado oil and gas field which was discovered in 2018. The field is located approximately 160km north-northeast of Port Hedland in the Bedout Sub-basin in around 95 meters water depth.

The Dorado-1 exploration well discovered hydrocarbon bearing reservoirs in the Caley, Baxter, Crespin, and Milne Members of the Lower Keraudren Formation.

The Dorado-2 appraisal well, located around 2.2km north east of the Dorado-1 well, confirmed hydrocarbon bearing reservoirs in the Caley, Baxter, and Milne and importantly demonstrated connectivity within each reservoir between the two wells.

The Dorado-3 appraisal well is located approximately 900 meters north west of the Dorado-1 discovery location.

The Dorado-3 well has been designed to enhance the Joint Venture’s confidence in the subsurface characteristics and confirm reservoir productivity. Dorado-3 is planned to conduct two flow tests targeting the Caley and Baxter reservoirs, as well as acquiring full-bore core in the Caley, Baxter, Crespin, and Milne Members.

According to Carnarvon, this will result in a significant amount of new data to further characterize the Dorado field.

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