Empire fracks record 21 stages at Beetaloo well

Empire Energy Group has ticked off a milestone in the Beetaloo sub-basin, hydraulically stimulating or “fracking” a record 21 stages at its Carpentaria-2H gas well in the Northern Territory. The company says a key aim of the program is to assess a range of stimulation fluid mixes to optimise future production.

Hydraulic stimulating programs are often unique to a particular region due to the ground’s specific geological and reservoir conditions.

Results from well production tests at Carpentaria-2H will also feed into a comprehensive field development plan – taking into account the Beetaloo’s processing and gas handling facilities.

Other highlights from the program include Empire being the first operator to successfully use multiple intervals of slickwater – a type of fracking fluid – without “screening out”.

Screening out is a damaging procedure whereby sand impedes the well test’s perforations, halting further fracture propagation and ultimately diminishing gas flow to the surface.

The company elected slickwater as its preferred fluid of choice for a chunk of its stages due to the material’s ability to deliver more economical gas recovery rates and its reduced inclusions of chemical additives.

The choice seems to have been well founded, with management saying the work was executed without any environmental or safety incidents.

In addition, Empire says 97 per cent of the designated proppant volume was placed during its simulation work and that the program delivered an effective horizontal length of 927m.

Proppants are materials such as sand used in fracking mixes to keep gas pathways or “fissures” open.

Empire says some of the technical education received whilst fracking the well was used to boost its operational efficiencies, enabling it to stimulate 2 stages per day in the closing 4 days of the program – if the same efficiencies are achieved in future campaigns, the company believes it could drive down costs even further.

Empire Energy Group’s Managing Director Alex Underwood said:“This program has validated our testing of pump down plug and perforating techniques, limited entry stimulations, four separate fluid systems, dissolvable flow through plugs, and our ability to deliver multiple stages per day.”

“It is of particular note that we have been able to stimulate seven stages using slickwater, which is the predominant system used across the shale fields of the USA.”

The company has since started flowback and gas flow testing on Carpentaria-2H and says about 4 per cent of its placed fluids have been recovered over the first 24 hours of the program. Management says it expects stabilised figures to start flowing through over the next few weeks.

Empire Energy is aiming to drill its nearby Carpentaria-3H and Carpentaria-4V wells later this year.

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