Strike Energy has reported that the initial flows indicated at West Erregulla 5 well indicated a production barrier that the reservoir was unable to overcome through prolonged flow testing.
The company advises that this is interpreted to be skin from the filtrate from cement and mud invasion resultant from the drilling which has been amplified via the depth of penetration and ineffectiveness of the existing completion.
The primary flow period was conducted over 77 hours at a rate of 5.1 mmscfd through a 64/64-inch choke, with 260 psig flowing well head pressure.
The flow rates and pressures were stable throughout the extended flow period and in conjunction with pressure build ups show no evidence of depletion from the test.
Gas sample analysis indicates WE5 has a similar gas composition to the other well results from the field, and WE5 produced associated water which was measured at less than 5.9 bbls per mmscf on average.
Strike outlined that the analysis of the well test data shows equivalent virgin reservoir pressures to that of the other West Erregulla wells which creates a high degree of confidence that better quality reservoir that is synonymous with the West Erregulla gas field exists beyond the near well bore zone.
The company will commence planning and scheduling a recompletion for the coming weeks in order to retest the WE5 well.
After the recompletion and additional flow testing Strike will run a production logging tool (PLT) test to confirm the gas contribution from each perforated zone.
However, the company confirmed that the flow test has positive outcomes for the West Erregulla gas field with gas flows being measured down to at least 4,670m subsea which will increase the overall gross rock volume of the field.
The field wide pressure regime is also consistent ad indicates no compartmentalisation, and gas composition appears consistent throughout the field supporting all engineering completed to date for the Phase 1 production operations.
Chief executive officer and managing director Stuart Nicholls said while this production test has been impacted by skin and near wellbore reservoir impairment, it has answered many of the remaining questions required to progress the independent resource and reserve booking.
“Strike will be back to WE5 shortly to recomplete and retest the well with an expectation that superior flow results will be achievable with the deployment of alternative completion methods. This will then allow the joint venture to place WE5 on inventory for the proposed Phase 1 production operations,” he said.
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