Betaloo Update
Betaloo Update
Betaloo Update
This paper was prepared for presentation at the Asia Pacific Unconventional Resources Symposium held in Brisbane, Australia on 14 – 15 November 2023.
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Abstract
In the Beetaloo Sub-basin within the Northern Territory, Australia, the shales of the Velkerri and Kyalla
Formation are highly prospective. The Carpentaria-3H well was drilled in the B Shale of the Amungee
Member of the Velkerri Formation with a lateral length of more than 2,632 metres and completed over a
1,989-metre section. Beyond the appraisal nature of work, the observation of natural fractures and faulting
coupled with geomechanical complexity posed multiple challenges to the planning, design, execution, and
evaluation of Australia's largest stimulation job to date.
This paper provides a comprehensive review of the Carpentaria-3H fracturing design and operation,
following incorporating data from the Carpentaria-2H well. Completion design included developing the
fracture stage interval spacing, number of clusters per stage, and cluster perforation density. For the
fracturing treatment, decisions were refined for selection of fluid and proppant type, job volume optimisation
and differentiation. Design optimisation is based upon both the simulator and evaluation measurements from
the Carpentaria-2H reference well. Furthermore, observations from field execution, including formation
response, experimental fracturing stages, and onsite design optimization, were incorporated.
The largest multi-stage fracturing operation to date in Australia was completed with 12.8 million pounds
of sand and proppant successfully placed without screen out across 40 stages. Across the multiple stages
trials of sleeve-perforation comparison, out-of-target stages, variable sand size and ceramic proppant were
successfully executed. During post-fracturing cleanup, the Carpentaria-3H produced at an average rate of 2.6
MMscf/D over 27 days prior to being shut-in for a period of "soaking". The success of the well completion
through a multi-stage fracturing operation marked a breakthrough in Beetaloo Sub-basin appraisal and
demonstrated that long lateral drilling and large-scale fracturing treatments can be a viable pathway to
improve efficiency and return on investment. This is despite the limitations imposed by scarce infrastructure
and challenging logistics in the Australian outback.
Knowledge from the evaluation work undertaken in the previously stimulated and tested Carpentaria-2H
wells was critical to advancing the Carpentaria-3H project. The Carpentaria-2H well's multi-arm calliper
measurements offered enough precision to evaluate the perforation erosion following proppant placement.
This generated a new technique for indirect evaluation of fluid and proppant distribution among the
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clusters. Production logging and chemical tracers also provided useful information for calibration and design
optimization. Furthermore, advanced software tools were applied to integrate reservoir modelling, fracture
and reservoir simulation, and data analysis.
Introduction
In the Beetaloo Sub-basin in the Northern Territory, Australia, the Velkerri and Kyalla shales are highly
prospective. The thick stacked organic-rich shales provide the potential to be a world-class gas resource
(Australian Government 2021; Sander et al. 2018). The Beetaloo Sub-basin is a 28,000 km2, completely
an extended production test to demonstrate the production potential and determine the best treatment design
for subsequent wells. As depicted in Fig. 1, the well had a lateral length of 1,345 metres a total measured
depth of 3,150 metres MD. It was completed with 20 fracturing treatment stages using the plug-and-perf
technique and an initial stage with jetted casing using Coil Tubing. The effective stimulated horizontal
length was 927 metres.
indicates a low NWPL. This approach provided insight into the degree of NWBPL before pumping the
main job (Fig. 2).
Fig. 3 summarises the "NWBPL coefficient", the average area between the two curves in Fig. 2c using
the methodology described above. There were three outliers. The high treating pressure in stages 3, 10, and
23 limited proppant concentration and rate, which could reduce effective fracture length and conductivity.
These observations validated the diagnostic approach and allowed us to adjust the main pumping steps
with respect to sand slugs, acid exposure time, sand mass and pumping schedule to ensure smooth sand
placement before the main frac started.
Figure 3—NWB friction coefficient and observation during treatment. a) Significantly higher values
in stages 3, 10, and 23. b) The average treating pressures of the above stages were very high.
Geomechanical complexity was identified through pre-job and post job ISIPs. The post job ISIP
gradients approximate overburden stress (1.1 psi/ft) and fracture closure, although not directly observed
(except during DFIT on Stage 1), was interpreted to be below overburden, reinforcing previous observation
of a normal to strike slip stress regime (Close et al., 2017) - Figure 4. It can be observed that the trend of the
ISIP gradient decreases toward the heel section. The differences between pre-job ISIPs and post-fracturing
ISIPs were predominately below 200 psi. Low net pressure on almost all stages potentially indicates the
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presence of excessive NWB issues (discussed above) in complex or competing fracture systems. T-shaped
fractures and a low-angle natural fracture system cannot be ruled out.
During the pump-down operations of stage 13, a sharp increase in treating pressure and a drop in tension
on the wireline cable was observed, which led to the premature termination of that stage due to an interpreted
and later confirmed casing ID restriction. The casing restriction coincided with a structural fault of less
than 10 metres throw observed on azimuthal Gamma Ray LWD. The fault was approximately 300 metres
from the planned treatment interval along the hole. Given the appraisal nature of the horizontal well and
the previous instance of a partial wellbore access loss on Amungee NW-1H after casing deformation, the
decision was made to forego stages 13–17 that were proximal to the observed fault. Although the decision
to not risk the 12 executed stages was operationally prudent, post operation calliper log indicated that the
ID loss at the restriction was minimal and exceeded the diameter of the plugs.
Currently, no conclusive data links the treatment and the restriction point, so there is no way to know
whether the restriction was created by the shear forces from the two sides of the fault as in other case studies
(Liu et al. 2019). In the next section, we will discuss more about the ID restriction with the input data from
the multi-arm calliper.
Carpentaria-2H Evaluation
Evaluation techniques for the Carpentaria-2H well included production history matching, water and gas
chemical tracers, a memory production logging tool (MPLT), and a 24-arm calliper log.
In the production history matching (HM), fracture simulation parameters and a reservoir model were
calibrated with the treating and production flow test data. All the fracture simulations were re-run to match
actual treating pressures, and the updated grid was utilized in production simulations. To better reflect the
fracture geometry, an unstructured grid was used. The grid consisted of 895,000 cells, and cell size ranged
from 3.3×3.3ft near the fracture to 100×100 ft in the far field (Fig. 5). Due to the geomechanical complexity
of the study area versus the simulation model, caution was required when incorporating results.
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A job-size sensitivity analysis was performed based on the model calibrated by production history
matching. Various job sizes were modelled across eight stages made up of four crosslinked (XL), two
slickwater (SW), and two hybrid (SW + XL), each with six clusters. The results are shown in Fig. 6.
The greatest incremental production gain for increased job size observed on the graph denoting optimal
job volume range of 100% to 115% of the base case. A job volume above 130% of the base case is not
recommended due to a diminishing increase in productivity coupled with the associated placement risks.
With this approach, we settled on the baseline design job volume for future hydraulic fracture stimulations.
Gas and Water Chemical tracers were added during the fracturing treatment and sampled at the surface
throughout the 51-day post-fracturing flowback and testing period. The results indicate that all stages are
contributing to the gas production. However, the performance of each stage could not be determined due to
the limitation on the number of unique tracers. The tracers were applied by the same tracer for the same job
type (XL, hybrid, or SW) in adjacent stages. Hence, if we have separate water or gas contributions, we can
split the others based on their proportion. The raw gas and water tracer allocation by stages are shown in
Table 1. Furthermore, we can visualise the split results in well trajectory view and by job type (Fig. 7).
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Table 1—Raw gas (left) and water (right) production contributions from tracers.
It should be noted that there was a general inversely proportional trend between water and gas
contributions. This suggested that the cleanup process is not yet fully finished even after flowing the well
for 51 days. Water production was relatively higher in the last few stages, and this could be explained by
more fluid dissipation in the early stages, whilst subsequent stages were stimulated.
This tracer data is from the first 51 days of flowback and testing. Subsequently, the well was shut
in for five months and returned on extended production test for 76 days. This occurred after the
design and execution of Carpentaria-3H drilling and fracture stimulation, which is outside this paper's
scope. Nonetheless, treatment contribution from the first 51 days was incorporated into the design of
Carpentaria-3H.
Fig. 8 depicts that slickwater jobs contributed less to gas production and produced more water than XL
and hybrid job types. This is only for the first 51 days of production, and given the various fluid volumes,
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job sizes and proppant concentrations between the jobs, the data may only be pointing to different clean-up
timing. Therefore, caution was used when using utilising the data for Carpentaria-3H planning.
Further to reviewing raw tracer relative contribution, the data was normalised to gas production versus
average sand mass and average fluid volume per cluster. The production data was cumulative for the 51
days of flowback and testing. Fig. 9 shows the relationship between the average gas contribution per cluster
and the average sand and fluid volume per cluster. Gas production has a higher correlation with sand mass
than with fluid volume. However, after removing the outlier values in cluster numbers (group 3), the linear
relationship weakened, and the trend flattened with increased material quantity. Increasing the treatment
size per cluster might not be the optimal pathway to improving production. An alternative consideration is to
increase the effective number of clusters. Further work is required as chemical tracers have their limitations.
Figure 9—Average cluster gas contribution correlates more with sand mass than water
volume, emphasising the importance of effective sand placement (labels indicate tracer types).
Although the above evaluation offered insight, some important components were still not understood
that were critical for subsequent job planning. One such element of fluid and sand distribution within stage
clusters was not resolved, and this is critical to determining ongoing perforation and pumping strategy.
Furthermore, the casing restriction proximal to stage 12 had not been confirmed. Based on this, a coiled-
tubing-conveyed memory production logging tool and calliper were acquired on Carpentaria-2H as part of
Carpentaria-3H job planning. Logging was undertaken after the well had flowed for 51 days, shut in for a
few months, and opened for a few days of stable flow specifically for that activity.
The memory production logging tool (MPLT) recorded overall perforations across the entire horizontal
section. Due to operational issues, only limited data was recovered. Only a coarse gas production profile
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could be computed over discrete wellbore sections based on the limited available data. Water inflow could
not be resolved with the truncated dataset. Four production intervals were identified based on temperature
and mini spinner measurements, which were significantly coarser than cluster and perforation resolution.
The percentage of gas contributions and comparison with tracers are presented in Table 2. We excluded
contributions from other intervals and normalised the gas tracer measurement to the resolved intervals for
a more straightforward comparison.
Table 2—PLT result. Even though expected accuracy was not achieved, it can be observed that the result shows
Stage 6 XL
24% 21%
Stage 7 XL
Stage 10 Hybrid
10% 17%
Stage 11 Hybrid
Stage 18 XL
28% 28%
Stage 19 XL
Stage 23 Hybrid
Stage 25 XL
A 24-arm calliper log was run in a hole with coiled tubing as a separate run to the MPLT. The
resolution along the hole trajectory of the oriented tool was 2 mm, sufficient to resolve post-fracturing casing
ID, including ovality, casing collars, individual perforations, and plug setting intervals. The fundamental
observations changes in ID are the following:
• Most severe tight spots occurred when the well trajectory exhibited more dog leg severity, which
may be attributed to uneven loading during hydraulic stimulation.
• Most of the tight spots exhibited "ovalisation", in which the casing ID decreased in the direction
of external force (0–180°) and increased in the 90–270° direction, where 0 is the up direction (Fig.
10b).
• The plug seat may be observed as a discrete increase in casing ID (Fig. 10c).
After taking the outliers out, plot the rest of the stages in Fig. 12—Fluid distribution coefficient in shot
number–rate per hole plane. The distribution coefficient is noted as the Gini coefficient; larger values mean
the distribution is more uneven. The Grey dashed line represents the total rate for a particular stage. Fig.
12; we can make the following observations:
• Most stages with better distribution are located where the rate/hole exceeded a certain critical value
between 2-3 m3/min.
• For XL-type jobs, the distribution evenness is more proportional to rate/hole.
• Shot numbers should be modified to allow a higher rate/hole, which would help to divert fluid to
all perforations in each cluster.
Figure 12—Fluid distribution coefficient in shot number–rate per hole plane. The
distribution coefficient is noted as the Gini coefficient; larger values mean the distribution
is more uneven. The Grey dashed line represents the total rate for a particular stage.
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Geomechanical complexity
• Eventually, we can be more aggressive with the pump
Pressure analysis
schedule.
• Special considerations when fracture is required for
vertical coverage
NWBPL observed during operation. • Add 0.5-PPA 100-mesh sand slug Pressure analysis
Frac Treatment
• Improve placement efficiency for each type of
Sand mass is more correlated to gas treatment.
Tracers/PLT
contribution • Pump less SW jobs due to low average sand
concentration
Sanding issue occurred at XL stages but • Controlling the volume of XL job and maximum PPA
Calliper
could be related to SW stages nearby as conductivity is not a priority.
more favourable for limited entry design and aids fracture penetration through near wellbore (NWB) hoop
stress area.
Figure 14—Sand and proppant conductivity plot. Larger mesh sizes offer superior conductivity at the initial
production phase. Ceramic proppant appears advantageous as the reservoir depletes during long term production.
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Pump Schedules
Pump schedules were adapted to local variations such as stratigraphic interval and distance to faulting. XL
jobs scaled down to 75% of baseline for stages near faults to avoid pumping a large quantity of fluid, which
could more easily mobilise the fault. Vertical connection to the primary target interval was pursued for the
few out-of-target stages where the wellbore departed the target shale due to faulting. Small-scale XL types
with aggressive sand schedules were designed to maximise fracture conductivity.
High fracture conductivity is not required for unconventional stimulation - it is rather an artefact of
the need for high viscosity to create the necessary width for placing any sand. Low sand concentration
Further details about material balance are shown in Fig. 16. During job execution, we emphasised
schedule aggressivity. For all types of jobs, maximum proppant concentrations were increased above that
pumped at Carpentaria-2H. The increased average proppant concentrations in hybrid and SW job types
indicated that the fluid required to place the given sand mass could be reduced. XL job type concentration
was impacted due to the reduction of sand mass, and therefore total fluid, at fault proximal stages. Due
to pumping strategy observations at Carpentatia-2H, more sand could be placed with aggressive step-
ups in SW jobs at Carpentaria-3H. Furthermore, the hybrid design had been significantly improved by
incorporating the changes in SW and XL job type, resulting in greater sand volume being pumped with
lower fluid volume.
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Casing ID restriction was not encountered during the execution of this job. This implied that reducing
the XL job volumes near faults was effective. However, this is not confirmed and is a working hypothesis as
calliper logging, or a definition fault of stresses comparing the well with the Carpentaria-2H is not available.
NWBPL became less severe in Caprentaria-3H, as is shown in Fig. 17. The pressure "hump" was minimal
compared to that in Carpentaria-2H, and this indicated the positive effect of low-concentration finer mesh
slugs and deep-penetrating charges.
Figure 17—Pressure trends before and after sand arrival at the perforations. Most
stages in Carpentaria-2H showed a "hump", indicating the presence of NWBPL.
Several technical trials were implemented throughout the program. Three out of B Shale target stages
were successfully placed when sand started entering the fracture, the pressure exhibited a declining trend,
and ISIG of these stages was not anomalous, indicating that despite the pinching from the NWB high-
stress area, the fracture managed to penetrate back to the pay zone. It should be noted that this does not
guarantee the gas can flow through the pinching point, even if the maximum sand concentration reaches 5
to 6 PPA. The sand trial stages were also executed successfully (Fig. 18), and tracers or PLT can evaluate
the production impact.
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• It is recommended to verify natural and induced fracture geometry in future wells with downhole
microseismic, image logging and strain measurements. Notwithstanding the lack of candidate
monitoring wells.
• Ongoing geomechanics modelling and verification, especially anisotropic geomechanical property
modelling, is required to constrain the fracture propagation mechanism fully.
• To understand the cluster contribution, performing downhole multi-spinners production logging is
desirable to understand the fluid flow profile within the wellbore. DST/DVS fibre and downhole
camera may help to overcome the challenges of small incremental contributions from individual
clusters/stage.
• The extreme limited entry perforation design is preferred to distribute fluid more evenly between
clusters. However, the effectiveness of limited entry decreases as the cluster number increases.
Erring on fewer clusters per stage at the expense of operational efficiency may be prudent during
the appraisal phase.
• As indicated by calliper logging, compressive forces whilst pumping fault proximal stages may
lead to minor casing restriction. In Carpentaria-3H, the strategy of perforating near the faults and
stimulating with reduced XL volume was successful. This strategy will be continually reviewed in
future wells to increase job size proximal to minor faults.
• In future wells, as stage and cluster spacing are likely to become more tightly spaced, fracture
isolation, especially interstage, is critical to avoid communication through the cemented annulus.
Post-job evaluation, such as PLT or multi-arm calliper, would help. Still, onsite diagnostic methods
such as high-frequency pressure monitoring (Chang et al. 2021) or other techniques can provide
more agility in the perforation scheme's execution of fracturing.
• Unlike other unconventional plays where proppant admittance can be an issue, pumping larger
sand tail-in is operationally feasible. The gain in NWB conductivity must be verified by production
results.
Acknowledgment
The authors thank Empire Energy Group for their support and authorisation to publish this case study.
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