Optimization of Coal Seam Connectivity via Multi-Seam Pinpoint Fracturing Operations in the Walloons Coal Measures, Surat Basin

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vibhas J. Pandey ◽  
Sameer Ganpule ◽  
Steven Dewar
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
History Matching ◽  
Design Matrix ◽  
Coal Seams ◽  
Major Step ◽  
Well Completion ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Treatment Designs ◽  
Coal Measures ◽  
Gas Bearing

Abstract The Walloons coal measures located in Surat Basin (eastern Australia) is a well-known coal seam gas play that has been under production for several years. The well completion in this play is primarily driven by coal permeability which varies from 1 Darcy or more in regions with significant natural fractures to less than 1md in areas with underdeveloped cleat networks. For an economic development of the latter, fracturing treatment designs that effectively stimulate numerous and often thin coals seams, and enhance inter-seam connectivity, are a clear choice. Fracture stimulation of Surat basin coals however has its own challenges given their unique geologic and geomechanical features that include (a) low net to gross ratio of ~0.1 in nearly 300 m (984.3 ft) of gross interval, (b) on average 60 seams per well ranging from 0.4 m to 3 m in thickness, (c) non-gas bearing and reactive interburden, and (d) stress regimes that vary as a function of depth. To address these challenges, low rate, low viscosity, and high proppant concentration coiled tubing (CT) conveyed pinpoint stimulation methods were introduced basin-wide after successful technology pilots in 2015 (Pandey and Flottmann 2015). This novel stimulation technique led to noticeable improvements in the well performance, but also highlighted the areas that could be improved – especially stage spacing and standoff, perforation strategy, and number of stages, all aimed at maximizing coal coverage during well stimulation. This paper summarizes the findings from a 6-well multi-stage stimulation pilot aimed at studying fracture geometries to improve standoff efficiency and maximizing coal connectivity amongst various coal seams of Walloons coal package. In the design matrix that targeted shallow (300 to 600 m) gas-bearing coal seams, the stimulation treatments varied in volume, injection rate, proppant concentration, fluid type, perforation spacing, and standoff between adjacent stages. Treatment designs were simulated using a field-data calibrated, log-based stress model. After necessary adjustments in the field, the treatments were pumped down the CT at injection rates ranging from 12 to 16 bbl/min (0.032 to 0.042 m3/s). Post-stimulation modeling and history-matching using numerical simulators showed the dependence of fracture growth not only on pumping parameters, but also on depth. Shallower stages showed a strong propensity of limited growth which was corroborated by additional field measurements and previous work in the field (Kirk-Burnnand et al. 2015). These and other such observations led to revision of early guidelines on standoff and was considered a major step that now enabled a cost-effective inclusion of additional coal seams in the stimulation program. The learnings from the pilot study were implemented on development wells and can potentially also serve as a template for similar pinpoint completions worldwide.

DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE KOGAN NORTH AND TIPTON WEST COAL SEAM GAS (CSG) FIELDS, SURAT BASIN, SOUTHEAST QUEENSLAND

2006 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 367 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.W. Day ◽  
R.F. Prefontaine ◽  
P.A.J. Bubendorfer ◽  
M.H. Oberhardt ◽  
B.J. Pinder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Gas Flow ◽  
Heritage Management ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Coal Seam Gas ◽  
Cultural Heritage Management ◽  
Well Completion ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Coal Measures

In 2001, Arrow Energy NL, a fledgling coal seam gas (CSG) explorer, drilled the first wells of a multi-well exploration program in two Authorities To Prospect (ATP) permits—ATPs 683P and 676P—that covered an area totalling 13,817 km2 of the Jurassic Walloon Coal Measures in the eastern Surat Basin. The objective was to discover significant CSG resources and, if successful, to commercialise to reserve status. Early exploration success in 2002 saw the discovery of the Kogan North and Tipton West CSG fields. This paper reviews the discovery and subsequent appraisal and development work that Arrow Energy has completed to establish production from these fields.By 2004, Arrow Energy had independently certified Probablereserves in the Kogan North field of 85 PJ, and Possible reserves of 157 PJ. Results from a five-well CSG pilot operation demonstrated the feasibility of commercial gas flow rates sufficiently to justify commercialising CSG from the Walloon Coal Measures in the Kogan North field. Under the terms of a staged development agreement, CS Energy Ltd—Queensland’s largest electricity generator—farmed into the Kogan North Project to earn a 50% interest in PL194 and an adjoining portion of ATP 676P by funding A$13.1 million of the project’s development and appraisalcosts. The funds provided by CS Energy covered the majority of the development costs required for Arrow’s Kogan North development project. The initial gas sales contract from Kogan North will supply sales gas of 4 PJ/a for 15 years to CS Energy from March 2006. Arrow Energy retains the remaining 50% interest and operates the project.With 25 PJ Probable, 90 PJ Probable and 1,980 PJ Possiblegas reserves certified independently, the Tipton West field could potentially be one of the largest onshore gas fields in eastern Australia. Final appraisal of the Tipton West field is currently underway with financial close on the development expected in late 2005. Beach Petroleum Ltd has entered into an agreement to fund the A$35 million required for upstream developmentto supply the initial 10 PJ/a sales gas from the field in 2007, in exchange for 40% interest in th Dalby block of ATP683P. Arrow Energy retains the remaining 60% interest and operates the project.Diligent environmental and land management systems are required with the development of any CSG field. For example, formation water produced from CSG activities needs to be managed effectively. To deal with this water Arrow Energy is developing and implementing several innovative strategies, including forced evaporation dams, water supply to local coal-washing plants and trialling desalination plants to provide drinking water for nearby towns, aquaculture and stock watering.Arrow Energy has also implemented a Cultural Heritage Management Plan within the development areas in cooperation with the local indigenous claimant groups, the Western Wakka Wakka and the Barunggam peoples. The plan was designed to minimise risk of any disturbance to indigenous artefacts and areas of significance during the exploration, construction and ongoing operations associated with the development of both gas fields.The discovery and future development of the Kogan North and Tipton West fields has been achieved by using an appropriate mix of geological evaluation, efficient drilling techniques, innovative well completion methods and successful marketing strategies, integrated with cooperative environmental and cultural heritage management systems.

The Studies on Gas-Bearing Characteristics of Deep Coal Seams in Yanchang Oil and Gas Province, China

2014 ◽  
Vol 962-965 ◽  
pp. 213-216
Author(s):  
Guo Ping Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
Layer Thickness ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Single Layer ◽  
Gas Content ◽  
Coal Bed ◽  
Coal Seams ◽  
Resource Potential ◽  
Gas Bearing ◽  
Average Layer Thickness

In this paper, four general directions are described to make evaluations and their resource potential; those are coal structure and coal level, gas content of deep coalbed, the coalbed thickness and distribution and the buried depth of coalbed. Coalfields of the study area are mainly Permian and Carboniferous coal seam of Shanxi Formation coal and Benxi group 11 # coal, coal seam depth 1370-1812m. No. 3 coal-seam average layer thickness of 1.6 m, the monolayer most 2 m thick; No. 11 coal-seam in the average layer thickness of 3 m, single-layer thickness of 4.5 m. Predict the amount of coal resources of 17.3 one hundred million t. Predict coal-bed methane resources of 27.68 billion cubic reserve abundance of 104 million square / km2 in. The exploration results show that this region has good development prospects.

COALBED METHANE RESOURCES IN THE PERMIAN OF EASTERN AUSTRALIA AND THEIR TECTONIC SETTING

1993 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 161 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Miyazaki ◽  
R.J. Korsch
Keyword(s):  
Coalbed Methane ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Low Permeability ◽  
Burial History ◽  
Coal Seams ◽  
Methane Drainage ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Permian Coal ◽  
Coal Measures

The Bowen and Sydney Basins in eastern Australia contain vast coal resources which provide a source for coalbed methane. Through studies of the spatial and temporal distribution of the sedimentary packages, the structural geometry and tectonic setting of the sedimentary packages, and the maturation and burial history, the Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO) is mapping the distribution and structural styles of the sources of methane, in particular, the Late Permian coal measures. AGSO's results from the Bowen Basin show at least two distinctly different structural styles of potential targets for coalbed methane drainage: on the Comet Ridge, the Permian coal measures are essentially subhorizontal and tectonically undisturbed, whereas in the western Taroom Trough, the coal measures are folded into a series of anticlines, each of which occurs above a thrust fault which in turn forms part of an imbricate thrust fan. Both of these styles occur at depths of less than 1000 m.Calculations by the Bureau of Resource Sciences (BRS) indicate that the inferred coalbed methane resources-in-place are 62 trillion cubic feet (1760 billion m3) for Australia, in which the Bowen and Sydney Basins are currently the only potential provinces of coalbed methane. The low permeability of the coal seams hinders attempts to utilise this vast amount of energy resources.Further exploration is necessary to delineate commercially feasible areas. This delineation is the only process that will be able to determine demonstrated coalbed methane resources.

scholarly journals DYNAMICS OF GAS EMISSION FROM EXPOSED SURFACE OF GAS-BEARING COAL SEAMS HAVING MEDIUM THICKNESS

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-448
Author(s):  
Nikolai KACHURIN ◽  
◽  
Galina STAS ◽  
Alexander KACHURIN ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
Mathematical Models ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Mathematical Physics ◽  
Gas Release ◽  
Coal Seams ◽  
Excessive Pressure ◽  
Methane Release ◽  
Mine Workings ◽  
Gas Bearing

The goal of the research was to clarify the regularities of the dynamics of gas release from the surface of the outcrop of the developed coal seam. The main research methods were theoretical methods of mathematical physics and non-equilibrium thermodynamics. Gas-bearing coal seams are usually mined underground. When driving development workings, outcropping surfaces of gas-bearing coal seams appear and gases in the seams under excessive pressure are released into the atmosphere of the mine workings. Gas-bearing coal seams are usually mined underground. When driving preparatory workings, surfaces of outcropping of gas-bearing coal seams arise and gases that are in the seams under excessive pressure are released into the atmosphere of the mine workings. The most important gas-dynamic characteristic of this process is the rate of gas release, which represents the volume of gases released from a unit area of exposure of a coal seam per unit of time. A generalized law of resistance for gas filtration in a rock mass is recommended, and a fairly rigorous thermodynamic substantiation is given. It is shown that the densities of gas mass flows in accordance with the postulate of their linear relationship with the driving forces are determined by the Onsager relation. The results obtained and their discussion is presented. Mathematical models are proposed for engineering calculations of the dynamics of methane release from the outcropping surface of medium-thick coal seams. The error of the adopted approximations does not exceed 3%. The intensity of methane release is directly related to the planogram of work in the working face. Analysis of this dependence indicates that during the extraction cycle, methane release increases due to an increase in the area of the gas-release surface. The main conclusions are as follows: mathematical modeling of the processes of gas movement in a porous sorbing medium using approximate mathematical models representing linearized equations of mathematical physics; the regularities of the dynamics of the rate of gas release from the surface of the outcrop of a gas-bearing coal seam is the theoretical basis for the mathematical description of the process of gas release; the use of a linearized hyperbolic filtration equation most accurately describes the processes of methane release from the outcropping surface of mined coal seams.

Francolite from sedimentary ironstones of the Coal Measures

1938 ◽  
Vol 25 (162) ◽  
pp. 135-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Deans ◽  
H. C. G. Vincent
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
Iron Ores ◽  
Coal Seams ◽  
Robin Hood ◽  
Shrinkage Cracks ◽  
Black Band ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Hill ◽  
Coal Measures ◽  
Oolitic Ironstone

The sedimentary iron ores of Britain all contain small amounts of phosphorus which is generally present in the colloform mineral collophane. In a rather uncommon class of oolitic ironstones recently described from the Yorkshire coalfield, a crystalline phosphate was found which has now been identified as francolite and forms the subject of this paper. These oolitic ironstones occur in the immediate roofs of coal seams, are of freshwater origin, and consist of ooliths of kaolinite and isotropic clay in a groundmass of chalybite. During the later stages of their diagenesis, francolite, associated with quartz, calcite, pyrite and blonde, and much kaolinite, crystallized within the ooliths (fig. 1) and in the shrinkage cracks (fig. 2) of the ironstone, and sometimes replaced the ooliths and groundmass. The francolite is present in all of the three oolitic ironstone occurrences described from Yorkshire, and also in the similar rock from Derbyshire in the Geological Survey's collection of iron ores. Details of these localities are given in the ironstones paper. The writer has also found similar francolite in an ironstone nodule from a parting in the Mühlenbach coal seam of south Limburg, Netherlands. Although not recorded, it may be expected to occur in some of the black-band ironstones and other rocks closely associated with coal seams. The following account is based entirely on material from Robin Hood quarry, Thorpe-on-the-Hill, 4 miles south of Leeds.

COAL SEAM GAS IN THE SOUTHERN SYDNEY BASIN, NEW SOUTH WALES

1997 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 415 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.M. Faiz ◽  
A.C. Hutton
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
New South ◽  
Geological Structure ◽  
Gas Content ◽  
Gas Composition ◽  
Late Permian ◽  
Coal Seams ◽  
Coal Seam Gas ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Coal Measures

The coal seam gas content of the Late Permian Illawarra Coal Measures ranges from Methane that occurs within the basin was mainly derived as a by-product of coalification. Most of the CO2 was derived from intermittent magmatic activity between the Triassic and the Tertiary. This gas has subsequently migrated, mainly in solution, towards structural highs and accumulated in anticlines and near sealed faults.The total desorbable gas content of the coal seams is mainly related to depth, gas composition and geological structure. At depths

scholarly journals Genomic and phenotypic insights point to diverse ecological strategies by facultative anaerobes obtained from subsurface coal seams

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silas H. W. Vick ◽  
Paul Greenfield ◽  
Sasha G. Tetu ◽  
David J. Midgley ◽  
Ian T. Paulsen
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Early Time ◽  
Ecological Strategies ◽  
Coal Seams ◽  
Coal Seam Gas ◽  
Phenotypic Analysis ◽  
Facultative Anaerobes ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Economic Perspectives

Abstract Microbes in subsurface coal seams are responsible for the conversion of the organic matter in coal to methane, resulting in vast reserves of coal seam gas. This process is important from both environmental and economic perspectives as coal seam gas is rapidly becoming a popular fuel source worldwide and is a less carbon intensive fuel than coal. Despite the importance of this process, little is known about the roles of individual bacterial taxa in the microbial communities carrying out this process. Of particular interest is the role of members of the genus Pseudomonas, a typically aerobic taxa which is ubiquitous in coal seam microbial communities worldwide and which has been shown to be abundant at early time points in studies of ecological succession on coal. The current study performed aerobic isolations of coal seam microbial taxa generating ten facultative anaerobic isolates from three coal seam formation waters across eastern Australia. Subsequent genomic sequencing and phenotypic analysis revealed a range of ecological strategies and roles for these facultative anaerobes in biomass recycling, suggesting that this group of organisms is involved in the degradation of accumulated biomass in coal seams, funnelling nutrients back into the microbial communities degrading coal to methane.

I—Notes on the Geological Horizon and Palæontology of the ‘Soapstone Bed,’ in the Lower Coal-Measures, Near Colne, Lancashire

1905 ◽  
Vol 2 (10) ◽  
pp. 433-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hebbert Bolton
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
Outer Surface ◽  
Black Shales ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Coal Seams ◽  
Vertical Thickness ◽  
Coal Measures ◽  
Thin Band ◽  
Organic Remains

The ‘Soapstone bed,’ which has yielded the specimens about to be described by Dr. Henry Woodward, was so named by the late George Wild. It is a thin band of light-grey shale lying from 4 to 7 feet above the ‘Mountain Four Feet’ mine in the neighbourhood of Colne and Trawden.The shale contains an abundance of small flattened nodules, varying in size from half an inch to six inches in length, and from half an inch to two and a half inches in breadth. The vertical thickness rarely exceeds an inch and a half. The shale readily breaks down into a soft unctuous clay on weathering, whilst the outer surface of the nodules undergoes oxidation and breaks away in thin coats. The nodules consist of earthy carbonate of iron, and it is to the oxidation of the latter that breaking up takes place by a process of concentric scaling.Between the ‘Soapstone bed’ and the ‘Mountain Four Feet’ mine are black shales with dark ironstone nodules often full of Gonialites, Fterinopecten, etc. The horizon from the top of the coal-seam to the ‘Soapstone bed’ is the most prolific in organic remains in the Lower Coal-measures, in whatever locality it may be met with.Whilst the horizon of the Soapstone nodule bed is constant over a large area, the beds immediately subjacent to it are not. The Mountain Four Feet mine, upon which it rests under and around the whole of the Burnley coalfield, is seen when traced southwards to be formed by the union of two coal-seams, the ‘Gannister mine’ and the ‘Bullion mine’ respectively.

scholarly journals Application of stable carbon and hydrogen isotope technology in the determination of gas sources from limestone layers at Shuangliu mine, China

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 282-290
Author(s):  
Wei Zhou ◽  
Sheng Xue ◽  
Yunchun Han ◽  
Chunshan Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
Hydrogen Isotope ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Stable Carbon ◽  
Coal Seams ◽  
Safety Risk ◽  
Isotope Tracer ◽  
Measurement Results ◽  
Coal Measures ◽  
Carbon And Hydrogen Isotope

Abstract Stable carbon and hydrogen isotope technology is used in determining gas sources in coal mines. Coal measures at the Shuangliu mine mainly contain nine coal seams (i.e. No. 2 to No. 10) and five limestone layers (namely, L1 to L5). The coal seams are interbedded with the limestone layers. A large amount of methane is adsorbed in the limestone layer, and the actual measured maximum gas pressure is 1.3 MPa, posing a serious gas emission safety risk in roadway excavation in the coal measures. In order to effectively manage the safety risk of gas emissions, it is necessary to determine gas sources and take necessary control measures. In this study, 50 gas samples were taken from the coal seams and 10 gas samples were collected from the limestone layers. These samples were measured for their composition and stable carbon and hydrogen isotopes. Stable carbon and hydrogen isotope tracer separation technique and multi-source linear calculation methods were used to analyze the measurement results. The study shows that 84% of gas in the L1, L2 and L3 limestone layers comes from the No. 8 coal seam and 11% from the No. 9 coal seam; gas in the L4 limestone layer is mainly from the No. 8 (44%), No. 7 (37%) and No. 6 coal seams (16%), and gas in L5 limestone layer mainly comes from the No. 6 (59%), No. 7 (23%) and No. 8 coal seams (13%). The research results can guide the design of gas drainage boreholes before roadway tunneling, so it has important guiding significance in the formulation of comprehensive gas control schemes.

Use of Destressing Drilling to Ensure Safety of Donbass Gas-bearing Coal Seams Extraction

2019 ◽  
pp. 7-11
Author(s):  
V.S. Brigida ◽  
◽  
Yu.V. Dmitrak ◽  
O.Z. Gabaraev ◽  
V.I. Golik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seams ◽  
Gas Bearing
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