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  • May 11, 2022 | West Barracouta – 50 years in the making

    West Barracouta – 50 years in the making

    Daniel Chigwidden

    Wednesday 11th May

    12 noon arrival for social drinks and lunch starting at 12.30pm; meeting concludes ~2pm

     

    RSVP by midday Monday 9th May

    Mailto:VictoriaTasmania@spemail.org

    Kelvin Club, Melbourne Place (alley way off Russell St between Little Collins and Bourke Streets)

    Business / smart dress requested by Kelvin Club

    $50 members* and $60 non-members, $10 students

    * (PESA, ASEG, IChemE, EA members get SPE member $50 rate) 

    • Use this link to pay online if you are a SPE MEMBER
    • Cash or cheque on arrival, no credit card facilities available
    • Please advise if you are a member, student or non-member and provide any dietary requirements (e.g. vegetarian / gluten free etc.) 
    • No shows will be charged full cost if less than 48 hours’ notice is given
    • SPE meetings can qualify toward your professional development requirement 


    Abstract:

    This presentation shows a case study on the value of combining existing ideas with new data to evaluate and determine the most effective way to extend the producing life of one of the first offshore gas discoveries in the Gippsland Basin. The holistic work approach resulted in the development of West Barracouta Top Latrobe gas by two dual-zone, subsea intelligent wells with sand control, tied back to an operating pipeline to minimise brownfields interface.

    Located in the Gippsland Basin, the Barracouta gas field was Australia’s first discovery, by the first offshore well, and soon after the first operating offshore facility. After more than 50 years of oil and gas production, new data gives further insight to support continuous improvement in reservoir management to optimise the resource to end of field life.

    Originally discovered in 1969, West Barracouta is separated from the main field by a fault induced saddle point that left a substantial volume without an active completion.

    With the Gippsland legacy gas fields declining, the West Barracouta development is well timed to supply the Australian East Coast gas market with one of the last remaining low CO2 gas sources and ensure additional security of supply.

    Incorporating reprocessed seismic data into the workflow delivered improved confidence in field definition, providing a foundation for a technology-driven development plan. This paper addresses the technical workflow that was implemented to support a fast-paced subsea development, robust against the range of possible geological scenarios.

     Biography:

    Daniel joined ExxonMobil in 2018 and works as a Reservoir Engineer in the Australian Reservoir and Development Planning team. Daniel studied Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, graduating from The University of Adelaide in 2009. He is an active committee member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) with 12 years’ experience in onshore & offshore production, field development planning, reserves assessment and reservoir simulation. Prior to joining ExxonMobil, Daniel worked in various Reservoir Engineering roles for Woodside Energy and Lochard Energy.