Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd., Denver, will soon stimulate and test gas-prospective shales and sandstones at the Shenandoah-1 vertical exploratory well in the Beetaloo subbasin of the McArthur basin in Northern Territory, Australia.
The company moved in a rig that is drilling out six cement plugs and will set 4-1/2-in. casing at 2,714 m. It will then move off to allow Halliburton stimulation equipment on site.
Five intervals are to be tested, two in the Velkerri shales, two in the Moroak sandstones, and one in the Lower Kyalla shales. All of the formations are Proterozoic in age (see chart, OGJ, June 27, 1994, p. 61).
High flow rates are not expected, but hydrocarbons produced to surface will direct the future placement of horizontal wells for the purpose of testing commerciality (OGJ Online, Aug. 19, 2009). The full test sequence is expected to be concluded around the end of November 2011.
