Empire Energy reports strong initial flow from Beetaloo appraisal

Empire Energy Ltd., Sydney, reported strong initial gas flow from its Carpentaria-2H horizontal appraisal well in its 100%-owned Beetaloo basin permit EP187 onshore Northern Territory.

The well is still undergoing clean-up of injected fluids following a fracture stimulation program, but gas has been flowing at a stabilized rate of 2.6 MMcfd across the stimulated horizontal section of 927 m indicating strong reservoir drive, the company said. Minimal decline in production rate was seen during the first 91 hours.

The well is currently flowing at 2.5 MMcfd with slowing water production. Testing continues.

Earlier, Empire successfully placed 6,283,200 pounds of proppant across the horizontal section.

Empire’s plans are to test four different fluid systems - crosslink, HVFR, hybrid, and slickwater. The trialing of systems included successful placement of seven slickwater stages without ‘screening out’ – a first for the Beetaloo basin operators.

Empire said it expects there will be differing rates of production across the 21 stages stimulated because of the fluid systems and perforation strategies tested. These will be determined by 11 gas tracers and 17 water tracers place across the horizontal section in the well.

Gas and water samples are being collected for gas composition evaluation and stage contribution analysis.

Collected data will aid future completion design to drive optimal well production performance. The most productive systems will be used when stimulating the Carpentaria-3H horizontal well later this year.