Blackback Field Development - An Example of Technical and Commercial Risk Mitigation in a Deepwater Marginal Field

Abstract

The Blackback structure is a large, top-Latrobe, eroded and faulted anticline within the Gippsland Basin of south east Australia. Despite its large areal extent, it is a commercially marginal field due to reserves uncertainty, deep water and the practical difficulties of development. Proximity to existing infrastructure helps to make this marginal field commercial. Five wells have been drilled on the Blackback feature, and have intersected reservoirs with greatly varied geological and geophysical properties. The resulting uncertainty over the ultimate recovery remains, despite the five wells drilled to date. This paper describes the geological and development risk mitigation undertaken by a non-operating Joint Venturer to reduce the technical and commercial uncertainty pertaining to a second phase of development. This includes the development of a predictive depositional model targeted at the upside potential and maximum use of existing infrastructure. P. 209