Play Concepts for Horizontal Drilling

Horn, Myron K.

doi:10.1306/ce33529c7

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…In most cases, tensile hydraulic fractures will form perpendicular to the minimum stress direction, as this is the path of least resistance for fracture formation. Therefore, understanding present-day stress orientations and magnitudes is critical for predicting the initiation and propagation of hydraulic fractures associated with reservoir stimulation, and also has implications for borehole stability, well and water-flood design, and fault reactivation (Addis et al, 1993;Caillet, 1993;Hillis & Reynolds, 2003;Hillis & Williams, 1993a, 1993bHorn, 1991;Mildren et al, 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding present-day stress in the onshore Canning Basin of Western Australia

Bailey

Jarrett

Tenthorey

et al. 2021

Australian Journal of Earth Sciences

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Western Australia's Canning Basin is an underexplored prospective basin with proven petroleum systems and small-scale production. Recently, several formations within deeper depocentres have been investigated for unconventional hydrocarbon resources. Modern petroleum resource evaluation generally depends on an understanding of local and regional stresses that are a primary control over the formation and propagation of induced fractures. There are significant gaps in our understanding of these factors within the Canning Basin. This study characterises the regional stress regime of the onshore Canning Basin and presents modelled present-day stress, allowing for the identification of significant stress heterogeneity and natural fracture barriers. Interpretation of wireline data reveals a present-day state of stress with variation in magnitude and faulting-type. An approximately northeast-southwest regional present-day maximum horizontal stress orientation is interpreted, which is in broad agreement with the Australian Stress Map and previously published data. One-dimensional mechanical earth models, constructed for intervals from 15 Canning Basin wells, highlight the relationship between lithology and stress. Significant changes in stress within and between lithological units, owing to the existence of discrete mechanical units forming numerous inter-and intra-formational stress boundaries, likely to act as natural barriers to fracture propagation, particularly within those units currently targeted for their unconventional resource potential, are interpreted. A strikeslip faulting stress regime is interpreted broadly through the basin. However, when analysed in detail there are three distinct stress zones identified: (1) a transitional reverse-to strike-slip faulting stress regime in the top $1 km, (2) a strike-slip faulting stress regime from $1 km to $3.0 km and (3) a transitional strike-slip to normal faulting regime at depths greater than $3.0 km. This study is a component of the Australian Government's Exploring for the Future initiative, which focusses on gathering new data and information about northern Australia's resource potential. KEY POINTS 1. New stress data, including 15 mechanical earth models, are presented for Western Australia's onshore Canning Basin. 2. Broadly, a strike-slip stress regime with a NE-SW-oriented maximum horizontal orientation is described. 3. Significant stress heterogeneities and natural fracture barriers are identified.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding present-day stress in the onshore Canning Basin of Western Australia

Bailey

Jarrett

Tenthorey

et al. 2021

Australian Journal of Earth Sciences

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Exploring for the Future: new geomechanical data in frontier Australian basins

Bailey,

Dewhurst,

Wang

et al. 2024

Aust. Energ. Prod. J.

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Led by Geoscience Australia, Exploring for the Future (EFTF) is a A$225 million Australian Government program dedicated to exploring Australia’s resource potential and boosting investment. The EFTF program energy component aimed to attract industry investment by delivering a suite of new precompetitive geoscience data in prospective Australian sedimentary basins. Through EFTF, Geoscience Australia has acquired significant amounts of new geomechanical data from underexplored onshore sedimentary basins with identified hydrocarbon prospectivity, from both legacy and newly acquired samples. These data were acquired to build a better understanding of basin sediment rock properties, particularly looking at the reservoir and seal potential of postulated unconventional and conventional targets. Four major datasets are presented herein, representing prospective intervals from the Paleozoic Canning Basin of Western Australia, the Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic Officer Basin of South Australia and Western Australia, the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic South Nicholson region of the Northern Territory and northwest Queensland, and the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic Birrindudu Basin of the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Additionally, the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic McArthur Basin of the Northern Territory is represented by a small number of analyses. Tests include unconfined compressive strength tests, laboratory ultrasonic measurements, single and multi-stage triaxial tests and Brazilian tensile strength tests. These datasets are a precompetitive resource that can facilitate investment decisions in frontier regions, helping to identify elements of conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon systems as well as providing essential data to assess geological storage opportunities.

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Play Concepts for Horizontal Drilling

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Understanding present-day stress in the onshore Canning Basin of Western Australia

Understanding present-day stress in the onshore Canning Basin of Western Australia

Exploring for the Future: new geomechanical data in frontier Australian basins

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