Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
Looking forward to the early indications and the results of the Lincoln Crestal Well.
I find that the drilling of these fractured granite resources for oil very interesting and compulsive reading.
My simplistic takes on oil in the fractured basements are that fine oil in decent sized granite fractures will produce high flow rates from the well. There are no sand particles etc. to dampen the flow as in sandstone reservoirs. Lancaster is a good example, high flow rates with oil using its own legs on both wells to get on to the tanker through chokes, equipment etc. What would the unrestricted flow rates be I wonder?
I would also think that the percentage recovery of oil in a FB granite reservoir would be higher than a sandstone one for the oil in fractures against oil in sandstone comparison..
I wonder just how much fractured granite there is in these prospects. The fractured granite going from a high point in the structural closure down to the water contact. Does it also the stretch out in all directions below the structural closure?. Interesting question.
I believe the current opinion is that the frequency of fractures in the granite generally varies from the top section down to the water level. The highest frequency being at the top and the lowest at the bottom
I suppose this could be established by drilling the area like a pin cushion if cost was not a problem.
The LC well prospects.
Extract from Hur website:-‘ Hurricane drilled inclined well 205/26b-12 on Lincoln in 2016. The well penetrated over 800m of basement section and encountered a fracture network similar to that seen on Lancaster with comparable fracture orientation, frequency and porosity. An extensive oil column was demonstrated by this well’.
When you read these HUR comments on the drilling results of that well you cannot help being pretty optimistic for a good result on this production well.
. There is obviously a lot of oil there and it looks to me that it will be extracted one way or another.
Ron
missdosh
"BP pioneered 4D seismic [techniques], [which provided] the keys to unlocking the Foinaven, Schiehallion and Clair fields. We have also been applying new seismic techniques such as WATS [Wide Azimuth Towed Streamer] to improve imaging around volcanic rocks, and using modern interpretation tools," he says.
Thanks for your post including the above.. Very interesting
I remember Dr.T. saying at the Capital Markets Day something like’ 3D does not show fractures but does show joints’. Also new techniques were becoming available.
Foresight22 has a very interesting post commenting on your post. Would be great to have more posts going into the details on new techniques and how they can be used on fractured granite.
Could these make things easier for Hur in the drilling and development on the Rhona Ridge.etc.
Well beyond me.
Ron
Biffadog
Thanks for these points.
My take on it is that as a very large firm with plenty of experience and funding the first 3 wells on GWA Spirit would have had a big influence on the operations even though HUR was the Operator.
ADUK and DC do remember Hur saying they discussed with Spirit which well to drill first. Lincoln was the original first choice and it was then changed to Warwick Deep after the discussions. I think that speaks for itself.
How much influence they had on deciding to drill Warwick Deep who knows? I am a bit puzzled why WD was drilled at all. Would it have allowed Spirit to make a better assessment of the GWA project i.e. stay in or bail out?
Would drilling on the crest as they usually do not have allowed pressure gauges etc, to be used. Was it too far away from storage vessel? I do not know but will keep reading the BB to see what posters have to say. There have been some very good inputs lately.
Great to have a potentially world class field like Lancaster producing oil/revenue while we wait on Lincoln and Warwick.
Biffadog.
Thanks for that corection.You are correct.
It could be that the WD well could have given Spirit an assessement of the resevoir in time to make their decision. That could still fit the bill.
Thanks again
Foresight22
Thanks for that reply.
Not sure that WD was a complete failure.Time will tell when we get the results of tests.
See my reply to adoubleuk today 19.09.
If you agree with that it may help explain the WD decision and restore your faith in Dr.T.
Ron
adoubleuk
I do not recall Dr.T saying it was Spirits decision but I think we can be pretty sure it was, it fits the bill. Spirit had only one well to drill at Warwick before they have to decide whether to stay in the GWA 50/50 arrangement and contribute with the development or bale out. They may well have decided that a Warwick Deep well would give them more information on the reservoir and help with making that decision.
I think most people would have expected HUR to drill at the crest as they have done on other prospects.
It would help explain to Foresight22 why WD was chosen. See his post today 17.23 where he sums the situation up pretty well.
Ron
Foresight22
Thanks for comments on Warwick Deep. I had wondered about fracture density at different levels. Also note your comment of the oil column being from crest to water contact in host rock.
Hur/Spirit were hoping to make that well a producer and so maybe had hoped to establish the oil column and get a production well in one operation. The decision was theirs to make. Although the well was a production failure maybe the tests gave them the information on the reservoir they were looking for. Still to get their findings on that.
When drilling below Structural Closure with the lower fracture density it looks to be a good plan to drill the horizontal leg as far as you can. What is you take on drilling an inclined well which may catch vertical fractures at different levels and also horizontal fractures?
With all that fractured oil bearing granite below the Structural Closure what are the chances of that same granite being extended well beyond the S.C.
A good result at Lincoln together with the production/revenue at Lancaster will give a great confidence boost to all concerned.
Ron
MCB55
Doing some catch up and saw your post on ‘structural closure’.
Had the same problem and suspect many others did also. It is a term used in geology. I had a go at using structural closure in a description and got it badly wrong. See you got some good advice. If you Google ‘structural closure’ you will get a diagram which is also helpful..
When I saw that diagram and with HUR drilling below closure I wondered how far the fractured granite/oil reservoir extends.
Pity the last well did not connect with some decent fracture sizes.
Ron
Biffadog.
Hi ,
Thanks for that,It is not a worry for me.
I am simply interested in Warwick as one of HURS prospects.
The WD well got me interested in the arrangement of fractures and how they could be predicted.
There was not enough of them [or large enough] in WD so I assume that 3D seismic cannot define accurately the location or size of fractures or Hur would have drilled where they were.Hur did establish there were traces of oil and carried out a lot of tests.Maybe these tests will say something about the oil column or perhaps only more drilling will do the trick.
Lincoln has already been drilled and found oil so we hope it will produce oil at commercial rates as it is hoped Warwick will in due course.
I would hope Lancaster could stand alone if all else failed which I an sure wont happen.
Thanks for the conversation , I am not an oily but I do find it very interesting.
Ron
adoubleuk
Tantalum mentioned a well drilled by Arco in 1975 in that area.Post at 20.05
Wonder if it had any oil shows.
Ron
Wonder
Tantalum
Thanks for that.
Wonder if it gave any indication re oil shows.
Ron
adoubleuk,
Thanks for that.
Hope you mean you will do it on a rainy afternon.
I would'nt be up to it.
Cheers,,
Ron
Cebo
Can you give me the name of the stuff your on.
Ron
adoubleuk
Thanks,
It does show one on the Hurricane web site map.
Ron
Does anyone have any info on the historic well drilled on the Warwick area.Dont know who drilled it.Thanks.
I am not an oily. I am a small private investor.
Have listened and watched the Capital Markets Day presentation a couple of times.
Must say I am very impressed with the presentation.
I am not bothered if people are a bit nervous. I would be in that situation.
What was said and how it was said is what is important to me.
Dr.Trice was very bullish on the Lancaster oil field.
My take on what was said is that Lancaster is potentially one of the world’s greatest oil fields if not the best.
Dr.Trice’s body language, the content of his speech and his obvious enthusiasm gave me a great deal of confidence in his presentation. He is also a world class expert in fractured basement plays and has been involved in writing Papers on this subject.
I will be sitting on my shares like a clucky hen not bothering too much about the share price or details of much oil is being loaded/sold and the like.
The prospects seem very good to me.
Will reassess the situation come early 2020.
Ron
Warwick Deep
Not quite what the Doctor ordered.
Oil , water, drilling fluids etc. Not enough oil in the mix for a production well.
Would that be trapped water in the oil column ? If so was that unlucky or could it be general.
Must have obtained a lot of information from that long testing exercise.
Spirit will be a bit down with that result but still have a 50% of revenue in GWA to play for. Here’s hoping.
Wonder if my simplistic approach to Rona Ridge is a busted flush. Fractured granite all over the place, just difficult to get the oil out. Could Warwick spoil my take on it. Would imagine 3D seismic surveys would have established the basic facts. I assume drilling into the resource to find out if there are oil reserves is the only answer.
Will have to wait to see what Dr.T. has to tell us.
Adoubleuk
Found the glossary, handy thing to have.
Outside structure not defined. You were clear enough anyway.
Wonder why they drilled the vertical well from outside the oil bearing structure. They could have drilled that horizontal leg from inside. Maybe the rock outside was easier to drill than the fractured granite inside.
I certainly misread the term Warwick Deep well. Still I said I was not an oily.
Would have thought it much better and accurate to quote the depth of the horizontal leg as a fraction of the oil column. Looks like it got a few people interested.
I reckon it would be a good idea if HUR gave an overview of these wells. Would be informative to a lot of shareholders who are not oilys. Maybe to some oilys as well. Give a PR man something to do.
Hope you are enjoying the hot weather and maybe a beer.
Ron
adoubleuk,
Thanks for taking the time to read and making the corrections.Just what I was hoping for.
That makes it a decent read for for investors of non oily backgrounds.
Good to see some technical info.on the BB.
Ron
Hi, I am definitely not an oily man.
Have been following the technical inputs on the BB for the Warwick Deep Well and found them very informative. I understand the technical details much better than I did.
The overall concept of the well is a bit of a puzzle to me.
From my limited knowledge I will give a kind of overview of the Warwick Deep as I see it and hope to get feedback which will help myself and others to get a better understanding of well. Corrections and additions welcome but keep them simple please.
OVERVIEW
[1] This well is going deeper than the assumed depth of the reservoir and will also have a horizontal leg at the bottom. This will allow assessments of the fractured granite and oil in the fractures to be made in the vertical well and the horizontal leg.
[2]The vertical section will be cased and oil will therefore not be able to flow from this section. The bottom horizontal leg will not be cased and the granite will form the well casing [surprised me] through which hopefully oil will flow.
[3]If oil flows from the horizontal leg the pressure of the oil reservoir will have to meet the resistance of valves, chokes etc. and the head [height] of the vertical column up to the receiving ship. If the reservoir pressure is not high enough to lift the oil or the flow is too slow then I assume pumps would be used to accelerate the flow.
[3]The horizontal leg is having extensive and expensive tests going on at this time
[4]If the horizontal leg is not oil bearing or found not to be commercial then it follows that the optimistic hopes on the extra depth of the reservoir are not met and expectations revert to normal.