RE: Beetaloo Energy8 Sep 2025 07:52
Beetaloo Energy has observed significant gas flowing while running clean up at its Carpentaria-5H well in preparation for an all-important upcoming IP30 flow test, after recently undertaking successful stimulation of the well.
The company is nearing the pointy end of identifying just how productive its Carpentaria-5H horizontal well may be, as it zeroes in on the Northern Territory’s extensive Beetaloo Basin to prove up a massive gas resource and become the nation’s next big onshore gas player.
The Carpentaria-5H well sits within its Beetaloo Basin EP187 permit. Along with the Carpentaria-2H and Carpentaria-3H wells, Carpentaria-5H forms part of the company’s Carpentaria pilot project.
The company’s independently assessed contingent resource clocks in at a hefty 1.6 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of dry gas in the high-quality 2C category. The category means production of gas is contingent on several factors and represents a potential future supply, however it has not been recovered on a commercial basis.
Before undertaking fracturing, Beetaloo Energy used specialist firms to refine the design of the stimulation program to ensure it considered lessons learned from previous well stimulation programs to maximise its chance of success.
The company tasked oil heavyweight Halliburton with stimulating a super-long 3.31-kilometre section of the Velkerri B Shale, using high-powered 42,000 hydraulic horsepower equipment to punch 67 fractures across a 2955-metre length of prospective rock.
Beetaloo Energy has conservatively managed flowback to prioritise production of returning pumped water to surface at measured rates to maintain the quality of the fracture network. Returning the pumped water to surface during the clean-up period is expected to optimise long-term gas production during the life of the well.
The observation of substantial associated gas flows during clean-up is a cause for optimism, particularly considering the increase in gas flows during the process.
The company has shut the well in for a period of “soaking” to improve hydrocarbon production via increased permeability and to maximise the potential for the fractures to remain open due to sand particles in the retained water acting as a proppant.
It plans to follow up the soaking period with a 30-day production test to check the flow rate levels. Beetaloo Energy anticipates it will be able to release the high-stakes IP30 flow test results in October.
The recent fracturing program was designed to maximise production rates and gas recovery levels. Water and sand were pumped underground at more than 100 barrels a minute, cracking up to five stages open a day.
In total, a mammoth 11,000 tonnes of sand was rammed into the shale - about 337,000 pounds per stage - to keep the fractures wedged wide open.
The 3.31km horizontal well sits at an average depth of 1580 metres below ground within a 70m-thick B shale reservoir.
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