mck, no one seems to want to discuss it, i will have a go if you like..
"The Austin Chalk is a brittle carbonate reservoir that outcrops across Texas and trends south-west to north-east. The chalk is made up of very fine, densely packed calcareous shells and is therefore an impermeable layer. In the subsurface the Chalk matrix has less than 3% porosity. Due to fracturing of the Chalk the porosity is increased by 2%-3%. It is mainly the increased permeability due to fracturing that makes the Austin Chalk a good reservoir rock wherever these fractured-zone “sweet spots” are encountered."
remeber couch oil and the jvps have all confirmed the overpressurised chalks have high matrix porosity, 9 - 12 %!!!
The sugarkane chalks are considered by adi to be:
"The Sugarkane area is still in the earliest stages of
appraisal. However, it appears to be over-pressured,
have relatively high matrix porosity, contain >150bbls
of condensate per MMCF of gas, and be vertically
fractured – all of which are strongly positive signs for
potential commerciality. The reason why the play had
been overlooked to date is due to the overall paucity
of wells on this trend, the fact that Sugarkane is some
20km south of the main Austin Chalk trend, and the
traditional thinking that the Chalk is a relatively low
productivity reservoir when compared to other reservoirs
targeted by previous wells drilled in this area."
and in respect to why they are fracing, unlike the giddings and pearsall where only natural fractures are the precursor for success, what your not taking into account is this i think:
"Based on limited horizontal drilling results reported
to date in a neighbouring lease within the Sugarkane
area, it would appear that vertical fractures have been
encountered there which would significantly improve
the flow potential and well economics of this play.
However, this still needs to be confirmed by production
testing and further appraisal drilling to determine
the existence of these fractures across the wider
Sugarkane area including the Sugarloaf AMI. This is
also one of the key objectives of the Kennedy-1H wel"
adi are implying that natural fractures would improve economics, and are not saying its the critical factor in success..
"It is worthwhile noting that vertical fracturing is a
crucial factor in the success of Austin Chalk wells in
the established fields to the north due to their relatively
lower matrix porosity in the Chalk when compared to
the Sugarkane area.
If the Sugarkane area proves to be successful, that
is if the horizontal wells deliver an economic return,
prospective reserves are estimated to be in the range
of 600 BCFE to 1 TCFE for the Sugarloaf AMI alone in
which Adelphi owns a 20% working interest."
i have been saying all along these chalks are unique, until you throw off your traditional hat and actually read and listen to what is being said its easy to miss, you cant compare giddings chalks to these, they are different, but these chalks are unique in that they can be fraced to produce, they may not nessesarily need natural fractures like BUR needs in all their wells.. IMHO the work done at Kunde 1 and SL1 is based on TCEi and CP trying to see if they can just fracturing a vertical chalks well, and be able to produce great wells.. its completely against the odds to produce commercial wells on the vertical, yet right now we have kunde 1 doing so, and SL1 is about to flow test zone 3 on the vertical.. most people seem to think this is all hot air, a fairy tale, and that the sugarkane is nothing at all. its only one third of the 3 zones of interest, with zone 1 being a producer and zone 3 about to be flow tested at SL1. remember we are talking verticals in the chalks here!!!
flintoff. your not even remotely funny.
all imho and dyor