ok, i think there has been some confusion - myself included. Re-reading the announcement 24/04 i think it is possibly indicating 2-3months until testing commences. It is actually quite ambiguous and now i'm confused and i'm sure i'm not the only one. Agentm, could you please clarify what you mean when you said testing will take 2-3 months to complete?
After they pull up the pipe there is little they have to do there. It does not take 2-3 months to do any of the things they put forward in the report. i think they announced what they have to justify the excessive time delays at SL by spruiking technical issues that are not exactly nessesary for a frac to occur, they could have fraced months ago.. the issue is acerage.. and what has to happen at SL now they have a very prospective play in the chalks.. they clearly say that in the release..
The Operator is presently conducting engineering and reservoir studies to determine the best method of completing the zones for testing. Whatever method is chosen it is expected that fracture stimulation will be part of the procedure as is typical in such carbonates. The technical assessment, test design, permitting and securing of services is expected to take approximately two to three months.
As a result of the analysis of this possible pay, the Operator has extended the Joint Venture’s land acquisition program within the Area of Mutual Interest ("AMI"), increasing the area over which the Joint Venture has rights to all depths (including the abovementioned carbonate zone) to approximately 19,500 acres (80 square kilometres) to date.
i assume the engineering and reservior studies they refer to are 3d's.
the method utlimately used in chalks is fractue stimulation, correct.
technical assesment, test design, permitting and securing services??
they have a workover rig there already pulling up pipe, so what other services are needed, and what permit?
why are the jvp's not hooking the well into the pipeline if they are using the frac testfrom this well, and its data, to determine the number of additional wells?
you can test the SL well as it is in the vertical, and equally you can use the well data from the wireline and forthcoming frac test, and compare it to the other producing wells, then with the aid of 3d's, then permit the well to go horizontal into the chalks and test it as you would if you were serious about producing from that zone, your asking a lot to be producing from the chalks in the vertical i believe..
how many wells produce successfully from the chalks in the vertical compared to the horizontal..
the next well in block A to go on this pay zone is horizontal..
i would not be hanging around in this share i was to believe that the SL well will produce commercially from the chalks in its present configuration.. not unless they convinced me how they intended to do it.. they must have some amazing frac technology..
i do not believe they have connected the well to the pipeline, i dont see any haste there, which surely you would expect if they were about to frac, and i dont see any activity such to suggest they are about to produce from Sl as is, as we saw at NT. this also indicates to me that they are not about to produce from the well.. i see SL, in its current state, as a test well, and where it ends up and what it ends up as to become a production well IMHO is not 4 weeks away, but I dont think the JVP's will announce anything without really educating and enlightening the market to what their last 6 months of research has told them..
remember the last statement on Sl:
The proposed testing program for the shallower Cretaceous Carbonate section in the Sugarloaf 1 well as announced recently is now scheduled to commence in July.
By way of clarification, a recent announcement by one of the Sugarloaf 1 participants (Empyrean Energy plc) in relation to its participation in further wells to be drilled in the Sugarloaf and other nearby areas will not affect the timing of the Sugarloaf 1 well test nor will it affect Adelphi’s interest in the leases acquired within the Sugarloaf Joint Ventures’ Area of Mutual Interest (AMI). These leases have recently been significantly increased to
approx. 19,500 acres within the “All Depth” portion of the Sugarloaf AMI.
The timing and number of additional wells by the Sugarloaf Joint Venture is subject to the results of the forthcoming Sugarloaf 1 well test.
it seems evident that ADI are confirming the EME statement that multiple wells are going in at Sl, and i believe these will by and large be horizontal wells. there are 3 plays and maybe some can be vertically drilled.. It may be nessesary to frac the well to make the decision on how to drill horizontally, but i believe these guys are better than that and would have known from the time of the wirelines were done that what they were going to do at Sl on the chalks play, and that things will go ahead once the frac confirms the flow rates, which then ultimately will give them the key data on how to configure the horizontal wells....
i also believe they have, via the wirelines and other data aquired, made decisions on 16 well already, and that many will be on the SL lease..
ADI do not say that they are unsure if any further wells are going ahead until the testing is done, they are simply saying more are going ahead, and the testing will ultimately determine where and when..
lastly i add some interesting data to back up my claim that you drill horizonatal in the chalks:
Prime Targets
Horizontal and extended-reach wells have been drilled to address various reservoir, economic and geological aspects of a play.
Seven geologic and reservoir types have been prime horizontal targets and have yielded positive results, including:
- The Bakken Shale in North Dakota.
- Factured chalk like the Austin Chalk in Texas and Louisiana.
- Stratigraphic traps such as the Niagara reef in Michigan.
- Paleokarst reservoirs like the San Andres and Yates in Texas.
- Thin beds such as those in the Red River of North Dakota and Montana.
- Coal seam methane.
- Heterogeneous sands.
In the United States, the Upper Cretaceous Austin Chalk has been the most successful play that has hinged on horizontal drilling. From 1985 through May 1999, 4,230 horizontal wells were completed in the Austin Chalk and collectively these wells had 6,887 completions.
"The Austin Chalk trend has undergone three development cycles over the last 60 years," Stark observed, "but the play didn't emerge as an important resource until horizontal drilling was applied in the last development cycle.
The benefit of horizontal drilling technology in the play is obvious."
perhaps i am stating the obvious??