[quote='petrengr1' pid='55152' dateline='1424206820']
[quote='Gator' pid='55149' dateline='1424204616']
Actually I was told specify that there would be no flare as that proves nothing and burns up a valuable resource. I think it is more like when a gas line is added in a house. They pump air in one end put pressure gauges on several lines to make sure there are no leaks. At Antelope they will have monitors on several of the existing drilled wells and measure the change in pressure to determine the overall amount of gas that is in the ground. Pet might be able to better explain.
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First let me confess that I do not know how IOC will conduct this test. I have not researched this subject to see how it is normally done. I will just tell you what I think based on a few decades of playing around with oil and gas fields.
Yes, there will be a gas flare. No, I do not think it will be a massive flow rate and flare like we had at Antelope-2.
All of the wells to be monitored must be open in a zone that will be produced at Antelope-5. I would think they would perforate the high permeability zone near the top where most of the gas will be produced from. All of the wells to be monitored will have what we call a “ recording pressure bomb” lowered into the well bore and hung at a set depth (datum) below sea level. (No bomb does not imply explosives, that is just what we call it). These pressure recording devices are very accurate and they will record the pressure over the period of the flow test, all at exactly the same depth. I do not expect the reservoir pressure to change appreciably during this test, thus the need for the extreme accuracy of the pressure recording devices. They will probably record a pressure wave but the pressure change may be as low as fraction of one psi at the monitor wells. They will look for a pressure change and they may be interested to know how long it took for the pressure wave to reach from the producing well to the monitor well after the flow test commenced.
The problem that I see with this test is that the permeability is so high in the best zones, where most of the gas will be produced from, that it is difficult to lower the flowing bottom hole pressure very much below the shut-in bottom hole pressure (reservoir pressure). The higher flow rate we have the more pressure reduction (drawdown) we have. The more drawdown we have the larger the pressure wave across the reservoir will be. That being said I do not think they will flow the well, Antelope-5, at a rate of more than about 20 or 30 MMCFD. They will also monitor the bottom hole (reservoir) pressure in the producing well at the same depth (datum) where they are monitoring the pressure in the appraisal wells.
After the flow test is completed they will shut-in the producing well and record the pressure build-up. From this data (pressure vs. time) they will plot a graph. The line on this graph will be a straight line with a certain slope. At some point this slope will change due to the pressure wave reflecting from the nearby fault. Theoretically they should be able to calculate the distance from Antelope-5 to the fault west of Antelope-5.
If the pressure drawdown is minimal this may not work too good.
Take this for what it is worth and maybe someday we will find out what they actually do.
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Pet- Good evening ! Once again, my thanks for your sharing of the vast knowledge you have obtained over the years. I know you said"theoretically", but if they are able to accomplish that( and are willing to share it with us), that would be information I would sure like to know. Dr. Wu sated on another post that " Ant 5 has vastly increased our reservoir size" or words to that effect. This field certainly has the potential to get closer to Henry Aldorf's predicted number of tcfs some years ago. Mucho thanks.
