Calima Energy Ltd (ASX:CE1) has begun fracture stimulation for three wells at its Throsby asset in Alberta, Canada, as part of its Leo development program and coinciding with a period of strong Brent prices.
The Canadian oil and gas producer and explorer has recently developed its Leo Sparky Wells contingent of the Throsby development field, ready for this next stage of fracture stimulation with initial production expected in November 2021.
Three wells are slated for fracture stimulation, the first of which – Leo #2 – was begun on October 10. Each well will take approximately two days to frac, after which the wells will be shut-in for at least seven days to minimise sand flow back during production.
Shares higher
Shares have today hit a new two-year high of A$0.26, up 4% on the previous close while the company's market cap pre-open was approximately A$128.4 million.
The improvement is also supported by strong current oil market fundamentals. Overnight the Brent crude price rose by US$1.26 or 1.5% to US$83.65 a barrel after touching the highest level since October 2018.
Longer bores, higher flow rates
This third generation of Leo Sparky Wells has been optimised in horizontal length and planned fracture stimulation intensity.
The three wells have averaged approximately 3,720 metres in measured depth – 320 metres longer than previous generations – and will each have about 50 fracture stages averaging 1.0 tonnes of sand per metre over the productive zone.
“The fracture stimulation portion of the Leo program has begun. The pumpers are rigged in, and we are pumping. The three wells will be pumped back-to-back, and if all goes well, we will be finished pumping by the weekend,” Calima CEO Jordan Kevol said.
“Then after the shut-in period of one week, we will run pumping equipment, and open up each of the wells and begin the flow-back process. We anticipate first oil within 7-10 days and expect to know the full potential of each well 30-60 days after initial flowback.
“The length of the well bore and the frac intensity has increased from historical Thorsby wells which should result in higher flow rates and EUR from these wells.”
CE1’s Throsby Leo Sparky wells are anticipated to produce IP90 (initial production over 90 days) rates between 270-460 barrels of oil equivalent per day with at least 80% oil content.
Read: Calima Energy concludes Leo drilling program and prepares for first oil in November
Technique and technology
The fracs have been planned to have 44 tonnes of sand per stage to be adjusted for variations in reservoir thickness, porosity and permeability. The intensity will be approximately one tonne of sand per metre of horizontal length within the wellbore. The previous second generation frac intensity averaged about 0.75 tonnes per metre of sand.
Once each frac stage has finished pumping on each of the wells, the frac interval multi-cycle sliding sleeve will be closed to allow the newly initiated fractures to 'heal' around the frac sand proppant.
This is a mitigating factor to ensure that the frac sand stays in the formation which helps minimize the need for future frac sand cleanouts, as well as increasing the effectiveness of the frac conductivity and production.
CE1 will include multiple chemical tracers in the frac sand to improve understanding of the flowback characteristics of each frac stage and inter-well communication. This will provide the company with intricate data that will contribute to frac design evolution for future 4th Generation Thorsby wells.