With the latest pricing for gas finds in difficult areas at $6.61 per mmBtu on GCV basis, the cumulative production from Deen Dayal West Field’s D-4 will be worth around $200 million, said Samir Biswal, Director (Exploration), GSPC.
The development area of DDW, which is spread over 17 sq km, has the potential to have multilateral wells to extract maximum oil and gas.
As per the approved Field Development Plan (FDP) by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), the estimated Oil and Gas In Place (OGIP) was 1.952 trillion cubic feet, which projected cumulative production at 1.059 TCF.
The DDW field, developed at a depth of 5,000 meters below the sea bed, has wells that fall in the High Pressure & High Temperature category (HPHT).
GSPC carried out four stages of HF successfully in one of the wells and pumped more than 300,000 pounds of proppants in two of the HF zones as planned.
Firms such as Halliburton, Barry & Associates, E-Frac and Xodus were employed for HF activity.
Hydrofracturing (HF) is a well-stimulation technique in which the well-rock is fractured by a pressurised liquid.
Given GSPC’s success with the HF process, other gas companies too are likely to take up this process, the statement said.
GSPC has to use a pressure of 13,000 PSI (approximately 900 times more than the atmospheric pressure) and 300,000 pounds of proppant for each zone to be fractured, the company informed.
It is the first time in India that the HF process was used in the HPHT and Offshore environment at a depth of 5,000 meters below sea bed, it added.
The process involves high-pressure injection of ‘Fracking Fluid’ (primarily water, containing sand or other proppants carried with the aid of viscous fluid) into a well-bore to create cracks in the deep-rock formations, through which natural gas, petroleum, and brine will flow more freely.