Valhalla north 1 and asguard 1 wells

The onshore Canning Basin, located in the south west Kimberley region of northern Western Australia, extends from Derby to Port Hedland along the north west coast and as far as the Northern Territory and South Australian borders to the east. It contains around 70,000 square kilometres of prospective shale gas formations, located within a total basin area of 530,000 square kilometres.

Canning Basin Contains Vast Amounts of Tight Gas Resources

The Canning Basin contains three quite deep troughs, these being the Willara, Kidson and Fitzroy sub-basins, within these sub-basins there exists many source rock formations that have the potential to host considerable amounts of shale oil or gas. It has been estimated that the Canning Basin contains 1,000 trillion cubic feet of shale gas, of which between 73,000 and 147,000 trillion cubic feet could be recoverable. The Canning Basin also contains notable amounts of tight gas resources particularly in the Laurel Formation.

Gas and oil conventionally forms as accumulations in certain rock formations, typically sandstone, as reservoirs of petroleum that have been trapped beneath harder, impermeable rocks. However, shale gas, is a resource that becomes trapped within a rock formation which is spread over a very large area. This means shale gas often requires more wells to be sunk in order to be able to produce a similar amount of gas in comparison to a conventional gas field. Shale gas developments are progressed in the same manner as that of the more conventional petroleum producing fields but there are some differences, one major one being the need to use hydraulic fracturing stimulation technology.

Canning Basin Tight Gas Resource Located at Considerable Depth

The shale and tight gas resources in the Canning Basin are generally located at depths between 2,000 and 4,000 metres, depths that are considerably well below the groundwater table and also well below other thick layers of rock with low permeability characteristics. This covering acts as a barrier between any water resources, the surface and the shale and tight gas resource. The production of tight gas, or shale gas, from the Canning Basin resource therefore doesn't require any interference with the ground water in order to have the gas released.

Buru Energy Limited is the Largest Tenement Holder Covering Canning Basin Tight Gas Resource

Perth based tight gas exploration and development company, Buru Energy Limited, in the second half of 2015, announced it had successfully completed the first phase of its tight gas stimulation operation at its Valhalla North 1 and its Asguard 1 wells in the Canning Basin. It also reported it experienced no effect on the environment during, or following, its fraccing activities.

Buru Energy Limited has interests in a substantial portfolio of exploration licences covering around 82,909 square kilometres of the Canning Basin. It is the largest permit holder in the basin and acts as operator, in its own exploration and development programs being carried out in conjunction with its joint venture partners, Rey Resources and Mitsubishi Corporation. To date, Buru Energy has run production tubing in both its productive wells that are now on flowback of stimulation fluid with accompanying condensate and gas. The fluid flowback is continuing and is being being monitored for condensate content and confirmation of gas flow rates. However, it appears that the composition of gas is excellent with high condensate and low inerts. There is also excellent shut down pressure which is good news for future predictions relating to formation deliverability. The gas flow is supporting a vertical rise of more than 1,500 metres and there remains the potential for a considerable resource upgrade over a very large area surrounding and between the two fracced wells.