FESAus

About FESAus

FESAus, the Formation Evaluation Society of Australia, is the Australian chapter of the Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts (SPWLA).

Its aims are to provide a technical monthly forum for geoscientists focused on all aspects of formation evaluation, from new tools available to new techniques and approaches to analysing reservoirs, and to encourage formation evaluation professionals to network. In line with the founding principles of the SPWLA, FESAus is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the science of Petrophysics and Formation Evaluation, including well logging, coring, and other formation evaluation techniques and to the application of these techniques to the exploitation of gas, oil and other minerals, particularly in Australia.

FESAus October Technical Meeting in Brisbane:

“Key Controls on Sweet Spot Distribution in Taroom Trough Tight Sands”

Alex Belevich (Dialog)

In tight gas fields, a small fraction of wells delivers most of the gas, while many are drilled into low-production zones. The Permian sands of the Taroom Trough showcase this challenge clearly: a diverse diagenetic overprint – extreme compaction compounded by clay microporosity alongside secondary dissolution porosity – have largely erased depositional signal. Reservoir quality can no longer be inferred from whole core descriptions & petrography alone. Locating the sweet spot becomes a problem that must be solved through a dynamic lens, at the pore scale. 

Drawing on the log and production data from wells drilled in Taroom so far, this talk establishes why tight gas behaves differently from shale gas, maps the Trough’s current reservoir quality limits, and exposes the pitfalls that might mislead reservoir evaluation: severe poro-perm decoupling, permeability jail, and stress-sensitive pore throats. Pore-throat radius, expressed through a production calibrated flow-unit framework, is shown to be the most reliable predictor of post-frac productivity in these sands.

The workflow is extended from data-rich vertical appraisals into cost-sensitive laterals through advanced mud gas & wellsite cuttings analysis, and a fit-for-purpose LWD program designed with Taroom specific challenges in mind. Wellsite real-time cuttings CT analysis adds poro-perm and brittleness constraints, completing the sweet spot definition. These threads converge in a composite geo-engineering sweet spot index, providing a practical tool for completion optimisation in Taroom tight gas sands.

Tuesday October 6th, 2026 | 12:00-13:30 | University of Queensland (CBD) 308 Teaching Suite, QLD 4000

Tickets: In Person (BRISBANE) $50.00 inc. lunch | Online $10; Purchase here, no tickets will be available at the venue.
– Refunds can be provided for cancellations 1 week or more prior to event.
– Tickets may be transferred to another person up until the start of the event.

FESAus November Technical Meeting in Perth:

“Early & Accurate Quantification of Mercury Contaminant Levels in Gas-Condensate Reservoirs”

John Babadimas (Woodside Energy)

Mercury is a trace contaminant present in natural gas and condensates. Production facilities must be designed to remove anticipated mercury contamination in natural gas streams to meet process safety, health, environmental, regulatory and sales requirements. Early and accurate quantification of mercury concentration levels is therefore critical for the safe and economic development of gas resources. This presentation introduces reservoir fluid sampling and mercury analysis techniques demonstrated to accurately determine the mercury concentrations in gas-condensate reservoirs.

By implementing a combination of procedural changes, sampling tool modifications and improved measurement techniques, it is possible to acquire reservoir fluid samples with formation sampling tools and accurately measure mercury concentrations representative of that produced from the reservoir.

The case study of a gas-condensate field is used to demonstrate that by following novel techniques, reservoir fluid samples acquired from wells using formation sampling tools and analysed for mercury can accurately represent the mercury concentration levels measured later during the production phase. Processing facilities can then be appropriately designed or modified early in the field development lifecycle to remove any anticipated mercury in natural gas process streams.

Tuesday November 10th, 2026 | 12:00-13:30 | The Stateroom – Faraday’s Perth. 216 St Georges Tce, Perth WA 6000

Tickets: In Person (PERTH) $30.00 inc. lunch | Online $10; Purchase here, no tickets will be available at the venue.
– Refunds can be provided for cancellations 1 week or more prior to event.
– Tickets may be transferred to another person up until the start of the event.