Flow-tests conducted on exploration well for geothermal project in Akita, Japan
Short-term flow tests have been conducted on an exploratory well for the geothermal project by Inpex Corp. in Japan.
In a release this week, Japanese INPEX Corp. announced that it conducted short-term flow tests to gauge the capacity of an exploratory well it has drilled in the Oyasu region of Akita Prefecture, Japan in partnership with Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. and Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., Ltd., with which it has jointly
pursued commercialization studies on geothermal power generation since 2011.
Details and objectives
The short-term flow tests (to locate the presence of steam within exploratory wells) were conducted on Well OYE-6, which was drilled in FY2016 and is one of the exploratory wells (drilled to study underground structures and geothermal reservoir conditions in the initial stage of the study) drilled since FY2012. Through these experiments, the companies verified details concerning well production capacity (volume of steam), underground temperatures, chemical composition of geothermal fluids, water permeability in the vicinity of the well, and other matters.
Overview of studies to date
(1) Stage 1: Completed in FY2011
Superficial surveys (ground-level geological surveys, gravitational exploration,
electromagnetic exploration, etc.)
(2) Stage 2: FY2012-2017 (planned)
- Drilling survey, building roads for equipment transportation, etc.
Drilling exploratory wells OYE-1~7 to study geological structures,
underground temperatures and water permeability - Hot spring monitoring survey
Monitoring hot spring temperatures, yields, and chemical composition at
nearby hot spring wells
Future schedule
INPEX and its partners will determine whether to transition to the third stage of studies (including drilling exploratory wells (similar in size to production or injection wells, and are used to test production and injection over several wee), production and injection experiments, assessment of reservoir capacity and environmental surveys) within FY2017 based on the results of the short-term flow tests and future studies.
Source: Company release (pdf)
