Overview
Background
Ray is currently Professor of Well Engineering & Production Technology in the School of Chemical Engineering and Energi Simulation Co-chair in the Centre for Natural Gas. There he is researching projects related to low permeability, unconventional reservoirs (i.e., tight gas, coal seam gas, shale gas reservoir). In addition, he is an instructor and course coordinator in several courses in the ME Petroleum Engineering program at the University of Queensland.
Outside of teaching and research, Prof Johnson is the Principal at Unconventional Reservoir Solutions, a provider of reservoir engineering, stimulation consulting, and training services to the petroleum and mining industry, focusing on unconventional resources such as gas or oil from coal, shale, or naturally fractured reservoirs.
From 2014 to 2020 Ray was an Adjunct Associate Professor at the ASP, University of Adelaide.
Availability
- Professor Ray Johnson is:
- Not available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Research interests
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Unconventional Reservoir Appraisal and Development Strategies
Ray's research focuses on integrating elements of reservoir engineering, geomechanics and hydraulic fracturing to improving appraisal and development strategies for unconventional resources such as gas from coal as well as oil and gas from shales and naturally fractured reservoirs.
Research impacts
A lot of people state that they are researching or investigating hydraulic fracturing, which in most cases is limited to modelling some aspect of rock fracture mechanics or fracture propogation in some geological or rock mechanical framework. Whist this may progress the science of hydraulic fracture propagation, hydraulic fracturing design optimisation in a petroleum well stimulation context is not that concise, exact or simple!
Well stimulation in the petroleum industry context is much larger and represents an overall process to create an economic outcome from a low-permeability reservoir by implementing the proper selection of fluids, stage/job placement, proppant selection, onsite job execution, post-frac clean-up and long term production management along with the hydraulic fracturing modelling, a small portion of the process. It is an overall design, execute, and then evaluate process that cannot be optimised by a discrete element model.
My research benefits societies' need to identify and develop unconventional resources as a part of it's overall energy mix by effectively implementing economical hydraulic fracturing solutions in unconventional reservoirs. Advances of my research integrating geomechanics, hydraulic fracturing, reservoir engineering, and production technology will aid us in maintaining low cost energy thereby benefitting overall economic growth in Australia by economically unlocking more of Australia's unconventional gas resources (i.e., tight gas sandstone, shale gas, and coal seam gas reservoirs).
Works
Search Professor Ray Johnson’s works on UQ eSpace
2021
Journal Article
Numerical investigation of the effects of proppant embedment on fracture permeability and well production in Queensland coal seam gas reservoirs
Wang, Duo, You, Zhenjiang, Johnson, Raymond L., Wu, Lei, Bedrikovetsky, Pavel, Aminossadati, Saiied M. and Leonardi, Christopher R. (2021). Numerical investigation of the effects of proppant embedment on fracture permeability and well production in Queensland coal seam gas reservoirs. International Journal of Coal Geology, 242 103689, 103689. doi: 10.1016/j.coal.2021.103689
2021
Journal Article
Characterising the application of horizontal wells and indirect hydraulic fracturing for improved coal seam gas drainage
Johnson, Raymond L., Cheong, Sharon and Farley, Andrew (2021). Characterising the application of horizontal wells and indirect hydraulic fracturing for improved coal seam gas drainage. The APPEA Journal, 61 (1), 89-105. doi: 10.1071/aj20122
2021
Conference Publication
Using machine learning for geosteering during in-seam drilling
Zhong, Ruizhi, Johnson Jr, Ray L. and Chen, Zhongwei (2021). Using machine learning for geosteering during in-seam drilling. SPE/AAPG/SEG Asia Pacific Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, Virtual, 16–18 November, 2021. Tulsa, OK, United States: Unconventional Resources Technology Conference. doi: 10.15530/ap-urtec-2021-208298
2021
Conference Publication
Wellbore stability analysis of horizontal drilling in Bowen and Surat coal seam gas wells
Zhong, Ruizhi, Leonardi, Christopher R., Mitchell, Travis R. and Johnson, Ray L. (2021). Wellbore stability analysis of horizontal drilling in Bowen and Surat coal seam gas wells. SPE/AAPG/SEG Asia Pacific Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, Virtual, 16-18 November 2021. Tulsa, OK, United States: Unconventional Resources Technology Conference. doi: 10.15530/ap-urtec-2021-208399
2021
Conference Publication
Applications of indirect hydraulic fracturing to improve coal seam gas drainage for the Surat and Bowen Basins, Australia
Johnson, Raymond Leslie, Ramanandraibe, Honja Miharisoa, Ribeiro, Ayrton, Ramsay, Matthew, Tipene, Kaa and Corbett, William (2021). Applications of indirect hydraulic fracturing to improve coal seam gas drainage for the Surat and Bowen Basins, Australia. SPE/AAPG/SEG Asia Pacific Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, Virtual, 16-18 November 2021. Tulsa, OK, USA: Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTEC). doi: 10.15530/AP-URTEC-2021-208375
2021
Journal Article
Improved modelling of pressure-dependent permeability behaviour in coal based on a new workflow of petrophysics, hydraulic fracturing and reservoir simulation
Ramanandraibe, Honja Miharisoa, Soares Ribeiro, Ayrton, Johnson, Raymond and You, Zhenjiang (2021). Improved modelling of pressure-dependent permeability behaviour in coal based on a new workflow of petrophysics, hydraulic fracturing and reservoir simulation. The APPEA Journal, 61 (1), 106-117. doi: 10.1071/aj20157
2021
Conference Publication
Numerical evaluation of bulk geomechanical properties of fractured coal with changing net effective stress conditions
Mitchell, Travis R., Zhong, Ruizhi, Johnson, Ray and Leonardi, Christopher R. (2021). Numerical evaluation of bulk geomechanical properties of fractured coal with changing net effective stress conditions. SPE/AAPG/SEG Asia Pacific Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, Virtual, 16-18 November 2021. Tulsa, OK, United States: Unconventional Resources Technology Conference. doi: 10.15530/ap-urtec-2021-208346
2020
Conference Publication
Hydrodynamic and electrostatic jamming of microparticles in narrow channels
Di Vaira, Nathan J., Łaniewski-Wołłk, Łukasz, Johnson, Raymond L., Aminossadati, Saiied M. and Leonardi, Christopher R. (2020). Hydrodynamic and electrostatic jamming of microparticles in narrow channels. 22nd Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference AFMC2020, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 7-10 December 2020. Brisbane, QLD Australia: The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/8d34dcf
2020
Conference Publication
Modelling micro-proppant transport in stress-sensitive naturally-fractured reservoirs
Di Vaira, Nathan, Leonardi, Christopher and Johnson, Raymond, Jr (2020). Modelling micro-proppant transport in stress-sensitive naturally-fractured reservoirs. SPE Europec (Society of Petroleum Engineers Europe Energy Conference), Virtual/Online, 1-3 December 2020. Richardson, Texas, United States: Society of Petroleum Engineers. doi: 10.2118/200600-MS
2020
Journal Article
Generating pseudo density log from drilling and logging-while-drilling data using extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost)
Zhong, Ruizhi, Johnson Jr, Raymond and Chen, Zhongwei (2020). Generating pseudo density log from drilling and logging-while-drilling data using extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost). International Journal of Coal Geology, 220 103416, 1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.coal.2020.103416
2020
Journal Article
Using machine learning methods to identify coal pay zones from drilling and Logging-While-Drilling (LWD) data
Zhong, Ruizhi, Johnson, Raymond L. and Chen, Zhongwei (2020). Using machine learning methods to identify coal pay zones from drilling and Logging-While-Drilling (LWD) data. SPE Journal, 25 (03), 1241-1258. doi: 10.2118/198288-pa
2020
Conference Publication
Modelling Micro-Proppant Transport in Stress-Sensitive Naturally-Fractured Reservoirs
Di Vaira, Nathan, Leonardi, Christopher and Johnson Jr., Raymond (2020). Modelling Micro-Proppant Transport in Stress-Sensitive Naturally-Fractured Reservoirs. 82nd EAGE Conference and Exhibition, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 8-11 December. Richardson, TX United States: Society of Petroleum Engineers. doi: 10.2118/200600-ms
2020
Conference Publication
Evaluation of CO injectivity for CO-EOR using a two-stage well test approach: case study of a Chinese tight oil reservoir
Honari, Vahab, Wang, Xiangzeng, Underschultz, Jim, Garnett, Andrew, Wang, Xingjin, Johnson, Raymond, Ribeiro, Ayrton, Sedaghat, Mohammad, Gao, Ruimin, Liang, Quansheng and Hurter, Suzanne (2020). Evaluation of CO injectivity for CO-EOR using a two-stage well test approach: case study of a Chinese tight oil reservoir. SPE Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition, Virtual, 17-19 November. Richardson, TX, United States: Society of Petroleum Engineers. doi: 10.2118/202374-ms
2020
Conference Publication
Integrating Reservoir Characterisation, Diagnostic Fracture Injection Testing, Hydraulic Fracturing and Post-Frac Well Production Data to Define Pressure Dependent Permeability Behavior in Coal
Johnson, Raymond L., You, Zhenjiang, Ribeiro, Ayrton, Mukherjee, Saswata, Salomao de Santiago, Vanessa and Leonardi, Christopher (2020). Integrating Reservoir Characterisation, Diagnostic Fracture Injection Testing, Hydraulic Fracturing and Post-Frac Well Production Data to Define Pressure Dependent Permeability Behavior in Coal. SPE Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition, Online, 17-19 November 2020. Richardson, TX United States: Society of Petroleum Engineers. doi: 10.2118/202281-ms
2020
Conference Publication
Estimating Coal Permeability Using Machine Learning Methods
Salehi, Cyrus, Zhong, Ruizhi, Ganpule, Sameer, Dewar, Steven, Johnson, Raymond and Chen, Zhongwei (2020). Estimating Coal Permeability Using Machine Learning Methods. SPE Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition, Online, 17-19 November 2020. Richardson, TX United States: Society of Petroleum Engineers. doi: 10.2118/202271-ms
2019
Journal Article
Influence of elastoplastic embedment on CSG production enhancement using graded particle injection
You, Zhenjiang, Wang, Duo, Leonardi, Christopher, Johnson Jr, Raymond and Bedrikovetsky, Pavel (2019). Influence of elastoplastic embedment on CSG production enhancement using graded particle injection. The APPEA Journal, 59 (1), 310-318. doi: 10.1071/aj18086
2019
Journal Article
Results of hydraulic fracturing design improvements and changes in execution strategies for unconventional tight gas targets in the Cooper Basin, Australia
Johnson Jr, Raymond, Zhong, Ruizhi and Nguyen, Lan (2019). Results of hydraulic fracturing design improvements and changes in execution strategies for unconventional tight gas targets in the Cooper Basin, Australia. APPEA Journal, 59 (1), 244-259. doi: 10.1071/aj18185
2019
Journal Article
Challenges in modelling of hydraulic fracturing in low-permeability coal seams with complex cleat networks and stress regimes
Aghighi, Mohammad Ali, Johnson, Raymond Jr. and Leonardi, Chris (2019). Challenges in modelling of hydraulic fracturing in low-permeability coal seams with complex cleat networks and stress regimes. APPEA Journal, 59 (1), 166-178. doi: 10.1071/aj18140
2019
Other Outputs
Scoping study for material carbon abatement via carbon capture and storage: China engagement: Special edition
Garnett, Andrew, Underschultz, Jim, Ashworth, Peta, Honari, Vahab and Johnson, Ray (2019). Scoping study for material carbon abatement via carbon capture and storage: China engagement: Special edition. The University of Queensland Surat Deep Aquifer Appraisal Project (UQ-SDAAP) Brisbane, Australia: The University of Queensland.
2019
Conference Publication
Using machine learning methods to identify coals from drilling and logging-while-drilling LWD data
Zhong, Ruizhi, Johnson Jr., Raymond L. and Chen, Zhongwei (2019). Using machine learning methods to identify coals from drilling and logging-while-drilling LWD data. SPE/AAPG/SEG Asia Pacific Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 18-19 November 2019. Tulsa, OK, United States: Unconventional Resources Technology Conference. doi: 10.15530/ap-urtec-2019-198288
Funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Ray Johnson is:
- Not available for supervision
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Using Machine Learning to Improve Well Integrity, Drilling Efficiencies and Safety Compliance in Queensland CSG Drilling Data
Principal Advisor
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Doctor Philosophy
Improving Gas Recovery in Low-Permeability Coals by Deployment of Multi-stage Indirect Hydraulic Fractures
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Zhongwei Chen, Dr Christopher Leonardi
-
Doctor Philosophy
Regulating well integrity in Australian unconventional oil and gas operations: a comparison between Queensland, Wyoming and Alberta
Principal Advisor
-
Doctor Philosophy
Optimisation of Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage in an ultra-shallow heavy oil reservoir
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Honorary Professor Suzanne Hurter
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Doctor Philosophy
Incorporating Machine Learning and Data Analysis to Predict Long Term Production from Coal Seam Gas Fields Based on Early Field Data
Associate Advisor
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Doctor Philosophy
Rock mass preconditioning methodology for block caving based on Petroleum state of the art methods
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Zhongwei Chen, Professor Peter Knights
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Master Philosophy
Rate of Production Prediction for Coal Seam Gas Drilling
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Zhongwei Chen
Completed supervision
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Investigating the transport of proppant and micro-proppant in fracture networks via direct numerical simulation of particle-laden flows
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Saiied Aminossadati, Dr Christopher Leonardi
Media
Enquiries
Contact Professor Ray Johnson directly for media enquiries about:
- Coal seam gas
- Hydraulic Fracturing
- Shale gas
- Unconventional resources
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