Jason Kenneth Frater

Workover & Well Engineer | Mechanical & Petroleum Engineer • Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Mechanical & Petroleum Engineer with 15+ years across CSG and conventional operations. Broad expertise in well engineering (workovers, wireline, wellhead), well integrity, production optimisation, and SCADA/automation. Experienced in maintenance, projects, and production operations, combining technical rigour with practical execution. Pragmatic, safety-led, and commercially focused, with proven ability to bridge engineering, operations, and business development. Skilled at applying programming, data science, and AI-driven automation to enhance compliance, reduce cost, and accelerate delivery.

Experience

Wells Engineer — Origin Energy — Integrated Gas Services

Feb 2023 – Present

Execution of 2024 rig P&A campaign
Formation stabilisation SME (Coho Matrix & CCC)
Well integrity execution incl. bismuth, resin, patch placements
BOP testing stewardship and safety support
WellView/data analysis upgrades; reporting/dashboard improvements
Automation of well integrity workflows (Python, SQL, Power BI)

Technical Sales Manager — Pro-Test Well Services

Apr 2021 – Feb 2023

Grew revenue ~250% across existing portfolio
Won new mining-sector clients
Led procurement & artificial-lift design
Managed Gove collapse monitoring & surface installation project
Provided technical solutions for well testing/data/completions

Contract Work — Freelance (Frate Holdings Pty Ltd)

Jul 2020 – Apr 2021

Hot tapping services
Well integrity services
Well life risk assessment

Operations Manager — Galilee Energy

Feb 2019 – Jun 2020

Led production operations & engineering for glenaras pilot programs
Workover design/execution (vertical & lateral | ESP, PCP, RRP)
Production optimisation
Delivered new SCADA system end-to-end (Design, commision & rollout)
Budgeting, procurement, facilities/pipeline/wellhead design

Completions Engineer — Onshore D&C QLD (CSG) — Santos Ltd

Feb 2018 – Feb 2019

Program development & execution for wellhead, wireline, coil tubing, rigless ops
Executed Coil Tubing P&A; Santos’ first Foam-X formation stabilisation
Streamlined workflows enabling record annual rigless job count

Operations Team Leader — Central Fields (Conventional) — Santos Ltd

Sep 2016 – Feb 2018

Led 18 O&M staff; ~145 MMSCFD field and 300+ wells and oil production of ~500 bbl/d
Cost-reduction projects using Oracle CMMS data; compliance stewardship

Maintenance Team Leader — Cross Border (Conventional) — Santos Ltd

Mar 2016 – Sep 2016

Coordinated ME&I maintenance; shutdown scheduling; budgeting

Operations Engineer — Cross Border & SWQ (Conventional) — Santos Ltd

Jun 2014 – Mar 2016

Front-line engineering for ~70 MMSCFD gas & 1100 bbl/d oil
Deviation management, activity plans, commissioning, process safety lead

Team Leader — Operations Engineering (CSG) — Santos Ltd (Energy NSW)

Nov 2011 – Jun 2014

Led 5 engineers, 6 supervisors; workover budget ~$18M
Integrity planning, water mgmt, pilot optimisation, civil projects
PTW authority; graduate mentorship; MOC leadership

Field Engineer / Field Supervisor (CSG) — Santos Ltd (Eastern Star Gas)

Jun 2008 – Nov 2011

Well control systems, production monitoring, RO operations
SCADA/instrumentation upkeep; field projects & commissioning
Community/JV partner site tours; land access support