Kemp: Why The Shale Revolution Is Not About To End
Productivity improvements can be traced to several factors. Shale producers are drilling and fracking longer laterals, increasing the amount of shale accessed by each well.
Through a combination of trial-and-error and better seismic work, drillers are increasingly able to target the highest-yielding parts of shale plays, improving average recovery factors and minimising the cost of drilling subpar wells.
Other productivity improvements are in the pipeline. In most sedimentary basins, including North Dakota's Bakken and west Texas's Permian, there are multiple oil- and gas-bearing formations, layered one on top of another like a stack of pancakes. The most advanced drillers are experimenting with wells that have several laterals at different depths to produce from different formations all from the same surface hole.
Well-spacing is another area where improvements are being tried. Minimum spacing is set to ensure two wells do not communicate with one another underground (drain the same part of the formation). But the minimum gap between wells is being reduced to cover the whole shale formation more completely as producers learn more about how big an area each well drains.
Individual shale wells are therefore becoming more productive, and plays are being exploited more efficiently and completely. And there are good reasons to think that the shale revolution is still in its infancy, with scope for further efficiency as current best practice is applied more widely.
There are also plenty of other shale plays in the United States, and internationally, with subtly different geology, which makes them harder to produce at present, but which might be brought into successful production with comparatively minor innovations.
For all these reasons, the shale boom is not about to bust any time soon. As long as the oil is needed, and prices remain fairly high, shale production is set to grow.
(Editing by Dale Hudson)
12345
View Full Article
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Weatherford CEO's Rebound Plan Relies On Getting Smaller
- Iran Says Oil Market Is Too Tight For US Zero Exports Target
- China's Squeezed 'Teapots' Eye Petchem Path To Riches
- Baker Hughes: US Drillers Add Oil Rigs For Second Week In Three
- Venezuela Hands China More Oil Presence, But No Mention Of New Funds
- Blockchain Demands Attention in Oil and Gas
- Macquarie Sees USA Oil Production Exiting 2024 at 14MM Barrels Per Day
- Oman Sees Increasing Ship-to-Ship Transfers of Russian Oil Bound for India
- CNPC Opens Sea-Land Oil Storage and Transport Facility in Bangladesh
- US Govt Makes Record Investment of $6B for Industrial Decarbonization
- Perenco Still Searching for Missing Person After Platform Incident
- Eni, Fincantieri, RINA Ink Deal on Maritime Decarbonization
- Falcon Oil Declares Commercial Flow Test Results for Shenandoah Well
- Oil Falls as US Inventories Increase
- Czech Utility CEZ Bucks Weaker Prices, Demand to Log Record Annual Profit
- Equinor Makes Discovery in North Sea
- Standard Chartered Reiterates $94 Brent Call
- India Halts Russia Oil Supplies From Sanctioned Tanker Giant
- Centcom, Dryad Outline Recent Moves Around Red Sea Region
- DOI Announces Proposal for Second GOM Offshore Wind Auction
- PetroChina Set to Receive Venezuelan Oil
- Czech Conglomerate to Buy Major Stake in Gasnet for $917MM
- US DOE Offers $44MM in Funding to Boost Clean Power Distribution
- Oil Settles Lower as Stronger Dollar Offsets Tighter Market
- UK Grid Operator Receives Aid to Advance Rural Decarbonization
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Another Major Oilfield Discovery
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension
- Equinor Makes Discovery in North Sea
- Standard Chartered Reiterates $94 Brent Call