During the heady “drill, baby, drill” days hydraulic fracturing was often just a brute-force technique to introduce enough permeability into shale plays to release the hydrocarbons. But operators quickly discovered that what worked well in one play didn’t necessarily translate to another, and they continue to experiment with lateral lengths and proppant loads to optimize their completions.
This month E&P takes a look at a company that has done just that in the Utica. Using its “Generation 3” completion scheme, Eclipse Resources is enjoying phenomenal success after first testing the strategy on its record-setting Purple Hayes well.
Logging-while-tripping technology aids operators who want to do engineered fractures by gathering log data while the pipe is being pulled out of the hole. This saves time and money and provides immediate formation evaluation information.
Other articles look at a new biosurfactant technology as well as the importance of proppant sand quality.
In this lower-for-longer environment, it’s likely that continued advances in hydraulic fracturing will lead to greater efficiencies and—the holy grail—increased production.
Read each cover story:
Engineering better completions with LWT
Recommended Reading
Sinopec Brings West Sichuan Gas Field Onstream
2024-03-14 - The 100 Bcm sour gas onshore field, West Sichuan Gas Field, is expected to produce 2 Bcm per year.
E&P Highlights: April 8, 2024
2024-04-08 - Here’s a roundup of the latest E&P headlines, including new contract awards and a product launch.
Halliburton’s Low-key M&A Strategy Remains Unchanged
2024-04-23 - Halliburton CEO Jeff Miller says expected organic growth generates more shareholder value than following consolidation trends, such as chief rival SLB’s plans to buy ChampionX.
Deepwater Roundup 2024: Americas
2024-04-23 - The final part of Hart Energy E&P’s Deepwater Roundup focuses on projects coming online in the Americas from 2023 until the end of the decade.
Oceaneering Won $200MM in Manufactured Products Contracts in Q4 2023
2024-02-05 - The revenues from Oceaneering International’s manufactured products contracts range in value from less than $10 million to greater than $100 million.