American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2019 - 47

SpecialReport: Unconventional Resource Science
a smaller capital investment translate to a meaningful return on
investment for acreage once considered on the economic fringe.
Unique oil and water chemical tracers run in each stage
indicate that the most productive wells achieve a consistent
production profile throughout the lateral (Figure 6). These
highly productive wells vary in the cumulative recovery of
chemical tracer along the entirety of the lateral, but are not
dominated by one or two stages that significantly outproduce
other stages. This cumulative productivity monitored in longterm chemical tracer surveys has been sustained through the
flowing periods and into production on artificial lift (Figure 7).
Because these wells are equipped with ESPs and downhole
pressure gauges, it is possible to accurately normalize well production for the applied drawdown. The uplift in the productivity
of total fluid normalized by drawdown suggests the completions
have sustained a greater contact area with the reservoir compared
with legacy completions, despite accelerating production with
high-volume artificial lift.
The insights captured in the Elkhorn project have proven
significant upside potential in an area outside the central
Bakken/Three Forks development. Understanding changes in
regional reservoir characteristics has become the foundation of
the engineered completions approach, with reservoir variations
dictating the customization necessary to improve oil recovery
and development economics substantially. While initial wells
completed with this approach are demonstrating highly compelling
results, the treatment designs at the Elkhorn continue to evolve
and additional improvements are anticipated that will drive
further productivity and economic benefits.
❒
FIGURE 6
Chemical Tracer Plot
Attribute = Gamma_Ray
440.0
400.0
360.0
320.0

1,064

280.0
240.0

1,027
998

1,019

981

200.0
160.0
120.0

872
794

800 810

80.0
0.0

779

762

693
691
582 568

582

663
637
525
467

481

508

490
467
433

KYLE
TRAINOR

Kyle Trainor is a reservoir and completions engineer at NP
Resources, with experience in various basins across the Rocky
Mountain region. His principal areas of experience include
reservoir evaluation in unconventional oil and gas plays, and
hydraulic fracture optimization through the use of reservoir
and fracture simulation. Before joining NP Resources, Trainor
worked as a reservoir and completions engineer for Whiting
Petroleum and Kodiak Oil & Gas. He holds a B.S. in petroleum engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.

MIKE
VINCENT

Mike Vincent is a consulting engineer with more than 25
years of experience in economically optimizing hydraulic
fractures. After beginning his career at Amoco, ARCO and
Carbo, Vincent started Insight Consulting in 1996, specializing in fracture design and reservoir analyses. A former Society of Petroleum Engineers distinguished lecturer, Vincent
has served as a technical editor for three SPE journals and
is a frequent university lecturer and instructor of fracture design and optimization schools. He holds a B.S. in petroleum
engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.

322

264

298
189

247
228
118

136
80

35 34

38
31

25 24

FIGURE 7
Cumulative Chemical Tracer Plot
60%

Flowing Period
50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

Artificial Lift Period

RON
FINCH

Ron Finch is director of completion operations and reservoir engineering at PetroPro Engineering. He has more than
three decades of experience in reservoir, production and completion engineering operations. Finch's expertise includes
evaluating, designing and executing hydraulic fracturing treatments, and optimizing completion results by integrating reservoir properties with stimulation characterization. He holds a
B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado.

MARCH 2019 47

American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2019

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