American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2019 - 86

SpecialReport: Hydraulic Fracturing Technology
Because of the logistics involved in
delivering sand, fluid and chemicals in a
modern well, some of the real data analytics, modeling and engineering work
that was performed routinely in the past
now is being omitted in favor of more efficiently delivering the desired treatment
plan. It may be worth reopening the case
for data analysis (including determining
which data is most pertinent) in order to
converge on the optimal range of treatment
parameters in a given field or reservoir
within a horizontal resource play.
Perforation strategies are focusing on
extreme limited-entry techniques with

fewer perforations, but more clusters, to
obtain more effective frac initiation points.
With chemical additives, it appears the
industry is "going back to the start" with
minimal additives at low concentrations
across the board. Proppant is heading toward the cheapest option, focusing on
"just good enough" for created-fracture
conductivity.
Statistical Tools
The amount and types of data available today in both public and private
oil and gas industry databases is significant, yet it still is nowhere near the in-

FIGURE 1

Lateral Length (ft)

Lateral Lengths, Stage Counts, Proppant
And Fluid Volumes, and Frac Rate by Play
10,000
9,000
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Middle Bakken - Williston

Three Forks - Williston

Niobrara - PRB

Turner/Frontier - PRB

Codell - DJ

Niobrara - DJ

Wolfcamp - Delaware

Bone Spring - Delaware

Wolfcamp - Midland

Eagle Ford - Oil Window

2018

60

Stage Count

50
40
30
20
10

Max Rate (bpm)

Fluid Volume (thousands bbl)

Proppant Mass (millions lbs)

0
2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Middle Bakken - Williston

Three Forks - Williston

Niobrara - PRB

Turner/Frontier - PRB

Codell - DJ

Niobrara - DJ

Wolfcamp - Delaware

Bone Spring - Delaware

Wolfcamp - Midland

Eagle Ford - Oil Window

2018

20
15
10
5
0
2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Middle Bakken - Williston

Three Forks - Williston

Niobrara - PRB

Turner/Frontier - PRB

Codell - DJ

Niobrara - DJ

Wolfcamp - Delaware

Bone Spring - Delaware

Wolfcamp - Midland

Eagle Ford - Oil Window

2018

500
400
300
200
100
0
2009

110
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Middle Bakken - Williston

Three Forks - Williston

Niobrara - PRB

Turner/Frontier - PRB

Codell - DJ

Niobrara - DJ

Wolfcamp - Delaware

Bone Spring - Delaware

Wolfcamp - Midland

Eagle Ford - Oil Window

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Middle Bakken - Williston

Three Forks - Williston

Niobrara - PRB

Turner/Frontier - PRB

Codell - DJ

Niobrara - DJ

Wolfcamp - Delaware

Bone Spring - Delaware

Wolfcamp - Midland

Eagle Ford - Oil Window

86 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

2018

2018

tensity of, say, U.S. credit card transactions over the lunch hour on any given
weekday. From publicly available stateby-state production data to industrywide
databases such as FracFocus and custom
databases created by individual operating,
service and consulting companies, the
amount and richness of data to mine is
impressive.
Access to public drilling and completion information has unleashed big-data
multivariate analysis as a scoping tool
that may be used to optimize production
or to minimize the cost to produce a
barrel of oil or oil equivalent.
These statistical tools have helped the
industry on its path to higher well production and more economic wells by
making changes over time in hydraulic
fracturing designs that are effectively creating larger and denser plumbing systems
in low-permeability rock. Massive fracture
diagnostic projects also have helped close
the loop on calibrated fracture growth
and reservoir modeling. Each region has
its unique set of optimum parameters,
but several general trends hold across all
resource plays.
Figure 1 is a compilation of public
data from several industry sources for
the Williston, Powder River, DenverJulesburg, Delaware, Midland and Eagle
Ford basins. It illustrates the changes in
lateral length, stage count, proppant and
fluid volumes, and frac rates by play
since 2010.
The technology focus in fracture treatments in U.S. shale plays has been on
generating ever-larger and ever-denser
frac fairways through several gradual
completion changes, much like the original
goals for Barnett Shale fracs at the dawn
of America's shale revolution 20 years
ago. In order to create larger fracture
networks:
· Companies are drilling longer laterals that access more rock and hydrocarbons at a lower incremental cost. The
industry continues to strive to drill longer
wells where possible since shale well
economics align with a smaller footprint.
· They are increasing proppant mass
and fluid volumes. Between 2010 and
2017, fluid volumes increased from 13
to 33 barrels per lateral foot while average
proppant mass increased from about 500
to more than 1,600 pounds/foot.
· Companies are using fewer chemical
additives and are reducing additive volumes. They are moving to friction-reducing
slickwater, and more recently, to high-
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