American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2023 - 89

Resource Science
with slickwater and sand with ULWP1.05.
Figure 1 shows the 12-month cumulative
production history for these five
Bone Spring wells. Production from the
three ULWP-1.05 wells averaged 280%
higher than the closest offset wells after
12 months. The cumulative production of
the least-productive ULWP-1.05 horizontal
wells in the area outperformed the best of
the sand-only offsets by 67%. Since the
lateral lengths of all these Bone Spring
wells are equivalent, the differential is
the same at 67% when normalized per
1,000 feet.
In the San Andres play in Andrews
County, two wells with 2,000-foot laterals
were fractured with slickwater and sand
with ULWP-1.05. Their performance was
compared with three nearby wells with
lateral lengths of 3,100-6,200 feet that
had been completed two years before
using slickwater and sand alone. The average
non-normalized 36-month cumulative
production of the two ULWP horizontals
was 82% greater than observed
in three offsets stimulated without ULWP.
When normalized per 1,000 feet of lateral,
the production uplift for the ULWP-1.05
wells increases to 107%.
In Eddy County, a well with a 6,800
foot lateral was completed in the Delaware
Formation and treated with slickwater
and sand with ULWP-1.05. The well's
long-term (60-month) cumulative production
was 24.1% greater than the three
closest offset wells stimulated with slickwater
and sand alone.
An extended-reach horizontal with
an 11,400-foot lateral was drilled in the
Mancos Shale in San Juan County, N.M.,
and completed using slickwater and
sand with ULWP-1.05. Four similar
wells to the south, each with lateral
lengths of ±9,400 feet, were completed
with slickwater and sand alone. After
nine months (270 days) of production,
the non-normalized cumulative production
of the ULWP well was 38% greater
than the average of the four nearby
offset wells stimulated without ULWP.
Normalized to 1,000 feet of lateral
length, the ULWP well produced 28.6%
more than the average of the four offsets
after nine months.
Moving to the Bakken Shale, two
wells with 10,500-foot laterals were drilled
in McKenzie County, N.D. One well was
stimulated with slickwater and 7.2 million
pounds of sand, and the other with slickwater
and 6.0 million pounds of sand
with 220,000 pounds ULWP-1.05. After
120 days, the average normalized cumulative
production data showed that the
ULWP well had outperformed the direct
offset well by 27.5%. With normalization
for proppant intensity, the production
uplift was 42%.
Ultralightweight proppant slurries are
also proving effective in gas shales. For
example, in the Marcellus Shale in northeastern
Pennsylvania, three wells with
4,500-foot laterals were completed with
FIGURE 1
12-Month Cumulative Production of ULWP versus
Sand-Only Bonespring Horizontal Completions
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
Conventional Offsets
ULWP-1.05 Added
12 month
Cum. Prod. Average
Normalized Average
Cum. Prod./1,000 ft.
Offset 1
Offset 2
ULWP-1.05 " A "
ULWP-1.05 " B "
ULWP-1.05 " C "
Offset Avg. (2)
ULWP-1.05 Avg. (3)
Offset Avg./1,000 ft.
ULWP-1.05 Avg./1,000 ft.
FIGURE 2
36-Month Cumulative Production of ULWP versus
Sand-Only Marcellus Horizontal Completions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Conventional Offsets
ULWP-1.05 Added
12 month
Cum. Prod. Average
Normalized Average
Cum. Prod./1,000 ft.
Offset 1
Offset 2
Offset 3
ULWP-1.05 " A "
ULWP-1.05 " B "
ULWP-1.05 " C "
Offset Avg. (2)
ULWP-1.05 Avg. (3)
ULWP-1.05 Avg./1,000 ft.
Offset Avg./1,000 ft.
JANUARY 2023 89
slickwater and sand with ULWP-1.05.
Similarly constructed wells on the same
or adjacent pads were completed with
slickwater and sand alone. Cumulative
production from the three ULWP wells
was 25% greater than the average observed
in the three sand-only offset wells
after 12 months on line, and the differential
increased to 49% after 36 months
(Figure 2). Notably, the wells selected
for this comparison were the best-performing
offsets.
Consolidated Results
The same production uplift trends
emerge when the production histories
from individual well applications are consolidated
in a big-picture analysis. For
instance, take the case of 39 vertical oil
wells completed in four Permian Basin
American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2023

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