At the second link, you have to scroll through a lot to get to the story on Packers Plus but you will scroll through some fun.
Now, fast forward to today: Packers Plus suing others, claiming fracking infringement.
“An entire new generation of wells in the last five years, [promoted by] resource plays where 75% of the wells drilled are horizontals and fracked, with all kinds of problems and solutions they are creating, is rewriting the book on how to drill and complete a well,” he said.
Packers Plus, headed by engineer Dan Themig, led the change with advances such as the ‘ball drop.’
The technology involves launching a ceramic ball the size of an orange with fluid into a horizontal well. When the ball reaches the bottom it activates a port and opens a sleeve.
Sand is pumped down at high pressure to fracture the rock. When the fracturing is completed, another ball is launched to fracture the next stage. The same process is repeated at high speed multiple times, resulting in multi-stage fracking.
The technology has been deployed all over the world and is behind the success of the Bakken and the Montney fields, among others.
But it’s also expensive and competitors have come up with similar methods as oil and gas companies push for lower drilling costs.
Packers Plus, which has spent tens of millions on R&D, obtained a patent for its invention in 2012.Go to the link for the full story. Fascinating. The Bakken as laboratory.
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