Packers Plus On High-Intensity Wells In The Bakken -- May 21, 2016

Updates

Later, 9:12; p.m. Central Time: see first comment -- reposted here so it is searchable:

Although the referenced article describing Packers Plus activities seems a little 'infomercially', the fact that Schlumberger, no less, has joined in a collaborative arrangement with this much smaller company is a ringing endorsement of their technology.

Although there still seems a lot of back and forth on the merits of plug and perf versus sliding sleeve, the time savings of the latter is beyond question. 

Additionally, open hole is significantly less expensive (and faster) as well as exposing much more of the fofmation's natural fractures to the wellbore. 

"Thief" fissures, i.e., bigger fissures, would tend to take all the frac fluid in the past. With the use of diverters in the proppant mix, this problem may be largely overcome. 

If Packers Plus can consistently deliver high stage count, open hole completions that offer high EURs, they may alter the future direction - and economics - of unconventional development. 

Apparently, Schlumberger thinks so.

(Re multi laterals ... Big offshore operators have effectively been using this stuff for years. If BP's experience and expertise can be successfully transferred to land based operations, a whole new dimension of development may open up. Early times in this regard).  

Original Post

 

Before getting to the linked article below (sent to me by a reader, thank you), a reminder of one of my more popular "top ten" lists -- frackers in the Bakken. That list was compiled several years ago; updated occasionally, but is no longer current.

From The Bakken Magazine -- high-frack intensity, multilateral drilling could help the Bakken.

Data points:

• Calgary-based Packers Plus Energy Services, Inc
• last month announced it completed multiple wells in ND's Bakken formation
• recently closed their Estevan (Saskatewan) office, but bullish on the ND Bakken

The Combo:

• high-frack intensity
• multilateral wells
• zonal isolation 

The Process:

• first step: 50-stage wells
• second step: 60- to 70- stage wells, uninterrupted with no intervention
• third step: 100-stage wells with two- to three-mile laterals

Packers Plus Energy:

• do not think future is plug and perf
• company feels open hole has some distinct advantages
• other technologies may be tried in the Bakken
• five years of data suggests that just by getting effective isolation one can change EURs by roughly 50%
• Packers Plus technology should work in the Bakken's second tier areas at $45 to $50 oil
• third tier: economic at $60 or $65 oil, but the right technology is critical

Multilateral drilling

• from a BP study of multilateral wells in Colorado and New Mexico
• one vertical section followed by multiple laterals from the single vertical well bore
• Packers Plus says they have completed "a thousand wells" using multilateral drilling
• their activity in the Bakken has been slower because operators have been reluctant to switch to different ways of drilling/completion

For more on "zonal isolation":

• Halliburton, 2009
• Halliburton website
• Schlumbeger, 2008
• Deepwater, 2004 

My 2 cents worth: it seems a number of operators tried multilateral drilling in the Bakken early on. it seemed to have not worked out all that well. The cost of the vertical well has come way down but yes, if one could economically get four horizontals out of one vertical, the cost savings would be significant. On another note, EOG has said that even when discussing re-fracking, it's just "cheaper" to drill a new well (said some time ago; I don't know the current philosophy on re-fracks).

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Trout

A bit of flour, pepper

Stovetop: until brown, a couple of minutes

Oven: 400 degrees, 8 minutes planned
Thicker trout than expected: 10 minutes in oven

Voilà