This post is on Part 1 of that two-part article; this is the link to the post in which I will discuss Part 2 of that two-part article.
So, here is the original link, with links to Part 1 and Part 2, which, I believe, will download as PDFs in both cases.
In the very first answer to the very first question in Part 1, one gets the feeling that this article is a must-read.
The interviewee interpreted the first question to be this: "we've" been doing horizontal drilling and fracking since at least 1947. What's different this time that has made it so successful? The answer: seismic technology.
From my August 19, 2010 post:
Largest array: North Dakota has the largest buried microseismic array in the world, Geo News, July, 2010.Back to the recent article:
Seismic has been around in the industry since the late 1970s. It's not new, either. But the old seismic is a radically different creature from what we have today. It's like comparing a Toyota hybrid to an 18-wheel from the 1950s. Yes, technically, they're of the same technological tree, but they're so radically different. With the old seismic, you have these giant bulbs of oil-saturated rock that didn't require much of a sonar cross-section to show up when you would do seismic. The news one can pick up deposits about the size of a 500-ml water bottle.Did I mention that North Dakota has the largest buried microseismic array in the world. Something tells me that some of the new acreage bought in the Permian for $40,000/acre does not have such an array in place, yet.
And, note: that was in 2010 that it was reported that North Dakota had the largest buried microseismic array in the world. That was seven years ago; one can imagine how much has been done since then.
Very early in the article, the interviewee says that "micro-seismic is so new it did not exist 30 months ago."
Obviously there's a disconnect. But we will press on.
Later: re-fracking -- going back to fields for the second, third, and fourth time. One can leave the micro-seismic geophones in place, to be used the next time a well is re-fracked, or a new well is fracked for the first time.
The interviewee suggests that most companies are not yet using micro-seismic technology.
So many incredible data points in the article, like this one, which I have said so many times, I have lost count:
"Rig count is now a meaningless number in shale plays in general, and even more so in shale plays using micro-seismic technology."I'm going to quit there for now.
The articles have been archived.
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