Abstract:
Engineers and other Oil and Gas specialists have become increasingly adept in targeting a wide range of reservoirs with extended reach laterals, with overall positive production results. As such the term ‘dry hole’ is becoming nearly obsolete, and drilling locations in the thousands rest on the books of numerous energy companies. One would think that this status would suggest nothing but a rosy future, both near term and far for the energy sectors.

However, investor expectations, service company and other costs, regulations, and commodity prices in particular continue to weigh heavily on outcomes, such that what appears to be so stable and promising finds itself still to be highly vulnerable to markets and events. Energy companies have limited control over these above mentioned variables. But in general, if the return on investment can’t with certainty remain up, the cost of finding may need a ‘step-change’ to go substantially down.

One key way to accomplish this is to actually drill wells differently, in particular shorter laterals, but to do so in a unique way that generates additional effective porosity, and then complete these wells with focused methods that take advantage of this induced porosity. As a result one can obtain wells that produce on par with extended length laterals, but at a significantly reduced cost, that is greater than 25%. These methods have been tested, and show not only great promise for new drilling areas, but further for infill and edge drilling as well.

These are ‘win-win’ recommendations. If commodity prices drop, ROR’s can be protected. If prices remain stable or rise, gains are all the more.


Bio:
Don currently works as a consulting geophysicist after a 36 year full time career. He worked for Amoco/Crescendo Resources/BP for 24 years, followed by four years with Ward Petroleum, three years with Sandridge Energy, and finally three years with Devon Energy. Don has three degrees, including a Masters in Geology from the University of Tulsa.

Don’s career has taken him to Denver twice, Amoco’s Tulsa Research, Houston three times, Amarillo twice, Enid, OK and Oklahoma City, as well as an overseas assignment in Cairo. Don currently resides in McKinney, TX.

Don has worked major basins throughout the US and in several foreign settings. His most recent assignment with Devon was in the Barnett shale play where he began the development of the techniques being shown.