CASE STUDY
Operator Refractures Wells and
Decreases Cost Per BOE by 78%
ACTIVATE SM REFRACTURING SERVICE SAVES SIGNIFICANT
COSTS COMPARED TO NEW DRILLING
BARNETT SHALE PLAY, WISE COUNTY, TEXAS
CHALLENGE
OVERVIEW
»» Understimulated vintage
completion well resulted in well’s
rapid production decline
»» Increase EUR at lower cost per
BOE compared to new drilling
An operator in the Barnett was looking
to increase production from vintage
completion wells. After refracturing
the well with ACTIVATE service, the
operator increased EUR by 83%,
resulting in $1 million NPV.
DID YOU KNOW
The ACTIVATESM service involves four steps:
SCREEN the best candidate
wells based on reservoir and
completion quality
SOLUTION
RESULT
»» $1 million NPV after 10 years of
incremental production
»» 83% EUR increase after refracture
treatment
»» 18% decline rate after refracturing
the well, compared to 55% decline
rate without the refracturing
treatment
© 2016 Halliburton. All Rights Reserved.
The goal is to increase production from
understimulated vintage completion
wells that were proving unprofitable, but
was not convinced that refracturing the
wells would prove economical compared
to drilling new wells. Halliburton
ACTIVATESM service to select the best
candidate well and design the optimal
stimulation treatment.
SOLUTION
Halliburton and the operator collaborated
to select and rank the best candidate
wells based on their reservoir quality.
An economic development payback
and estimated ultimate recovery (EUR)
analysis was performed to evaluate
which wells would produce the greatest
return at the lowest cost per BOE.
For one particular well, AccessFrac®
stimulation service was used to
adjust the original treatment design
in response to the treating pressure
recorded while on location. Figure 1
shows adjustment in the seating rate
based on increasing treating pressure
throughout the job. This helped
determine how much diverter to pump
EXECUTE the refrac treatment
for full lateral coverage with
AccessFrac® stimulation service
HAL41015
»» AccessFrac service generates new
fractures from old perforations that
were not stimulated in well’s first life
»» ACTIVATESM service helped operator
overcome economic losses from
existing well
DESIGN the optimal refrac
treatment to connect existing
fractures and place new
fractures with the FracInsight®
service and proprietary
Pressure Sink Mitigation
process
CHALLENGE
DIAGNOSE refrac efficacy
and optimize refrac design for
future pads with the Integrated
Sensor Diagnostics service and
FiberCoil™tubing
Predictable refrac wells can enable operators
to build a balanced portfolio of new wells,
infills, and refracs, and to reduce the cost
per BOE break-even point of their specific
acreage. Refracs also allow operators to book
incremental reserves.
In basins where we have delivered the
ACTIVATE service, operators have
seen up to:
• 80% increase in estimated ultimate
recovery (EUR) per well
• 25% increase in oil recovery factor with
balanced portfolio
• 66% reduced cost per BOE compared to
new drills
CASE STUDY
at the given pressure rate, while reducing injection rate at each stage. With the new design, the job
was executed. With AccessFrac service, the refracture treatment enabled five new stage placements,
five new perforation clusters, and five diversion drops,* resulting in increased production.
*These are conservative numbers compared to current refracturing operations.
Treating Pressure (psi)
Slurry Proppant Concentration (lb/gal)
Wellhead Rate (bpm)
BH Proppant Concentration (lb/gal)
160
160
5000
5000
140
140
3.0
3.0
2.5
2.5
120
120
4000
4000
100
100
3000
3000
80
60
60
2000
2000
2.0
2.0
1.5
1.5
1.0
1.0
40
40
1000
1000
0
0
20
20
08:00 10:00
10:00 3/22/2013
12:00
12:00 14:00
14:00 16:00 16:00
18:00
18:00 20:00
20:00 22:00
22:00 00:00
0
0
0.5
0.5
0.0
0.0
3/23/2013
Time
Figure 1 shows a job plot measuring pressure, rate, and proppant concentration. The red
curves demonstrate an overall increase in treating pressure from the beginning to end of the
stimulation treatment.
RESULTS
Figure 2 shows that the refracturing treatment arrested the well’s decline curve. After the
original fracturing treatment, the projected EUR was 1.8 MCF. After the refracture, projected
EUR was 3.3 MCF, resulting in a net EUR increase of 1.57 MCF. The flat decline rate was a direct
result of design change as part of the refracturing treatment, resulting in 83% increase in EUR in
the second life of the well.
The refracture also proved to be more economical than drilling a new well. Initial well costs
yielded $1.65 cost per MCF, whereas the cost of the refracture yielded $0.36 cost per MCF or
78% lower cost per BOE compared to new drilling. The operator was pleased with the result and
has continued to engage Halliburton for the refracturing of future unconventional assets.
HAL41178
INCREASE
PER BOE
HAL41179
78%
83%
CASE STUDY
1800
1600
1400
1200
MCF/D
1000
800
600
400
200
0
-200
0 500 100015002000 2500 3000
Days
Figure 2 shows that the refracturing treatment arrested the well’s decline curve. There was a projected EUR of 1.8 MCF
after the original fracturing treatment. After the refracture, the projected EUR was 3.33 MCF, resulting in a net EUR
increase of 1.53 MCF. The flat decline rate was a direct result of design change as part of the refracturing treatment,
resulting in additional surface and reservoir stimulated area.
Original Well
Refractured Well
qi55,000
MCF/monthqi22,000
MCF/month
b
0.9
b
Di
0.1month-1
Di
$3,000,000
GpDa
$1.6
Per MCF
1,814,005MCF
$570,000
GpDa
0.9
0.017month=1
$.36
Per MCF
3,338,741MCF
Figure 3 compares the well’s production and cost before and after the refracturing treatment. Refrac qi is 40%
from the initial qi.*
*Source: Publicly available quarterly operator reports. Refracturing costs from internal documents and field estimations.
Contact Halliburton to see how the ACTIVATE service can help you build a balanced
portfolio and recover bypassed reserves predictively and repeatedly.
www.halliburton.com/ACTIVATE
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