The oil and gas industry is writing a new chapter for hydraulic fracturing operations, defined by data, iteration, and a relentless pursuit of efficiency.
In the Marcellus, an operator leveraged legacy data to refine its next-generation completions, while in the Permian, a four-well campaign showcased the power of iterative learning on successfully drilling out 4-mile laterals. Both highlight the industry’s growing reliance on data and experience to unlock value.
Evolving Completions Approaches
Targeted analysis of legacy Marcellus well data is helping Repsol shape its next-generation completion designs in the region for optimal business impact.
Completions experts from Repsol analyzed data from two pads in the Marcellus to assess whether previous completions strategies—such as well spacing, completion intensity, and the number of clusters treated at once—delivered the expected results. They detailed their sometimes counterintuitive findings in SPE 223577.
The research evolved from the question of which variables in the operator’s Generation 2 completions designs, used from 2021 through 2023, drive production results, Stephane Pichon, technical advisor at Repsol, said while presenting the paper at SPE’s Hydraulic Fracturing Technical Conference and Exhibition (HFTC) in February.
The operator reviewed existing data from legacy pads, he said, and while the data indicated that about 70% of the clusters in certain wells were producing, the data didn’t indicate why the other 30% were underperforming.
“It’s a bit of a disappointment” if reactive data acquisition fails to provide the answers being sought, he said.
Analyzing data on the direction of perforations shots—whether from top to bottom, as is typically done, or from the side—revealed “interesting information” that raised the question of whether “we were shooting in the wrong direction,” he said.
According to the paper, shooting perforations on the sides results in a 10% reduction in horsepower-hour consumption, easier pump-rate ramp-up, lower treating pressure, and higher pump rate. This approach also resulted in reduced resource usage and lower emissions.
The next step for Repsol was to move toward proactive data acquisition.
