Part 1-of-5 in a Series on ReFracs in the Bakken
Over the past decade, oil companies have been searching for innovative techniques in order to find new recoverable oil in new places. According to industry reports, approximately 75,000 new wells have been drilled in North America during that time. As many energy enthusiasts continue to look under new rocks, companies like Whiting Petroleum, Marathon and Halliburton are checking the old rocks for new oil.
Since the shale revolution began, oil and gas operators have continued to invest in technologies to enhance recovery from these previously productive wells. Their hopes are preventing the steep decline trends seen in unconventional wells. Increased stages, proppants, closer well spacing and longer fracs are several examples operators have been implementing in the North American shale plays. These efforts and resources are only extracting about four to eight percent of the unconventional resource.
One of the newer trends many in the industry are talking about is the technology of refracking.
Charles Ohlson, Whiting Petroleum, discusses the increasing interest in refracs across the Bakken, and how Whiting has been taking a “measured approach”. He believes they will be adding more refracs in 2018, depending on oil prices of coarse. He also shares some industry information about how much success Marathon has seen with their refrac program.
Ohlson says the primary driver behind all the entire refrac movement is technology.
