Description
This presentation will review current industry practices in the Barnett shale, analyze the primary drivers of horizontal well plans, and assess some of the issues operators face in new areas of north Texas and other shale plays across the country. As the Barnett Shale play continues to expand across north Texas, drilling rigs are finding their ways into city limits and suburban neighborhoods. In the process, enginners are forced to adapt to the varing environments associated with the Barnett shale. Variations in reservoir depth, pay thickness, and shale composition require multiple techniques to maximize reservoir recovery.
Completion practices have evolved as new players enter the fray, bringing with them new ideas for optimizing production. Many operators shoot 3D seismic to better understand the structural setting of their acreage and to avoid faults and karst features which could affect well performance. The goal of these teams is to integrate data from all available sources to maximize the degree of reservoir contact with the wellbore while limiting excessive fracture height growth.