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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on December 13, 2021 at 11:13

There has been little mention of re-fracs in recent years.  I think there are two reasons for this.  The re-fracs performed by a number of operators were marginally economic.  Also with so many HA and BO wells left to drill, there is no compelling reason to be experimenting with re-fracs.

Questar performed the most re-fracs but they of course sold out to Aethon and left the play years ago. Since then the completion designs have evolved to what we now refer to as "high intensity" fracs.  That change led to spacing six laterals per mile width instead of eight.  I assume that employing the same high intensity frac design would improve the production/economics of re-fracs but I am but a lowly mineral consultant.  Maybe Rock Man has some ideas on the subject.

I suspect that the almost fourteen years of Haynesville Shale development has resulted in recovery of about 20% of estimated ultimate recoverable (EUR) reserves.  I maintain a spreadsheet that covers every section in the Louisiana Haynesville Fairway and that shows a majority of units with one well.  Amazing that there are so many wells left to drill in proven quality rock.  When the play reaches 80 or so percent EUR, we may see a renewed interest in re-fracs.  That could be quite a few years away.

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Permalink Reply by Dion Warr, CPL on December 14, 2021 at 6:54

Skip:

Parent-child communication in the wellbores plus frac networks also led to the upspacing.  Spend less money on 100-acre spacings and preserve other quality wells vs. spending more on 80-acre spacings and potentially damaging your prior wells and rendering current wells less effective.  This was especially prevalent in areas with more natural fracturing e.g., Elm Grove - Caspiana.

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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on December 14, 2021 at 8:42

Thanks, Dion.  We hear little about communication between wells although I am aware of some that resulted in emergency orders from the state.

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Permalink Reply by Dion Warr, CPL on December 14, 2021 at 9:44

Skip:

It's definitely been addressed now.  In addition to the increased spacing between wells, most operators further protect their existing wellbores by temporarily shutting in nearby wells while going through with their new frac operations.

Communication does not have to rise to the level or catastrophe or emergency.  Linked depressurization across nearby wells can indicate communication without a frac-out or screenout.  Even limited communication can affect production and EUR.

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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on December 14, 2021 at 9:52

Addressed but still a problem, potentially and actually, although certain areas with extensive natural fracture networks can make for unintended consequences, I am aware of at least one instance where the frac contractor exceeded their pumping pressure parameters, more than once, and pumped more proppant load than the completion design called for.  The results required state emergency declarations.  There are a couple of other instances that appear to be similar in the results if not the specific mistakes made during completion ops.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Lowe on December 13, 2021 at 12:22

Skip, I appreciate the response. I was part of this development very early on and was a blessing to me!!!!

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