Shale Research and Data

Shale EOR: the economics

This model assesses shale-EOR economics, as a function of oil prices, gas prices, production-profiles and capex costs. 15-20% IRRs are attainable in our base case. Economics are getting increasingly exciting, as the technology is de-risked and more gas is stranded in key shale basins.

May 22, 2019

Shale EOR: Container Class

Is Shale-EOR the next wave of unconventional upside? The topic jumped into the ‘Top 10’ most researched shale themes last year. Stranded in-basin gas will improve the economics. Production per well can rise by 1.5-2x. The theme could add 2.5Mbpd to YE25 output.

Machine Learning to Optimise Rod Pumps

This data-file summarises progress using machine learning to maximise production from mature wells, by detecting errors and optimising production. There is potential to lower global decline rates by c100kbpd per annum for over a decade, and increase each well’s NPV by $0.1M.

Re-Frac Economics. How much uplift?

Re-fracturing Permian and Eagle Ford shale wells holds potential at higher oil prices. Our base case assumes $0.5M NPV/well uplifts, and $45/bbl breakevens. Higher prices and process-enhancements can unlock $2-3M of NPV10/well. Oxy and Devon lead the technical literature.

Do “digital” completions lift Permian IRRs?

We have modelled the economic uplift of extra digital instrumentation on a typical Permian well. At $50/bbl oil, c$0.4M of extra instrumentation costs, which add 10% to well-productivity, will raise overall NPV by $1M and IRR by 5pp per well.

April 12, 2019

U.S. Shale: Winner Takes All?

Shale is a ‘tech’ industry. And the technology is improving at a remarkable pace. But Permian technology is improving faster than anywhere else. These are our conclusions after reviewing 300 technical papers from 2018. We address whether the Permian will therefore dominate future supply growth.

Should a shale rig switch to gas-fuel?

Should a shale rig switch to gas-fuel? We estimate that a dual-fuel shale rig, running on in-basin natural gas would save $2,300/day (or c$30k/well), compared to a typical diesel rig. This is after a >20% IRR on the rig’s upgrade costs.

SPE Papers about Conventional vs Unconventional Reservoirs

This data-file estimates the number of SPE papers that have been published about conventional and unconventional reservoir engineering in the SPE Reservoir Evaluation and Engineering Technical journal, each year since 2007. 2018 was the first year where unconventional papers eclipsed conventional.

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