Does anyone know how long it takes a well to come back into production after it has been shut down for nearby fracking? The Oppel well in section 25 16N 10W was completed in July of 2016. It was shut off around September of 2017 for nearby fracking. It was producing around 5000 barrels per month. Since it has came back online it is only producing around 800 barrels per month. Can the neighboring fracking cause the well to not produce as much? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Yes, a nearby frac can affect a nearby well. It depends upon how the “old” well is affected by the pressure front from the frac and the drainage draw from the new well. And how the operating company chooses to open it back up-carefully is usually the mantra.
The Oppel had 5293.07 in August, 2789.07 in September. They turned it back on in December and it increased from 180.56 Dec, 930.03 Jan, 1799.39 in Feb, 2791 March , April 1101. That is as far as I can see posted online. I plotted the decline curve using those numbers and it is pretty close to what it would have been without the nearby frac. Time will tell as it flattens out.
Thanks for the response,
May was 860, June 718, July 529. Seems like it is getting less and less. Will it ever come back up some?
Carl, probably not. That is pretty much what the normal decline is for a horizontal well. They could come back and re-frac or since that is an “old” well, they “may” come back in and drill new ones parallel to it.
In fact, Devon just filed 11 new cases at the OCC to drill four new wells. See 201805180 for the increase density request. Do you know how to look it up?
What is considered an old well, this one was completed in July of 2016. Is a 2 year old well considered old?
In today’s technology of the horizontal shale wells, 2016 was using older frac technology. The 2018 wells tend to use more fluid, more frac sand and more stages (depending upon the operator. Time wise, 2016 isn’t old, but better techniques are used now. That was why I labeled it “old” rather tongue in cheek.
Thanks for the information.