I have a well in Midland County Texas that had a dramatic drop in revenue last month. When I asked the operator about this, they sent this reply - Well affected by Offset frac end of July which caused oil/gas vols to drop and water increased. Shut in for Offset Frac 8/6/24-9/17/24
Does anyone know what this means in English? Is this an indication that the well will stop producing and be plugged?
I’ve had same issue with wells in Oklahoma. In the oil and gas industry, shutting in a well is a common practice used to manage and mitigate the risks associated with hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations, particularly in areas with multiple wells in close proximity. This practice is often referred to as a “shut-in for offset frac.”
There are many reasons. Hopefully an experienced person in this group can assist you.
$0.02
A producing well creates a low pressure area around it as it produces. When you frac another well nearby (at roughly the same depth) some of the stimulation will tend to head towards that low pressure area. Which can mean your existing well gets flooded with frac water. Or maybe even sand.
You can mitigate that somewhat by shutting in the existing well. You can also fill it up with heavy brine (to effectively increase the pressure), or set a plug.
Water usually isn’t a terrible deal, you just have to pump out a bunch of water to get the old production back, which may take a few months. If you get sand in your existing wells, that’s a bit worse. Sometimes the offset frac means your old well actually gets “restimulated” a bit and makes more than before. In general though, getting “hit” by an offset frac is not ideal, but it’s not fatal. The well should produce again, it may always be a bit worse than prior trend.
Sounds like in this case they are producing it and trying to move the frac water to get the prior oil production back. Wait and see.