The development of unconventional resources in North America was aided by the readily available infrastructure, water resources, expertise, and a general understanding of potential sweet spots caused by numerous well penetrations. Even with these favorable conditions, an estimated 40% of unconventional wells are uneconomical. This paper provides a retrospective assessment of the Barnett and Eagle Ford Shale plays to highlight lessons learned and the associated value of those learnings.
Introduction
Although horizontal drilling and multistage fracturing (MSF) have changed the economic viability of unconventional resources significantly, such drilling has also encountered a wide range of production variability. This nonideal production performance further leads to consumption of local resources such as water and proppant that are used in hydraulic-fracturing treatments.
