Monthly Features

A look at how policy, future workforce perception, and industry standards will shape energy companies in the near and distant future.

Early field tests suggest chemical treatments may be able to significantly increase production from unconventional formations.

Fracturing reservoirs effectively can be like boxing. Moving in close enough to land a powerful punch often means a fighter has to take some hits. To effectively develop all the productive rock in a lease, new wells are drilled as close as possible to older ones, making frac hits inevitable.

After a drop in drilling activity in recent years, the Haynesville shale has become a hot area for natural gas production in the US, and companies are looking to bolster their positions in the area.

The effect of frac hits on production economics is becoming more important as a result of the high-speed drilling in the US shale sector. Recent research reveals the financial and recovery risks involved if well spacing results in well-to-well interference.

When fracturing slowed last year in the Marcellus, companies holding produced water they did not need for fracturing paid other operators to take it. It provided a cheap source of fracturing water then, and in the future, water trading could reduce the high cost of shipping water.

Antero Resources has built a huge plant to turn waste water into fresh water and salt for sale. The $275-million investment in West Virginia is the most tangible indication of how operators in the Marcellus are pushing water reuse.

Petroleum salaries are showing increases again after 2 years of decline.

Winners of the 2017 SPE International Awards are announced. Recipients will be recognized during the Annual Reception and Banquet at the SPE ATCE in San Antonio.

One tech company is using a unique approach to building custom apps for the oil and gas business.