Laredo Petroleum

The technical challenges imposed by tight well spacing and fracture interactions have become a focal point of recent earnings calls between investors and the leaders of several shale producers. The picture of the future is becoming clearer, and there are fewer oil wells in it.

By measuring which tests best predicted the fractures observed at the Hydraulic Fracturing Test Site, Laredo Petroleum developed a method it hopes will improve fracture modeling in other places.

A close look at hundreds of feet of fractured core samples suggest that new fracture models are needed to simulate complicated reality.