shut-ins

As Hurricane Francine bore down on the central Louisiana coast, production in the Gulf of Mexico took a hit.

The Norwegian platform was taken off line as a precaution after an undersea earthquake shook the area.

Repairs to hurricane-damaged West Delta 143 platform are progressing ahead of original schedule.

Damage reports and spill issues surface as operators work to bring production from the GOM back on line.

Based on the early results from mass shut-ins of shale wells, it did not harm long-term production and it paid a short-term dividend with more oil flowing in the days after restarting.

Oil sands producers predicted they could reduce production by 300,000 B/D by turning down steam injection. This will test methods to reduce, rather than stop, injection to avoid the damage caused by rapid cooling in some wells.

When oil demand vaporized, oil sands producers cut 300,000 B/D of production from wells using steam injection to produce bitumen. It is a huge test of something they have long been reluctant to do—turn down in-situ production when prices plunge.

The good news is 95% of the oil companies in Texas are expected to survive 2020, which means there is a lot of bad news to endure.

The Permian Basin is now influencing the upstream water market on the way down, while many questions swirl around the implications of unprecedented shut-ins.

New commentary from the SPE Reservoir Advisory Committee (RAC) provides key high-level insights on the potential consequences of long-term shut-ins on conventional and unconventional reservoirs.