American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2015 - 144

ConventionCoverage: Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners

Technology Keeping Producers Afloat
SAN ANTONIO-Refractures are a
useful tool in an operator's arsenal, but
Chad Peterson, vice president of the south
region for Schlumberger, cautioned the
Texas Independent Producers & Royalty
Owners Association that candidate selection was a critical part of the process
of improving conductivity with the reservoir and increasing oil production.
"A dog is a dog. If a well only produces
100 barrels a day from day one and you
want to refracture it because you think
you will get more oil, that is unlikely,"
warned Peterson, the keynote luncheon
speaker for TIPRO's summer conference,
held Aug. 6-8 in San Antonio. "Reservoir
quality matters. You should be looking
for those wells that had high initial production early in their lives."
Before it entered the refracture market,
Schlumberger formed a consortium in
2014 with Eagle Ford Shale operators.
"The idea was Schlumberger and the
companies would share data, and all the
parties would have a better understanding
on how to attack this," he related.
Peterson said early analysis of the 15
refractured wells used in the consortium's
study showed stimulations were reaching
parts of the formation untouched by early
fracturing efforts, and were adding reserves
without additional drilling costs.
"The heart of everything we do is to
understand the rock and the fluids in the
reservoir," he said. "It is critical. Applying
technology, with a focus on efficiency,
definitely will improve overall economics.
The final score card of each well comes
from its production. We need to study it,
learn from it, and repeat or improve it."
Refracturing is only part of the oil
field service industry's business. Peterson

said all sectors were under fiscal pressure
because of low oil prices. Across North
America, service companies are laying
down rigs and laying off employees. He
pointed to the Eagle Ford as one bright
spot. Its production costs of $30-$40 a
barrel provide sufficient after-tax rates of
return to satisfy investors, he reported.
The oil and gas industry has done a fantastic job of delivering more output with
less input, Peterson praised. He described
how operators were drilling wells twice as
fast as only a few years ago, while technological advances had pushed well laterals
out to 10,000 feet, and allowed for sharp
increases in the number of fracturing stages.
Technology continues to help operators
survive in this period of reduced costs,
Peterson advised. "We need to focus on
technologies-some already out there,
some that are being developed, and some
that are being thought about," he said.
"We have to make sure we have the
pipeline full of technologies, and we must
focus on technologies that are keeping
the efficiencies we have today."
Technology Panel
Bob Sherwin, managing member of
Bionic Soil Solutions USA and Bionic
Soil Solutions International, discussed his
company's new technology that he said
had the potential to ease access to remote
sites. Also participating in the conference's
innovation and technology panel were
Brent Halldorson, chief operating officer
for Fountain Quail Water Management
and chairman of the Texas Water Recycling
Association, and Dave Milam, executive
vice president of product management
and marketing for WellAware.
According to Sherwin, road-building

Raymond Welder (left), chairman of
the Texas Independent Producers
& Royalty Owners Association, visits
with Chad Peterson, vice president
of the south region for Schlumberger, after Peterson's keynote
speech at TIPRO's summer conference, held Aug. 6-8 at the Hyatt Hill
Country Resort in San Antonio.

144 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

technology used by oil and gas operators
typically has been costly, expensive to
maintain, likely to prove impassable in
rain, and damaging to vehicles. The first
bionic soil solution was created by an
Australian about 25 years ago, but although
it was used in 40 countries, its success
depended on soil type. He said there were
more than 2,000 types of clays, as well as
a number of sand and silt soils, which
come together in countless combinations.
"He was looking for something to
work in every type of soil, if there is such
a thing, by finding a common denominator," Sherwin said. "That common denominator comes from the top three things
in the earth's crust: oxygen, silica and
aluminum. They combine to form an aluminal silicate. This bionic soil product
turns the aluminal silicate into a gel. Basically, it turns soil into rock."
In its improved product, Bionic Soil
uses lithification and combining accelerators
to shorten the million-year-long process
of turning sand into sandstone or clay into
slate in 24 hours, he said. His company
now is working for two producers to build
roads to well pads, Sherwin added.
"When you look at road expenses, it
is not just the cost of the roads or maintaining them," he said. "It also is the
shredded tires, the suspensions and the
dust going into the engines. When you
cannot get the oil out of the field because
of rain or mud, it gets very expensive.
These Bionic Soil roads become hydrophobic. Not only can they handle
heavy weight loads, but when the rains
come, they don't turn to mud."
The soil additive is shipped either in
liquid or dry form. Certified contractors
mix it with soil and water, and apply it to
specified soil depths, depending on expected weight load, Sherwin described.
Within 24 hours, the mixture hardens to
a smooth surface.
Water And Data
Water recycling has become mainstream in the Texas oil and gas community,
asserted Fountain Quail's Halldorson. He
said part of its acceptance came from the
state's very supportive regulatory environment. The Texas Railroad Commission
introduced revised regulations in 2013
that gave producers more flexibility in
their water management and reuse.
Several years ago, operators were not

American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2015

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