American Oil and Gas Reporter - PBIOS 2014 Official Program Guide - 189

Permian Basin Reports
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Technology Enabling Permian Boom
By Ted Griggs
Special Correspondent
The Permian Basin's rebirth as an unconventional powerhouse, nearly a century
after the region kicked off its first fabled
oil boom, has been enabled by advances
in drill bits, rig mobility and drilling
equipment, as well as horizontal drilling
and multistage fracturing techniques perfected in shale formations in other parts
of the country.
Although technological advances have
opened a new world of tight oil resources
in the Permian, consultants specializing
in drilling and completion point out that
the "state of the art" in technology and
established best practices is evolving continually. At the same time, the high levels
of drilling and completion activity place
stresses on both equipment and personnel,
and make the job of recruiting and training
the manpower to drill, stimulate and produce wells a never-ending challenge.
Estimates of the recoverable reserves
in the multiple stacked tight oil plays in
the Permian (which some have dubbed
the "Petroplex Shale") range from 75
billion to 100 billion barrels. While the
gross thickness of other liquids-rich U.S.
shales measures in the tens to hundreds
of feet, areas such as the Midland and
Delaware sub-basins of the Permian
feature a stacked stratigraphic column
with as many as nine target formations
spanning thousands of feet in combined
thickness, which can be accessed with
vertical and/or horizontal wellbores. The
stacked-zone geology offers an abundance
of unconventional oil pays, from the
Spraberry to the Wolfcamp, Bone Spring
and Cline shales.
No wonder, then, that energy companies are flocking to the Permian. According
to Baker Hughes, 563 rigs were drilling
in the basin in the first week of September-all but six of them targeting oil. To
put the numbers in perspective, consider
that the Permian Basin alone has averaged
100+ more rigs drilling this year than
any region outside North America, including the Middle East and all of Latin
America!
Horizontal drilling activity has been

rising even faster than Permian oil production, with horizontal rig counts effectively doubling over the past year to account for nearly 60 percent of all rigs
running in the basin, according to industry
reports.
More Efficient Drilling
Enlo Davis, drilling supervisor at DTC
Energy Group, says that while initial horizontal wells focused on a particular target
such as the Wolfcamp or Bone Spring,
operators have begun exploring opportunities to exploit multiple zones with a
single lateral. However, Davis adds that
efforts to simultaneously produce multiple
zones from multistage completions in
horizontal wellbores are still in the early
stages.
"It is possible to produce from a
number of zones with a horizontal well,
but it has not made sense economically
so far, and the big question is whether
operators will be able to do so efficiently,"
Davis allows.
DTC's clients are using walking rigs,
pad drilling, and tighter well spacing di-

mensions developed in the Bakken to
good effect, according to Davis.
"The rigs can walk 15 feet with the
derrick standing. They can drill eight
wells without moving the steel reserve
tanks," he says. "All this is done in a
closed-loop operation, where you have
no earthen pits to contaminate groundwater."
The walking rigs move those 15 feet
in around six hours, he notes.
"If you had to tear that rig down completely and move it conventionally, it
would take at least one and a half to two
days," Davis adds.
While more and more wells are being
drilled with rotary steerable systems,
using high-performance mud motors to
turn the bit without rotating the drill
string, combined with steerable subs to
orient the drill bit and lightweight "push"
pipe in the lateral section, also have
boosted drilling speeds, Davis says. Another major advance is using new-generation mineral- or oil-based drilling fluids,
as well as brine-based mud systems that
use produced water.

Permian Basin operators are employing walking rigs, pad drilling and tighter well spacing to access more reserves more efficiently. Steel reserve pits and closed-loop operations protect the environment, while advanced oil- or mineral-based drilling fluids
increase rates of penetration. Here, a DTC Energy Group crew prepares to set the subfloor during a rig move.

OCTOBER PBIOS 2014 189

American Oil and Gas Reporter - PBIOS 2014 Official Program Guide

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