At last year’s Developing Unconventional Gas conference, when natural gas prices in the US were at record highs, the goal of technology was to help operators produce as much gas as quickly as possible to take advantage of the high prices.

Even with lower prices today, there is still a focus on initial production rates. But this is tempered with a need to reduce costs.

In a session titled “Technology – Driving Costs Down & Total Recoverable Resources Up,” speakers from major service companies as well as from the Research Partnership to Secure America’s Energy (RPSEA) spoke on the emphasis on technology that underpins unconventional plays today. Bill Coates, president of Schlumberger Oilfield Services North America, noted the importance of shales in the overall energy mix. “Shales are a world-class resource, not our last desperate measure,” he said.

“They deserve our attention and correct execution.”

Coates characterized shales as yesterday’s source rock. They’re organic-rich and low-perm but have abundant gas in place. Their low recovery efficiency requires hydraulic fracturing, making shales, in Coates’ view, “a completion play.”

Beyond these similarities, he added, “there is no such thing as a uniform shale.” It’s important for operators to understand the complexity. But already many technologies have been brought to bear to improve the prospectivity of shales, include horizontal drilling, fracturing, the use of seismic to find natural fractures, and the use of microseismic to monitor hydraulic fracs. Additionally, advances in petrophysics and a better understanding of the reservoir are improving success rates.

A study of production in the Barnett Shale shows the relative slowness of the learning curve. Even after horizontal wells were introduced, production increased only marginally. It wasn’t until horizontal drilling became the predominant technology that the real production spike occurred. The Fayetteville learning curve, aided by gains already made in the Barnett, reached the 1 Bcf/day mark in a fraction of that time.

Because of these technological advances, unconventional gas now accounts for one-third of all US natural gas production. Coates said that if one had suggested five years ago that the country would be “gas-independent” in a decade, “people would have laughed,” he said. “Now there’s a very positive outlook. We shouldn’t apologize for being very good at what we do.”

Marc Edwards, global vice president of production enhancement for Halliburton, echoed these sentiments. While the overall rig count is down, the percentage of horizontal to vertical wells has actually risen since mid-September 2008. As a service company, Halliburton’s focus is to help its clients reduce the cost per Boe through drilling optimization, operational efficiency, and increased recovery. This can be achieved through technological advances.

For instance, modern rotary steerable systems combined with a quad-combo log enabled an operator to drill a well in a high-temperature formation and increase rate of penetration (ROP) by 24%. In another example in the Woodford Shale, a notoriously difficult environment for drill bits, an operator had a record ROP of 30.5 feet per hour and saved almost $200,000 in operational expenditures. Completions technology has been successfully migrated from vertical to horizontal wells, and companies can now perforate and frac without requiring packers or plugs. This saved one operator 15 days in completion time and $100,000.

David Gallagher, vice president of Carbo Ceramics Inc., made a case for ceramic proppants in shale frac jobs. The goal of a proppant is to keep the hydraulic fracture open not only initially but, ideally, throughout the producing life of the well. Conventional sand proppants degrade in high-pressure, high-temperature environments, allowing the stimulated fractures to eventually close up.

Mike Ming of RPSEA outlined his organization’s involvement with unconventional gas. RPSEA was formed in 2005 to direct research in three areas – ultra-deep water, small producers, and unconventional resources. Overall, RPSEA’s research efforts in unconventional gas are intended to increase supply, reduce cost, increase efficiency, and do so in a safe and environmentally friendly fashion. Currently there are 42 inudustry participants in this portion of the project.