Growth in the Eagle Ford over the last several years has been incredible. However, competition for people, products and technology in the U.S. unconventional plays is intensifying, and other basins are competing for those resources in the Eagle Ford.

“If we don’t collaborate and optimize our productivity on a per-well basis, these resources will be allocated to less mature basins. Mature basins such as the Eagle Ford must continue to focus on productivity and efficiency in wells to stay out in front,” Tammi Morytko, vice president, southern U.S. geomarket, Baker Hughes, said Sept. 16 at the DUG Eagle Ford Conference.

“From a service company perspective, we believe the answer is collaboration at the wellsite and during the planning stage, which is the key to growth and retention of economics for our producers,” she added.

Fit-for-purpose optimization and real-time monitoring of stage effectiveness are factors that can be delivered in many processes and technologies. “I think we can agree it is time for fewer handoffs, more science, more collaboration and superior economic outcomes as a result,” she continued.

Recent trends in large completions, frack volumes and logistical challenges coupled with inflation are causing completion costs to increase. The cost of completions continues to increase and is expected to rise by more than 25% over the next year. On a macro basis, productivity or dollars per barrel of oil equivalency (boe) is flat to declining due to steep decline curves and ineffective fracturing results, she explained.

“A variety of industry reports acknowledge that 60% of frack stages are ineffective. These ineffective stages equate to over $40 billion of annual spend. Improving the performance of those ineffective fracks will result in significant increase in production as well as dollars/boe. That’s what really matters,” she emphasized.

Challenges Facing Industry

With ever-increasing demand for horizontal completion and production capacity, the industry faces challenges in finding enough people, creating enough infrastructure and producing enough sand and water.

“It is challenging to find qualified people. Land drilling has seen a 400% increase in volume and activity for logistics since 2010. Keeping up with supply and moving supply around is a real challenge. Sand and water are continual constraints from the mines to the wellbore. Horizontal frack stages are estimated to increase by 173% from 2010 through 2016. We are certainly constrained to continue to do business as usual,” Morytko said.

“Continued growth in rig activity is straining both the service and E&P companies. Rig counts are not growing out of control, however the intensity, size and length of horizontal completions are driving twice the consumption of people, horsepower and supply. The Permian growth is affecting othe basins due to its pull on personnel and supply,” she continued.

“We’ll see constraints not only growing in the Eagle Ford but other basins unless we develop more infrastructure and get creative to address the personnel, equipment and supply issues that are required to recover these hydrocarbons,” she emphasized.

Meeting Challenges

The U.S. unconventional success has been driven by a great focus on efficiency. The built the current market on a step-change in efficiency improvement, mainly to drilling optimization. However, the rate of change is slowing and incremental improvements will have much smaller economic benefits than previously realized.

“It’s easy for operators to get trapped in a cost-reduction mindset versus focusing on the unrealized productivity gains. We believe we are at a critical inflection point for operating companies. As service companies, we must stand up and help with this change. We feel we must stand up and help with this change,” Morytko explained.

“We feel we must combine our successful approach to efficiency gains with a focus on improved productivity. Our productive improvement on a per-well basis will come from unique applications of completion and reservoir technologies,” she continued.

That brings the emphasis back to collaboration. Improving productivity on a per-well basis will take a collaborative effort as well as service companies applying expertise. “You don’t have to look far to see the incredible advancements in reservoir tools and completion technology. There are tools that allow stage fracture optimization.

“There are tools that collaborate with several diagnostic technologies to tell the whole story and devise a much more fit-for-purpose plan of attack to recover those hydrocarbons. True system-based applications focus on the risk-reward economics aligned around initial production and ultimate recovery,” she said.

“It is all about intelligence and collaboration to yield the right productivity signal for our customers. It is what they need to demand in this environment. There is so much we can offer from collaborating from the start of the project and throughout the life of the recovery process. We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what is possible. Together, we’ll be stronger and create new beginnings for greater profitability for all,” Morytko concluded. “We have to think differently to create new possibilities.”

Contact the author, Scott Weeden, at sweeden@hartenergy.com.