Composite Frac Plugs Optimize Cost, Capabilities In Plug-And-Perf Completions By Matthew Crump HOUSTON-For shale play operators using multistage hydraulic fracturing in their horizontal completions, the slowdown in the frantic pace of drilling and completions activity is changing the economics of zonal isolation. Many operators are shifting their completion designs to the plug-and-perf multizone fracturing method, using composite plugs pumped down hole with water and set in place to isolate zones and ensure that stimulation fluids are directed into a specific zone. By some industry estimates, more than 80 percent of hydraulically fractured wells employ plug-and-perf completions both because of the favorable deployment economics and the fact that the technique enables greater flexibility in designing and pumping stimulation jobs. AUGUST 2015 59