Yields Insights Into More Precise Wolfcamp Stimulations By Teddy Mohle, Kyle Johns, Wei Tian, Alex Darnley and Chris Dempsey HOUSTON-Operators have relied on high-intensity completion designs that include a combination of high fluid and proppant volumes, increased perforation cluster density, and smaller mesh-size proppants. These designs seek to create a complex fracture network and increase the contact area with shale rock. They have helped operators achieve higher initial productivity and improve estimated ultimate recoveries while simultaneously enabling horizontal wells to be drilled at optimal spacing. Because frac fluid recovery and proppant placement ultimately impact hydrocarbon production, engineers need to fully understand frac fluid and proppant distribution within a complex fracture network. The greater fracture complexity created with enhanced completion designs increases fracture surface area for a greater stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) and propped SRV. JANUARY 2020 51