American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2023 - 48

SpecialReport: Stimulation & Completion Tech
Those are intriguing questions considering
the huge strides made over the
past decade in completion designs specific
to tight oil plays, limited remaining access
to undrilled core acreage in the Eagle
Ford fairway and the sheer volume of reserves
locked away in the thick, ultralowpermeability
rock.
And it begs the million-dollar question:
Do the economics add up to make refracturing
existing wellbores worthwhile?
If so, how can refracturing be used as a
feasible strategic complement, or perhaps
even alternative in some cases, to new
well drilling campaigns?
Devon Energy has invested significant
effort and resources in recent years
to coming up with definitive answers,
and in so doing, is recording increasingly
remarkable success with Eagle
Ford refracs.
Devon entered the Eagle Ford in 2014
through an acquisition. Initially, its focus
was mainly on primary development
across an inventory with expansive running
room. Over time, as its primary development
program proceeded and drilling locations
were reduced, Devon began shifting
its development focus to secondary
and tertiary recovery.
" Reserve recovery through recompletions
has become pivotal, " acknowledges
Brian Schmitt, Devon's asset and planning
manager for South Texas. " Refracs have
become a meaningful part of our development
program. "
The goal of its refrac program is not
to simply restimulate the existing fracture
network, but critically, to break new
rock. Post-job analysis using advanced
diagnostic tools such as downhole fiber
optic sensors demonstrates that the refracs
succeed at creating new propped
reservoir pathways rather than merely
restimulating existing parent fractures.
Fiber and downhole gauge data show
variable drainage profiles along the
lateral strongly tied to refrac-dominant
fracture intersections.
Results like these leave no doubt that
refracs work from a technical perspective.
But are they worth it from the point of
48 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
view that matters: bottom-line economics?
According to Schmitt, the latter question
has been settled emphatically for
Devon. By significantly increasing EURs
at an affordable cost, he explains, its historical
Eagle Ford refrac projects deliver
strong rates of return. For example, 97%250%
RORs have been observed at the
company's Zgabay project.
Selection Criteria
To identify the best refrac candidates,
Devon Energy has defined specific criteria
to evaluate each well's restimulated upside
potential. Initial refrac projects were
used as learning opportunities to continuously
improve both selection criteria
and post-recompletion performance.
" To date, we have done more than 50
refracs all around our Eagle Ford acreage
position, " Schmitt reports. " For 2024, we
anticipate refracs to continue being a
mainstay in our development program. "
And there are plenty more potential
refrac prospects where those 70 wells
have come from. Devon holds more than
80,000 acres in the core of the Eagle
Ford, primarily in Texas' Karnes and Dewitt
counties. The company says refrac
projects make the most sense in drilling
units that have substantial space between
wells, low recovery factors and initial
completions with large clusters and much
lower proppant concentrations than modern
designs.
In a recent study, Rystad Energy found
that refracs accounted for 2% of the horizontal
well stimulations in the United
States through the first nine months of
this year, or roughly 200 out of 8,900
total stimulations. Most of the refracs,
according to the study, were in the Permian
Basin and involved wells originally completed
in 2018 or earlier.
While refracs now may be a possibility
in all the nation's shale basins, Schmitt
suggests that the Eagle Ford is an exceptional
candidate for them. He says there
are two reasons refracs are becoming an
integral part of Devon's portfolio. First,
the Eagle Ford is mature as shale plays
go, so a lot of the mainstay operators in
the play are locked into positions they
already have consolidated, making it difficult
to acquire new acreage, especially
undrilled locations in the core.
" We are all looking to how we can
maximize our production on our existing
positions, " Schmitt reports.
The second reason is the success of
In the third quarter of 2023, Devon Energy's production averaged 665,000 barrels of oil
equivalent a day, which translates to a year-over-year production increase of 8%. This production
comes from a diverse portfolio that includes assets in the Delaware, Eagle Ford,
Anadarko, Williston and Powder River basins.

American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2023

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