Barnett Shale a Stimulating Play

摘要

When it comes to tight reservoirs, the Barnett shale is about as tight as it gets. And it's not enough just to induce fractures to allow the gas to flow, as Barnett drilling pioneer Mitchell Energy discovered after years of applying gel frac treatments to the rock. The gas did flow, but the pricey gel applications resulted in only so-so economics. Mitchell engineers cracked the economic barrier in the late 1990s when they ascertained water fracs performed much the same as the gel fracs while dramatically lowering stimulation costs -and a play was born (May 2005 EXPLORER).