Operators and service providers predict greater use of microseismic as the industry moves to pad drilling and batch completions. Is microseismic about to shake loose? The technique is best associated with the early days of the Barnett Shale and the advent of horizontal drilling and multistage fracturing. However, microseismic predates the Barnett and had actually moved toward commercialization in the Piceance Basin a little over a decade ago. But the technique came of age in the Barnett as operators and service companies scrambled to understand what was happening underground during the fracture stimulation process. That said, market penetration for microseismic, at an estimated 5% of horizontal wells, remains low today. Hart Energy's Market Intelligence survey program canvassed the industry in August for a status report on microseismic. "We drill five to six wells utilizing microseismic for each 50 to 60 wells drilled," a mid-sized Oklahoma oil and gas operator told Hart Energy surveyors.
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