A scientific approach will help operators rejuvenate production of their shale wells. The business model for the "first wave" of the shale revolution (2008 to 2014) was built on drilling and fracturing wells as efficiently as possible and, as production declined, often rapidly, constructing even more wells to maintain desired production levels. But when oil prices plummeted last fall, this business model, which required recouping the operator's full capex investment in as little as 18 to 36 months and left up to 90% of a well's potential production untapped, was exposed as unsustainable.
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