ON PAR Costs and efficiencies make the Viking a top tight oil play in North America

摘要

The crushing pressure of $40-something WTI oil prices has forged a stronger, more resilient resource industry. Advances in multi-frac technology—faster drilling, quicker completions, longer wells, more stages, more sand, better practices—coupled with painful cuts to wages and staff slashed break-even tight oil production to less than $30/bbl in some of the best plays in North America, including the Viking Formation in southwest and central Saskatchewan. Unlike big name U.S. resource plays, the Viking is relatively shallow—about 750 metres in the areas that see the most activity—so it's cheaper to drill but also requires a lot of wells to tap a significant volume. That reality shapes the kind of company that does well in the play and how it goes about its business.