Hydraulic Fracturing Technology and Reporting Continue to Evolve

Abstract

Management Used commercially since the 1940s, hydraulic fracturing technology has consistently fulfilled its purpose of extending conductive pathways deep into the reservoir and maximizing production of hydrocarbons. Over the years, significant improvements in fracturing technology and technique have been made, and its application has become common. Since the advent of unconventional reservoir development, fracturing operations have increased several times over in terms of numbers of wells fractured, horsepower requirements, and volumes pumped. Today, for projects aimed at commercial exploitation of many unconventional resources, hydraulic fracturing has moved from a desirable option to necessity and, in many cases, the only way to economically produce these plays. Nevertheless, lately the practice has been called into question. Fracturing has been blamed as the cause for a variety of events that concern the general public—from earthquakes to groundwater pollution—and the service industry has not done enough to address these fears. In part, the flames of public fears have been fanned by a lack of transparency surrounding the composition of frac fluids. Service companies have been reluctant to make this information public because they believe it is part of their competitive edge. Service companies and chemical suppliers spend significant amounts of capital and effort developing high-performance stimulation chemistry and they naturally seek a certain measure of protection for the resulting intellectual property. However, there are ways in which disclosure and transparency can be achieved while addressing industry concerns about intellectual property. It should be noted that hydraulic fracturing continues to be the safest and most economical method available for developing unconventional hydrocarbons. And even in the midst of current controversy, the process and the technology must continue to improve and the industry benefit from further optimization. Operators and service companies alike are striving to develop more effective hydraulic fracturing solutions. Their goal is to achieve economic production while using less water, proppant volumes, and horsepower and with fewer trucks in order to reduce emissions. The industry is also highly focused on developing fracturing chemistry with an improved environmental profile. The more successful the initiatives, the more sustainable and internationally transferable these unconventional development practices will become. Some of the immediate topics being addressed by industry include improvements in well integrity assurance with respect to hydraulic fracturing, water volume requirements, flowback capture and treatment, and reporting and disclosure of the ingredients of the fluid mixtures pumped downhole.