December 2012
Supplement
Shale optimization improves
The extraordinary impact of unconventional resources on what we do as an industry has quickly moved from a few areas in North America to nearly every country with hydrocarbon resources. I once described my area of specialization as “long, high-permeability pathways in low-permeability rocks” to include both horizontal wells and hydraulic fracturing. These two technologies have merged to result in a sea change in activity. Massive shale projects with complex wells and scores of hydraulic fracturing treatments marry pressure pumping techniques that were born in the 1950s with nanotechnology structured metallic composite frac balls that allow operators to safely implement multiple treatments and then effectively disappear.
