As Eagle Ford oil and gas producers tighten their budgets and look to new innovations to stay afloat, some are considering re-fracking as a way to cut costs and continue the boom.
Related: Shale Oil: The Sky's the Limit
The Eagle Ford and other shale formations in the U.S. have been the source of an historic oil boom since 2008, but have only harvested a fraction of the available oil, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Re-fracking is when producers work to get more oil out of depleted or under-performing wells by blasting the shale oil deposits with water, chemicals and sand for a second time. This is a very cost effective measure that can be up to two-thirds less than new drilling.
“There’s so much low-hanging fruit. There’s an obvious push for everybody to think about how to achieve more with less.”
efracking certainly has its critics. It is a risky practice and seen as a gamble because if drillers re-frack too closely to an adjacent well, it can damage the other wells.
“This technology is very much in its infancy and it’s not going to be something that’s going to change the game or move the needle at least in the near term.”
Even with the controversy, re-fracking might be the answer for producers to stay competitive. In a recent study of 66 companies, the IHS found that in the first quarter of 2015 they had to write down nearly $29 billion in the value of their assets, which exceeded the total for the full year of 2014. Read more about the Fierce Competition in the Eagle Ford
Read the complete article at houstonchronicle.com