DENVER—The industry has gotten better at producing from shales. Paradoxically, drilling and completions are more complicated.

Shale production has been made more efficient with the introduction of new technology and approaches to development, but options for optimization have made operations more difficult, speakers said during the “Developing Unconventional Gas Plays” panel on June 14 at the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTeC).

“The industry has really gotten better” at producing oil and gas from shales, said John Howie, president of Tellurian Production Co.

He said improved technology and approaches have helped the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimate recoverable resources in the Haynesville alone to be more than 200 Tcf, compared to the 2012 estimate of 50 Tcf.

“This thing keeps growing,” he said about the Haynesville.

In 2007, there were 244 rigs operating in the Haynesville, as opposed to 70 in April 2023, he said.

“It’s hard for me to conceive of 244 rigs running on the Haynesville,” Howie said.

Even with 70 active rigs, production in that area has tripled, he said.

“With 70 rigs, we’re doing about as well at generating gas as we were doing about 10 years ago. The industry is clearly getting more efficient,” he said.

Even so, production varies. Some factors include completed lateral length, stage spacing, fluid intensity and proppant concentration, he said. Sometimes geology and geography are factors because it may not be possible to “put together a land position to drill a 30,000-foot lateral,” he added.

Due to its deep, hot, corrosive and abrasive nature, Howie said, “the Haynesville is probably the most challenging basin to drill and complete wells in.”

David Jones, vice president of reserves at Chesapeake Energy Corp., said, “every single day, we are learning more about the reservoirs.”

And something that “looked like a shale play” has become “more and more complicated,” he said.

Parent-child interactions and frac efficiency are just two factors that complicate production. Changes in completions approaches have delivered higher production rates, he said.

“How far can you push recovery factors?” he asked.

New technologies make it possible to look at reservoirs and optimize those developments, he said.

“I would say it’s harder today to operate a field than it was 10 years ago with all the complexities,” Jones said.

Jon McEvers, senior vice president of operations at Antero Resources, agreed. He cited the use of local sand for completions.

“Something as simple as that, but that’s extremely complex,” he said. “We’ve pumped it and had success, but had challenges with it, too.”

Growing LNG market

The world will need natural gas “far into the future,” Jones said. “If you don’t have the Haynesville supply, you’re not going to meet the demand in the future coming out of America.”

The growing LNG market relies on supply from the Haynesville, but that area will need 6% to 10% of year-over-year growth to meet demand, he said.

Emerging gas plays and associated gas will also need to play their part in meeting demand, he said. Exploring underexplored plays could help, he said.

“Are there gas plays out there that we need to develop further?” he asked.

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