Operators in Permian Basin show the greatest rates of increase in drilling speeds and in drilling efficiencies, according to new research by Enverus Intelligence Research. The research analyzes which oil and gas plays show the greatest rate of increase in drilling speeds, whether well costs correlate with drilling speeds, and how well designs are affecting drilling efficiencies.
Steve Diederichs, author of the report, said Wednesday, “Rigs across major unconventional basins last year were 30 percent more efficient at drilling productive lateral feet per total rig day compared to 2019. In the Permian, the Texas-New Mexico play that produces the most oil in America, the improvement jumped to 35 percent.
“Cost reduction efforts to improve capital efficiency are top of mind for every operator these days. Drilling speed improvements, driven by larger-scale operations and changes to wellbore design, have a measurable impact on well costs, and operators that have the best drilling performance tend to have the lowest costs in a basin.”
The report added, “Drilling speeds are better correlated with the E&P than the rig provider. We see reasonable correlations between faster drilling speeds and lower-cost operators in both the Permian and Eagle Ford.”