Maximizing recoveries and understanding associated reserve uplifts through the optimal completion design are major themes across North American unconventional plays. Thus, recognizing where the Montney sits in context to other plays in Western Canada is an integral component in evaluating the competitive landscape for investors and operators. This analysis compares completion trends across North America to highlight the impact of different completion designs on well performance. Additionally, the effect of completion designs on parent-child communication is analyzed. An overview of the industry regarding proppant intensity (lbs/ft) and the lateral length is presented, followed by an in-depth statistical analysis on the Montney and Deep Basin plays in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WSCB). The parent-child well analysis highlights how operators in the Montney Formation can maximize resource recovery while mitigating well failure. The study finds proppant intensity is the driving force behind the rate of change in the industry. However, larger completions can increase associated risk with offsetting well failures as plays move further into development mode. Our results suggest operators can maximize resource recovery through increased completion intensities and minimize parent well failure by moving toward pad completions.
The Montney Formation, a Triassic siltstone that contains multiple stacked zones, is one of the most actively drilled plays in Canada. With the upstream oil and gas industry becoming increasingly competitive, it is imperative to understand where the Montney sits among its peers. Analyzing trends across North America, proppant intensity levels increased in recent years in many of the key resource plays in the U.S. However, operators in Canada tend to be more conservative and have yet to adopt similar completion designs. This study analyzes completion trends across North America and focuses on parameters such as proppant intensity and lateral length. A statistical evaluation of completions in the Montney and Deep Basin plays shows the effect of each parameter on EURs, and the parent-child analysis on the Montney Formation examines the risk associated with frac'ing offsetting child wells.
