Learnings From The Cardium Formation

The conventional regions of the Cardium formation have been developed since the 1950’s using vertical wells. However, in the past ten years, with the advancements in drilling and completions technology, operators have been targeting the tight oil regions within the Cardium formation exclusively through long-reach horizontal wells with multi-stage hydraulic fracturing.
Several operators are active in exploiting the Cardium formation for tight oil. Tight hydrocarbon resources are normally developed on a specific grid pattern with uniform spacing between the wells. The most applied well spacing in the Cardium formation is 400 m or four wells in a 1-mile by 1-mile area (640 acres). Some operators have applied a denser well spacing of 6 and 8 wells in a 1-mile by 1-mile area (250 m and 200 m inter-well spacing, respectively).

In this presentation, we will focus on two different areas within the Cardium formation where well spacings of 4, 6 and 8 wells in a 1-mile by 1-mile area have been applied near each other. We will look at the well performance, parent-child interference and recovery factors obtained from these different development strategies. The local geology, reservoir characteristics and hydraulic fracturing parameter differences will be discussed. At the end of the presentation, we will attempt to answer the questions – what are the main drivers behind well performance, is more the merrier when it comes to recovery factor and well count or is there a law of diminishing returns, what is most economic development strategy? Although set in Western Canada, the learnings are applicable in the exploitation of tight oil reservoirs globally.