Given today’s market conditions, refracking in hopes of boosting production from existing wells are prompting service companies to put the technique back in the spotlight.

“We’ve been refracking in essence for a couple of years, and we actually see this as a natural extension with the maturing of unconventional wells overtime,” Jeff Miller, president of Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL), said on a conference call April 20. “What has changed in terms of giving it more energy right now is the current market and access to capital.”

Oil and gas companies are increasingly turning to technology and improved techniques to become more efficient and grow output as low oil prices slowly rebound amid a downturn marked by layoffs, mergers and cost cuts.

Refrack economics are attractive for both Halliburton and its clients, Miller said, before pointing out some of the company’s diverting technologies that specifically address refracking such as AccessFrac stimulation service.

The process, which targets cluster completion efficiency and cluster production efficiency, aims to help optimize proppant distribution for better production performance, the company said. Other technologies seek to identify the best candidates for refracking.

“I do believe we will see growth there,” Miller said of refracking.

He isn’t the only one.

Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB), the world’s largest oilfield service company, also believes the refracking market will expand. Much of the company’s focus lately has been on identifying refrack candidates based on existing completions data and finding the most effective refrack method while keeping costs down.

During Schlumbergers’s first-quarter 2015 earnings announcement, the company highlighted the success of its BroadBand Sequence technology, which can be used to stimulate additional clusters.

The technology was used at one of Pioneer Natural Resource Co.’s (NYSE: PXD) previously fracked horizontal shale wells in the Eagle Ford. The result? The well’s oil and gas production increased by about 120% and 89%, respectively over the first 45 days after refracking, the company said.

The fracturing service also was used for Comstock Resources Inc. (NYSE: CRK) to refrack a well in the Haynesville Shale. Production jumped to 4 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) from 0.5 MMcf/d.

The key enablers are the ability of subsurface experts to identify the right well candidate and the technology, in this case BroadBand Sequence, to divert fracturing fluid into the perforations that haven't properly been fractured in the first place, Schlumberger CEO Paal Kibsgaard explained on a conference call April 17.

He believes thousands of shale liquids and gas wells in North America are refracturing candidates.

“I think you’re talking billions in terms of revenue opportunities over an extended period of time,” Kibsgaard added. “This is quite a significant market opportunity.”

That would provide a much-needed lift for the industry’s service sector, which has laid off thousands of employees in recent months.

Schlumberger, which reported first-quarter revenue of $10.2 billion decreased 19% sequentially, said it planned to eliminate 11,000 more positions bringing its total to 20,000. The revenue decrease was driven by a “severe decline in North American land activity and associated pricing pressure,” Kibsgaard said.

Total revenue for Halliburton’s first-quarter 2015 was also lower compared to last year.

“Total company revenue of $7.1 billion for the first quarter was down 4% year-over-year, significantly outpacing a 19% global rig count decline, and represented industry-leading performance amidst a challenging commodity price environment,” Halliburton CEO Dave Lesar said in an April 20 statement. “Our global customer base has responded by lowering activity levels and seeking price concessions, which has impacted our margins.”

While Halliburton is planning to merge with Baker Hughes Inc. (NYES: BHI) forming the second-largest services company, Schlumberger is prepared to promote a more risk-based contract model. The model would be designed so that the company is paid based on its technology and performance.

“Looking at the industry as a whole, the current financial challenges will not disappear even if oil prices were to recover to the level seen in recent years,” Kibsgaard said. “The industry is therefore forced to seek new ways of working together to reduce costs and create more project value.”

Some companies might take Schlumberger up on a different contract model while others may not, he said, adding that the company would continue working with those who opt for the current way of doing business.

But “this is something that we believe can bring significant value and something that we are prepared to take on [to] put more skin in the game,” Kibsgaard said.

Schlumberger delivered its first-quarter earnings report April 17, followed on April 20 by Halliburton. Baker Hughes is scheduled to issue a news release on its first-quarter 2015 performance on April 21.

Contact the author, Velda Addison, at vaddison@hartenergy.com.