The upsized fracture treatment methodology that took hold in the Eagle Ford Shale has failed to catch momentum in the Midcontinent after initial experiments.

Operators had been testing upsized fracks modeled on a technique popular in the Eagle Ford Shale, which involves more stages, packed more closely together and huge volumes of 100 mesh sand—sometimes four or five times the amount of sand traditionally pumped downhole.

However, operators appear to be backing away from the trend, according to pressure pumping service providers participating in a Hart Energy telephone survey. Service providers and operators told Hart Energy surveyors that production results were not materially different enough to cover the increased cost associated with the upsized fracture stimulation methodology.

“We tried some wells with huge sand volumes and closer stages and did not get proportionately increased returns,” a Midcontinent operator told Hart Energy surveyors. “A more moderate approach has given us less expensive completions but good long-term results.”

The fracture treatment method was responsible for “monster wells” in the Eagle Ford Shale, boosting IPs in some cases above 4,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The technique has gained widespread use in the Eagle Ford and subsequently spread to other oil shale regions including the Bakken and the Permian Basin.

While the technique can dramatically increase IP rates, it is not clear how it will ultimately impact EUR, since few wells have been online long enough to provide sufficient data. The question is whether the increase in IP also produces slower decline rates and greater recovery.

Midcontinent service providers added more color to the dynamic shift underway in demand for pressure pumping services in the domestic market. In the Midcontinent, demand for pressure pumping services continues to rise as drilling expands in the Cleveland Sands, the Mississippi Lime—the two regions cited most often—and various Woodford Shale plays, including the Cana Woodford. Consequently, the Midcontinent region has moved from oversupplied with pressure pumping equipment at the beginning of 2014 to a balanced supply/demand market as of mid-year.

This reflects similar changes underway at the national level. The second quarter 2014 saw an unanticipated tightening in supply/demand balance for pressure pumping equipment nationally. In some cases, greater demand in the Permian Basin attracted equipment out of other markets, leading to tighter supply/demand balance. It is now evident that recovery in the well stimulation sector is occurring much more quickly than anticipated by industry observers.

Hydraulic horsepower (HHP) has left the region as one Canadian service provider transferred its Midcontinent crews and equipment to the Eagle Ford Shale during the past 90 days, essentially offsetting the gain from a few providers who rotated crews and equipment into the Midcontinent. Service providers tell Hart Energy telephone surveyors that no one is waiting long for fracture stimulation services currently, although all service providers report being busy.

Service providers estimated regional HHP capacity at 1.75 million HHP, similar to the first quarter 2014.

In terms of well dynamics, service providers cite an average vertical well depth of 8,100 feet in the Cana Woodford and 5,375 in the Mississippi Lime with an average 5,000 horizontal lateral section across the region regardless of play. Operators are using an average 18 stages along horizontal sections. Stage spacing ranges from 200 to 500 feet and averaged slightly more than 275 feet among survey participants while the average number of stages per lateral has dropped modestly from the first of the year. Operators prefer plug and perf as the standard fracturing technique with sliding sleeves largely a niche product used in special situations.

Roughly three fourths of survey respondents expect pricing to rise.

“We are expecting prices to creep up. They have been low too long, and there are some logistic issues and acid shortages. All of this adds to upward pressure on pricing,” one respondent told Hart Energy telephone surveyors.

The region is dominated by slickwater fracks using moderate sand volumes, though acid treatment is more common in the Mississippi Lime carbonate play. Operators are expanding use of geosteering to land laterals in the most optimal portion of targeted formations as well as MWD and LWD services, though most operators are sticking with the “tried and true.”

Sand is the predominate proppant by far—survey respondents said sand represents 99% of proppant—and averages 2.6 million pounds per well. Grades are spread across 30/50, 40/70 and 100 mesh sand.

Operators are deploying zipper fracturing techniques in slightly more than half of all Midcontinent horizontal pad drilled wells.

Contact the author, Richard Mason, at rmason@hartenergy.com