How long in general does it take to fracture a oil and gas well?
We have mineral rights in Dunn County North Dakota and the company drilling completed well around Feb, and according to the report I read on North Dakota website they were going to start fracturing the well. How long can this process take?
October 24th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
There are many factors that can influence the time it takes to frac a well. These rate from the depth of the well, the size of the hole drilled, the makeup of the formation at the well depth (sandstone, limestone, chert, etc) Also, it can depend on what pressure they need to frac it as well as what pressure the formation can take. Other factors include what they are performing the frac with- water, sand, chemical.
The purpose of fracturing a well is to open the well bore at the production zones (gas, oil) to allow more of the product to flow. The actual frac, depending on the various factors above can take a couple hours to a couple days. Once the frac is done, they will usually see if the well will flow on it’s own and what type of production thay can get out of it. This will help them decide if they need to install a pump, freeflow or abandon the well.
October 24th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
The process is very short as far as the actual fracturing process. Most wells can be fractured in one day. However there are several other steps that take place after the process. However red tape as far as environmental and government permits can slow the process. Also depending on what kind of infrastructure is in already in place bringing the (I assume natural gas) to market could take an additional amount of time. Some more specifics would be nice to help give you a time line. Is this a well that is in current production and is being fracked to increase production? Was this well recently drilled and the full intention was to be fracked from the very beginning? If you have been receiving royalties from this well for quite sometime the added return (if any) should be seen immediately. If this is a new well could take several months before you will receive royalties. Also your lease language comes into play on how your payment is set up with the the Lessee