US Land Operators Report Increasing Drilling & Completion Efficiencies in 2019

US land oil & gas operators continue to report increasing drilling & completion efficiencies in 2019. For example, US land operators report drilling wells in 2019 in 5.3% fewer drilling days while drilling laterals that are 1.4% longer than in 2018. In addition, US land operators report increasing the number of hydraulic fracturing stages per well by 7.3% while decreasing the number of completion days by 23.9% versus 2018.

These drilling and completion efficiencies are allowing US land operators to accomplish more with less and help oil production rates remain high while drilling rig count and hydraulic fracturing crews decline.

These findings are based on 171 personal interviews with over 110 operators in US land.

Technology, innovation and operational improvements are helping to drive these efficiencies. Use of zipper frac operations remain high in the US and comprise approximately 72% of completions while the use of new surface iron/frac iron are also helping to drive time savings in the field.

Drilling efficiencies in the US continue to be driven with improvements in drill bit performance, rotary steerable systems and mud motors. Use of drilling advisory systems also continues to drive efficiencies and consistency into the drilling operations.

Kimberlite will continue to track US land operators drilling and completion performance and technology adoption trends for 2020 and report updates.