Properties of High-Performing Horizontal Wells in the Midland Basin

What do the best horizontal wells in the Midland Basin Spraberry and Wolfcamp tight oil plays have in common? What differentiates them from less productive wells? In this study, we address these questions with data assembled from a high-resolution geomodel and public and vendor-sourced completions data. From 10,064 tight oil horizontal wells, 101 (1%) of the most productive wells by first-year oil production and 101 of the most productive wells by length-normalized first-year production are selected. We compare the completion, spacing, and petrophysical, landing, and fluid properties between the most productive wells and others. Among the discoveries, we find that Wolfcamp A wells are more likely to be in the top 1%, especially those drilled in the carbonate-poor rock. Average hydrocarbon-filled pore volume and oil formation factors still led to high-performing wells. High pressure is an important consideration for Wolfcamp B top producers. All of the best oil producers have low producing gas-oil ratios. The top 1% of wells are usually the first well in the pad to be completed, and they come from above-average pads. The top 30% of completions led to the top 1% of wells more often than extremely intense completions. Operators can apply these results to the further development of the Midland Basin. Specifically, they can prioritize development areas in Wolfcamp A with low carbonate abundance and save costs by not implementing extremely intense completions.