By the third or fourth year, production has declined by 90% from initial production levels in fracking wells. Therefore, new wells must be drilled, or existing wells worked over, to continue high field production levels.
The crude price forecast over the next few years is the critical variable in the decision to drill the required new wells, or to work over the existing wells, both of which require significant capital.
Thank you for the insights.
You need to change your description to horizontal tight formation wells.
It is not a function of being hydraulic fractured. We do that in most traditional type fields as well. Most wells in production today, traditional or not, will get hydro frac sometime in their production lifetime.
You are describing the shale plays with horizontal laterals, which are not the only wells hydro frac'd.