DOHA: With research concluding up to 40 percent savings in operational costs for unconventional wells in the United States, the Middle East must innovate their energy strategy to remain relevant, according to Accenture.
Accenture’s new report, Achieving high performance in unconventional operations: Integrated planning, services, logistics and materials management states that oil and gas operators in the United States can reduce the costs of constructing, drilling and completing unconventional wells, as well as the overall time it takes to complete them, by up to 40 percent through better planning and management of logistics, contractors and materials.
For particularly high performers, these could mean costs reductions of $1.3m to $2.6m, on a $6.5m well, and much more for the low performers. Operators can achieve these savings by adopting a more integrated planning process, better management of service contractors, and improved logistics and materials management for fresh and reused water and installed equipment.
“Our global research team has found that operators of the Eagle Ford Shale model in the top quartile spend about $6m per well, some still struggle to deliver wells for twice that amount,” said Omar Boulos, managing director, Accenture in the Middle East. “To generate the maximum savings and efficiencies, operators need to carefully balance their investments in technology, continuous improvement and people, and in the low-margin environment of unconventionals, trade-offs will need to be made. For example: Is investment in new rig technology a better choice than offering incentives to your service provider to ensure consistency of crew?”
Technological developments in unconventional exploration in the United States could also have serious consequences for the downstream industry in the Arabian Gulf.
The Peninsula
