Replying to Avatar El Guiri

In the vast majority of cases no.

Geological settings are completely variable so not a question that has a simple 100% answer. In general, once a reservoir is depleted, the water level within will rise until there is more water production than oil which makes it uneconomic. I've seen some wells re-entered where the operators had tried to produce really fast and ended up producing water but leaving it years and going back in, production was re-established. This is called coning, where water is drawn up to a shallower level around the well bore. Basically there can be outliers and each case is different.

But you actually mentioned reserves rather than wells and in that case, it's more complex still. I have always maintained there's a lot of "stranded pay" in USA where large fields were produced with vertical wells and with certain reservoir types, I think one could drill horizontal wells between them and tap a lot of reserves that have been left behind.

Hope a good enough answer, it's all very variable to be honest.

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elsat 1y ago

Thanks for the explanation.

Sounds like great job security 🤠

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El Guiri 1y ago

most insanely cyclical up and down industry on the planet I reckon. We will always need energy though. The oilfield is still high risk high return!

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elsat 1y ago

🤝🫂

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