Interview With Steve Bowen, Well Enhancement Services

Hi Steve, Thanks for taking time from your busy schedule!
1-Would you tell our readers what your company does?
Well Enhancement Services increases production by creating horizontal laterals in oil and gas wells. Our laterals extend from the wellbore out 300 ft into the producing formation. We create these horizontal laterals in all directions and at multiple operating depths with typically three or fours laterals per depth. In other words, we open up the well in order to allow oil and gas to move more freely to the wellbore, thus increasing the drainage radius. We believe that we can allow wells to drain an addition 15% of the oil that is in place.

2-Is this proprietary technology, if not how do you differentiate yourself from your competition?
This is a proprietary technology that was first patented in 1995. We hold a US license of the technology and operate only in the US.

3-What type of properties or wells work best with your process?
We look for producing properties with tight or fractured formations. In other words, any well would be a viable candidate for our procedure if it could benefit from increased permeability, i.e. the ability to allow fluids to flow more easily through rock, or where extending a drain hole out a couple hundred feet would allow a well to reach an untapped reservoir. We work particularly well in water floods since the water drive pushes the oil to the wellbore nicely. Lastly, we can operate in wells with a casing size as small as 4.5".

4-Could you ever use acid with your jets as your pulling your laterals out of the formation?
That’s a good idea and one that we have already tried. However, we learned that our nozzle doesn’t have enough flow rate to place sufficient acid in the laterals to make a difference. It only takes about 3 GPM at high pressure to cut rock. Besides, the acid in the wellbore had the added effect of damaging our down-hole equipment, so we recommend a separate acid treatment after we are done with the well.

5-Any fear of hitting the "Ocean" with your laterals?
There is always a fear of hitting the "ocean" down below; however, we have never had that unfortunate experience. We have operated as little as 25 ft above the ocean and have never had a problem. The jetting hose is very rigid at pressure, so the nozzle will want to continue straight unless it hits something hard at a sharply oblique angle.

6-How many completions have you done?
We have done about 50 wells over the last 1 ½ years.

7-What is the average increase in production? How long does it last?
The typical increase in production is 3 to 5-fold. We have seen as much as a 10-fold increase in production. Large percentage increases in production usually are due to jetting past wellbore damage. Increases in production usually also have a direct correlation to the quality of the well. In other words, a 10 BOPD well will usually provide a much better net increase than a ½ BOPD well.

8-Cost Analysis?
We base our pricing on the depth of the well and on the number of laterals created. A typical price range will be $25,000 to $35,000 ranging from 4 laterals to 8 laterals. We can jet as many laterals in as many zones as desired. The operator will need to provide the workover rig and should also budget in appropriate post-lateral treatment such as an acid treatment or frac job.

9-Does your company also lease property and jet laterals for production dollars?
Our primary business model is to purchase wells for our own account and then enhancement them for the increased production value. We put our money where our mouth is since we apply the technology to our own wells. Since we don’t have enough wells to be dedicated to our own account, we will do fee for service on third-party properties.

10-Biggest Success? Wells you don't like to work on?
Our best successes are those 10-fold increases. The best successes are on newly drilled wells, wells participating in a water flood, and wellbore damage cases. I don’t like to work on wells that are not suitable for the technology. Wells of that nature are those that are highly depleted with no down-hole pressure and no potential for increased drive away from the wellbore.

11-Any future improvements slated for the technology?
Our near term plan is to go deeper. Our current equipment will work nicely to 4,500 ft. We can easily operate at 9,000 ft with a larger unit sized appropriately.

Thanks, and good luck in your drilling this year!