Case Study: an independent operating company boosts Niobrara production with SLB’s Fulcrum cementing technology

Wells cemented using Fulcrum technology outperform nearby wells cemented conventionally by as much as 32.8%

SLB worked with an independent operating company in the Denver-Julesburg Basin’s Niobrara Formation, where the operator wanted to improve hydraulic fracturing efficiency in plug-and-perf wells. The main challenge was achieving stronger zonal isolation to reduce stage-to-stage fluid communication and avoid nonuniform fractures, even with best-practice centralization and spacers.

SLB recommended Fulcrum cement-conveyed frac performance technology to modify nonaqueous drilling fluid left behind the casing and limit interstage fluid mobility. In a comparison against 344 nearby offset wells, the nine Fulcrum-cemented wells delivered 32.8% higher mean first-month oil production, or 26% higher when normalized by proppant per 1,000 ft of perforated length, showing a clear production uplift versus conventional cementing.