This presentation will discuss design considerations, field trials, and completion interdependencies associated with stage length, perforation clusters and limited entry pressures. A reversal of the decade-long trend of reducing stage length and perforation spacing in favor of extending stage lengths will be discussed, along with the relative merits of aggressive limited entry (XLE) as an enabler for successful extended stage length applications. Diagnostic data that challenge the need for XLE, while constraining the required amount of limited entry pressures for effective stimulation distribution for multiple North American Basins will also be presented.

Data from integrated applications of field trials, stimulation distribution diagnostics, and well performance analyses for wells in the Permian Delaware Basin Wolfcamp will be included. This work will demonstrate the value of the integrated application of field trials, stimulation diagnostics, and well performance analysis for improving completions and stimulation designs. The discussion will conclude with an assessment of future opportunities for the extension of stage length dimensions.