美国油井重新压裂作业正在兴起

对现有页岩井进行重新压裂作业的成本比钻新井成本低40%

重新压裂作业还可以帮助美国页岩钻井公司进一步增加现金流

据美国油价网6月27日报道，路透社报道说，由于页岩生产商寻求在避免大举投资新井的情境下提高产量，美国的油井重新压裂作业正在兴起。 

重新压裂作业似乎是调和股东们对更高回报的坚持和联邦政府在供应紧张时期提高石油产量的呼吁的一种方式。供应紧张导致原油和成品油（主要是燃料）价格双双上涨。

根据路透社报道，现有井的重新压裂作业的成本比钻新井的成本低40%。一位水力压裂行业高管告诉路透社，重新压裂作业还可以使现有井的产量增加两到三倍。 

尽管基准油价大幅上涨，但由于设备、劳动力和原材料的普遍短缺，提高了生产成本，经济性对页岩钻井公司来说已经变得非常重要。路透社援引得克萨斯州卡伦石油公司发布的数据称，这一数字比一年前增加了约20%。

重新进行压裂作业还可以帮助美国页岩钻井公司进一步增加现金流，这将比更高的股息更让股东们高兴。 

根据沙特拉赫杰资本银行最近的一份报告，今年第一季度，美国页岩生产商从每口井获得的现金从去年第四季度的23美元上升到34美元。  

路透社报道指出，这仍远低于页岩钻井公司在2020年第一季度每口井获得的51美元，但补充称，这仍“在油价较高的情况下提供了足够的缓冲来提高生产水平”。

过去12个月，美国原油价格上涨了约40%，但美国国内石油日产量仍比2020年初的创纪录的1280万桶低约100万桶。

李峻 编译自 美国油价网

原文如下：

U.S. Shale Drillers Begin Re-Fracking Existing Wells

Oil well re-fracking is on the rise in the United States.

Re-fracking of existing shale wells can cost up to 40 percent less than drilling a new well.

Re-fracking could also help U.S. shale drillers boost their cash flow further.

Oil well re-fracking is on the rise in the United States as shale producers seek to boost production without making significant investments in new wells, Reuters has reported.

Re-fracking appears to be a way to reconcile shareholder insistence on higher returns and calls from the federal government to increase oil production at a time of tight supply, which has led to higher prices for both crude oil and refined products, chiefly fuels.

According to the report, re-fracking of existing shale wells can cost up to 40 percent less than drilling a new well. It can also double or triple the output of an existing well, one fracking industry executive told Reuters.

Economy has become important for shale drillers despite much higher benchmark oil prices because of widespread shortages of equipment, workforce, and raw materials that have increased production costs. These are up about 20 percent from a year ago, according to Callon Petroleum, a Texas-based company, as cited by Reuters.

Re-fracking could also help U.S. shale drillers boost their cash flow further, which would make their shareholders even happier than higher dividends.

According to a recent report by Saudi bank Al Rahji Capital, cash per well for U.S. shale producers rose to $34 per barrel in the first quarter of this year, from $23 per barrel in the last quarter of 2021.

This is still much lower than the $51 per barrel that shale drillers got in the first quarter of 2020, the report noted, but added that it is still “providing enough cushion to boost the production levels amid higher oil prices.”

U.S. crude oil prices have gained some 40 percent over the past 12 months, but domestic oil production remains about a million barrels daily below the record 12.8 million bpd the U.S. produced in early 2020.