Cross-basin assessment of refracturing activities, treatment practices, and candidate-selection criteria across major U.S. shale plays

Refracturing existing wells instead of drilling and completing new wells has emerged as an attractive strategy in the United States, particularly under challenging economic conditions. This study provides a comprehensive cross-basin assessment of refracturing activities and treatment practices across seven major U.S. shale plays: Bakken, Niobrara, Marcellus, Permian, Eagle Ford, Barnett, and Haynesville. The analysis focuses on temporal and cross-basin refracturing patterns, fracturing-fluid systems, treatment frequency, and literature-based candidate-selection criteria. FracFocus data for more than 130,000 wells completed between 2013 and the end of 2019 were screened to identify refractured wells. Fracturing-fluid systems were classified as slickwater, linear gel, cross-linked gel, hybrid, or “Not Reported” based on reported chemical additives and fluid composition. Following data processing and screening, approximately 1,200 refractured wells were identified across the studied shale plays. The results show that hybrid fracturing fluids were the most frequently reported fluid system among the analyzed refracturing treatments. The Niobrara exhibited the highest observed refracturing activity, followed by the Bakken, Eagle Ford, Marcellus, Permian, Barnett, and Haynesville. Repeat refracturing was relatively uncommon, with most identified wells undergoing only one refracturing treatment. These findings characterize historical refracturing practices and demonstrate notable variations in treatment activity and fluid-system selection among major U.S. shale plays. Candidate-selection criteria reported in previous field, experimental, and modeling studies—including cluster spacing, well spacing, proppant distribution, fracture orientation, production response, and reservoir properties—are also synthesized to provide engineering context for the observed practices. These criteria are presented as literature-based considerations and were not directly evaluated using the FracFocus dataset. Because production response, estimated ultimate recovery (EUR), and economic-performance data were not analyzed, the observed treatment frequencies should not be interpreted as measures of refracturing effectiveness or success. The study provides a cross-basin benchmark of historical refracturing practices and identifies opportunities for future integration of FracFocus records with production, completion, reservoir, and economic data to support more quantitative refracturing assessment and candidate selection.