Simultaneous fracturing (simulfracs) treats multiple wells simultaneously, splitting operations among wells to minimize downtime in stimulation operations. Two recent studies compared simulfrac operational efficiencies to zipper fractured completions (zipperfracs) in the Permian and Bakken basins. The results showed that in either region, simulfracs were faster (typically 30%) and cheaper (typically 3-6%), but only when treating rates per well were comparable. A study of microseimic responses of simulfracs versus zipperfracs suggests that stimulation effectiveness from simultaneous fracturing treatments may be lower, with smaller observed stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) in the simulfracs based on microseismic imaging. This may be due to the increased efficiency of the simulfracs, with the lower microseismicity related to shorter leak-off time between stimulations.

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