A decade ago, it was believed that wells that had been hydraulically fractured would have a short life span, that the oil and gas industry would need to keep drilling to keep output up, and that the oil and gas boom would dissipate fairly quickly. But, recent data show that not to be the case. Production is still increasing despite a slowing in oil and gas rig growth, which indicates that the early skeptics who thought this was a temporary production boom requiring numerous new wells to keep output up were wrong. Rather than drilling in new shale formations, oil and gas producers are finding ways to get more out of the formations they have already found.[1]
