US shale oil production is unlikely to peak before the middle of next decade, but current fracking techniques may be risking the prospect of faster decline rates from tight oil than many are forecasting, a top oil industry event was told this week. New techniques may offer short-lived gains Shale well productivity rates slipping Others more upbeat over late-life declines As the US shale industry continues to chase lower breakevens and boost productivity in the wake of the 2014 price downturn, shale players have turned to pumping much larger volumes of sand and water into horizontal wells. In addition to “bigger fracks”, drillers have also increased the density of their fracking stages in a bid to boost the volumes of tight oil drained from each well. Although the techniques have raised initial flows rates by up to 30% in some wells, the intensive fracking is depleting the source rocks […]