Furthermore, even though the initial capital costs may be less, the yields reduce as the field ages. So it may be a closer wash more than you are stating.
“I think our terminology may be cross-wise. You are correct that ROI on earlier capital expenditure are greater due to lower initial capital costs., but I still stand by an API report (I’ll keep looking for it) that stated that the overall shale breakeven point for a “project” in it’s entire life is $50-$80 / bbl range.
Furthermore, even though the initial capital costs may be less, the yields reduce as the field ages. So it may be a closer wash more than you are stating.
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I do not know how to make this more clear to you:
Capital costs following the initial drilling and completion of a well are negligible.
Any API report you might find is likely to be for a new capital project(read drilling new wells), which will have a higher crude price threshold for BE economics than the current oil price.
This is not rocket science, but old-fashioned oilpatch economics.