ComboCurve: Workover Economics

ComboCurve: Workover Economics

Workover Economics

ComboCurve is a great tool for frequently encountered Operations and Production workflows. You can use it to calculate the incremental (delta/wedge) benefit for doing a WO vs. doing nothing. If you have multiple WO options, you can compare those simultaneously and easily determine best path forward via our dashboard. You can consider the affects of SI on well economics and volumes.  When you want to model the risks of a workover or program, but don’t have many of the details, you can use our Risking models to get a broader understanding of the potential outcome.


How to Calculate Incrementals

To see the delta $ amount between base case and a second case, you can create an incremental case in the scenarios. Example of when this is helpful is if you’re considering whether to WO a well or just do nothing and keep it producing as-is. Keep in mind that this option is most helpful if you only want to see the delta $ amount between cases and not the absolute value. It will give you the wedge between cases. Ex: Uplift or return to production case minus the base case or do-nothing case. If you want to see the full cash flow dollar amounts for both options, running a combo is likely a better option.

Creating Incremental

Example - Adding Incremental to single well case

  1. Start in the Scenarios module, with your base case or do-nothing case as the well of focus. 
  2. Assign the economic assumption models to base case
  3. Once done making those assignments, hit the “Create Incremental” button in the toolbar above your table. 

  1. A copy of your base case well with all the same assignments will appear in your table. This new row is your incremental case. You’ll notice a new column appears titled “Inc”. The incremental well has a “1” in that column and the original well has a dash. 

  1. To differentiate the incremental well economic output from the base case, you’ll need to assign a few different economic assumptions to the new well. Ex: for do-nothing vs. workover, you will likely have different forecasts, capex, and maybe dates or expenses for each well.

  1.  Click Run Scenario to set up your report. Reports tab Aggregation and Combos are not necessary in a single-well incremental case.
  2. Run your reports and you'll see the results
  3. Your metrics and BFIT results are the incremental value of the workover, aka the additional value brought by the decision to WO. 


Adding Different WO Cost in CAPEX for Combos

A great way to compare multiple WO options at one time is with a combo. 

  1. Go to the top of your Capex column in the scenario table and click the three dots. Then Choose CAPEX. 


  1. Once in the pop-out menu, make your first WO option capex model.
  2. Click in the category cell to choose the type – this will typically be either Workover or Artificial Lift. There is also an option for Abandonment if you’re considering that. 

  1. Add in your Tangible & Intangible costs. Keep in mind these units are in thousands. 
  2. Decide your criteria option for when you want the expense to hit. 
  3. Then name your new model and hit Save As. Keep in mind that when choosing a name, you can use these models in other projects, so be concise but descriptive. 


  1. Make as many Capex models as you have options for your Workover.
  2. Now you’re ready to create your CAPEX qualifiers. 
  3. If there will be different post-WO well flow volumes for each WO option, you’ll also need to make forecasts and a qualifier for the Forecast category. 
  4. Once you create and assign the models to all your qualifiers, you’re ready to set up your WO combo. 
Note: for more information on qualifiers and combos see ComboCurve: Qualifiers, Combos, & Sensitivities.


Modeling Shut Ins

Modeling SI time is important for WO and completions programs. You can reflect SI periods in the economic scenarios Operations Model without needing to re-forecast. 
For example, you can model a 1-week SI for WO, RTP at a 10% increased volume for 2 months, then return to the forecasted production rate. 

Go to the top of your Operations column in the scenario table and click the three dots. Then Choose Operations. Once in the pop-up menu, create your Operations Model by - 
  1. Select your phase to SI, choose Dates and add your planned WO SI dates to Start and End
  2. For an increase in post-WO production, choose something >1.0 for your Scale Post-SI (this example is 1.1)
  3. Decide your criteria for when you want the higher flow to end, either Economic Limit of the well or a specific date
  4. You can also choose yes or no to have the Fixed Expenses and Capex continue to hit during the SI period
  5. Then name your new model and hit Save As. 

For detailed explanations of the options for SI in economics in the Operations tab, please see ComboCurve: Operations.


Applying Risking to WO

You can also apply a broader risking to your WO program if you don’t have individual well details or need that granularity. For more detailed information about Risking see ComboCurve: Risking.
Note: Units are in percent and can set greater than 100.


Volumetric Risking

This is a great way to account for the chance of a well that comes back online higher or lower than expected post-WO. There are a few approaches to this adjustment, including the more direct volumetric or sales basis or via a more indirect well count.

Well Count Risking

This is great for situations where you would like to account for wells not producing anymore regardless of if there is an active WO program or not (ex: frac hits, wellbore integrity issues, large multi-well leases, etc.)

CAPEX Risking

This is a good option if you have only a rough estimate of workover costs, but also want to account for some variability. Ex: extra parts needed, unexpected wellbore integrity issues, tubing needs replaced instead of repaired, etc. 

Expense Risking

This is a good option if you want to model OPEX cost changes. Ex: Lease Operating Expenses, Takeaway costs, or Water Disposal increase. There are many Category options notable for WO modeling purposes such as “Total Fluid”, “Fixed”, and “Water Disposal”.


Combo Visualization - Deciding which WO is best

Combos have a great visualization option in the “Reports (Beta)” tab that is particularly helpful for seeing which WO option has the best economic results.

After you run your report, click on the “Reports(Beta)” tab and hit the green generate button under the One-Line Summary.


Once PowerBI generates the reports dashboard, you'll be able to se customizable data analytics on your results. Click on the “Combo Comparison” and/or the “Combo Comparison Well-by-Well” the  tabs at the bottom and you’ll be able to see each Workover option side-by-side in graph form. The Volumetrics, Cash Flows, etc. are customizable via the drop-downs/selection boxes and can help you decide which WO makes the most sense for your program.

Video Walk Through



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