Richard D. Corrie
Richard D. Corrie

02 / Journal

Notes from a long career.

Occasional notes on engineering, the industry's history, and lessons that don't fit in a textbook.

2.1

Entries

  1. 2026-06-05

    Revisiting SPE 71431 — An Analytical Solution for the Optimum Number of Development Wells

    A twenty-five-year retrospective on SPE 71431. The original equation finds the optimum well count (Wo) at the peak of the NPV curve; this review argues for a Near-Optimum count (Wno) that sits inside a financial safety zone — preserving most of the value with materially less capital at risk.

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