Hydraulic fracturing experts
for breach of contract suit

The need

Plaintiff attorneys for a manager of direct energy investments were facing a breach of contract suit against a pressure pumping company with which the client held a hydraulic fracturing (fracking) contract. Due to the complex issues involved, this case required two experts, a chemical engineering expert and a petroleum engineering expert. The suit alleged that the defendant used faulty hydro fracturing processes. These practices caused damage to the plaintiff’s wells and resulted in reduced gas production.

Our approach

In communications with the client, we learned that the chemical engineering expert would need to be able to opine on the effects of temperature and pressure on the gel compound used in the fracking process. The petroleum engineering expert would need hydro-fracturing experience in “tight formations” and be able to assess and opine on the damage to the well caused by the type of fracking process used. We began to search our broad network of experts to find the precise fit in both instances.

The experts

We found an expert who had a degree in chemical engineering as well as a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in chemical and petroleum engineering from top universities. He had been a professor for over 30 years in a prominent university’s petroleum and geosystems engineering department. Additionally, he ran a consulting company focused on providing engineering services to the oil and gas industry and had co-founded two companies in the energy and petroleum space that he successfully sold. Finally, he was widely published in his research on hydraulic fracturing and was a named inventor on over 20 patents.

Additionally, we identified an expert on petroleum engineering who had a BS and MS in the subject from a well-known university. In his 30-year career in the oil and gas industry, he had developed a broad expertise working as an engineer at several prominent companies and served as a consultant to the industry specializing in improving gas recovery in “tight” reservoirs. He was president of his own company which had invented a software program to aid in hydraulic fracture design. Finally, he had published numerous papers on reservoir engineering and served as a testifying witness on several cases in the oil and gas industry.