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developing new areas , including testing and delineation of new intervals .” The most recent example of successful organic growth is in the Middle Spraberry . “ We initially began testing this zone in 2018 , and in 2020 and 2021 proved that this area could be co-developed with other productive areas . We focused our development efforts on new acquisitions in 2022 and 2023 but returned in 2024 to continue to delineate and prove up new areas for the Middle Spraberry development and further expand our inventory from this resource .”
Chris goes on to explain how recent innovations have improved production operations . “ Historically , we have used ‘ dry sand ’ sourced from the nearest regional mine and delivered to our Moss Creek asset . In 2024 we shifted to the practice of utilizing ‘ wet sand ’. This has allowed us to source sand at much closer proximity to our assets since it comes from mines near Big Spring , Texas which is approximately ten-to-30 miles from our acreage position . We estimate this will reduce trucking miles by approximately 2.5 million miles per year . Additionally , from an industrial hygiene standpoint , utilizing wet sand effectively eliminates silica dust on site . All in , the usage of wet sand has reduced our sand related costs by over 30 percent , and we do not anticipate any change to production performance as a result of this change .”
Chris continues : “ We are continuing to pilot new artificial lift strategies on our footprint including gas lift , plunger lift and gas assisted plunger lift . New downhole tools are also being tested that are designed to better handle produced gas in our electric submersible pump and beam pump operations . This ensures we are using the latest technology to both maximize and optimize our production volumes .
“ Surge has also invested over $ 145 million in water recycling , pipeline infrastructure and produced water disposal wells . This investment has been key to our highly successful produced water recycling program , which significantly minimizes the need for
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