GE Oil & Gas and Sharewell Energy Services, a Houston-based supplier of directional drilling solutions for the oil and gas industry, have signed an agreement that gives GE exclusive worldwide rights to sell Sharewell’s proprietary electromagnetic telemetry (EM) technology. The agreement was announced yesterday, January 28, at the GE Oil & Gas Annual Meeting in Florence, which draws industry leaders from around the world.
GE will sell Sharewell’s Electro-Trac EM Measurement While Drilling (MWD) technology as part of GE’s MWD portfolio, enabling customers to expand their businesses into areas where EM MWD is applicable and to improve operating efficiencies by offering telemetry rates six times greater than conventional mud pulse based MWD systems.
“The new partnership moves Sharewell’s advanced EM MWD telemetry technology to the next level by combining GE’s global support network and best-in-class downhole sensing technology to offer customers a more complete solution in key global markets,” said James Junker, general manager of GE’s Downhole Technology business . “The agreement allows GE to offer an industry-leading compatible product to the large installed GE customer base and to attract new customers to GE MWD systems.”
The Electro-Trac EM system includes a rugged downhole assembly consisting of a gap-sub antenna package, an electronic assembly and a battery package. The system contains no moving parts, enhancing operations. The surface system includes a power amplifier for two-way communication with the EM tool. The technology is particularly suited for drilling applications where mud-pulse technology is problematic, such as underbalanced drilling.
Basic research for the development of the data fusion technology was done under a cooperative grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, as part of the “Deep Trek” initiative. The goal of that program was to develop technologies that lower the cost and improve the efficiency of drilling and completing deep wells. Sharewell’s data fusion system has completed nearly 700 commercial wells to depths of more than 15,300 feet.
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Press Release, January 29, 2013; Image: Sharewell