Prototype Development and Testing of Internal Drilling Device for ICS

Core drilling has been a central part of petroleum exploration drilling for many decades. Extraction of rock core samples from subsurface formations provides essential information about the reservoir potential and rock properties and is of vital importance for analysing the reservoir and planning field developments and drainage strategies. However, innovation and new service offerings have been limited in this segment of the oil and gas industry. Some substantial challenges still adhere to conventional core extraction methods and technologies. These include a considerable time lag between drilling of the geological formations and the downhole logging of formation properties and time-consuming round trips to change between core drilling and conventional drilling equipment. CoreAll is working on significantly upgraded core drilling technology that will address these challenges. A research and development project that focuses on the development of an instrumented core drilling assembly is near completion: The new technology will include several sensor packages for the measurement of formation and fluid parameters while drilling and the real-time transmission of data to the surface. The current development phase focuses on testing and implementation of an internal drilling device that will realise the considerable cost-saving potential of a bottom-hole assembly that can be used for both coring and conventional rotary drilling. The project is financed by the Research Council of Norway, Lundin Norway, DEA Norway, and Spirit Energy.

Opprinnelig konsept har blitt kraftig endret fra prosjektstart til prosjektslutt, og fremstår nå som betydelig mer solid og med høy sannsynlighet for tilfredsstillende teknisk funksjon. Verkstedstesting av prototype har så langt vært en suksess, og det forventes at dette vil føre frem til en kommersiell utgave av teknologien i løpet av 1-2 år. Foregående fase av prosjektet (Intelligent Coring System) ble tildelt prisen Spotlight on New Technology Award ved Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) i Houston, TX. Herværende prosjekt var del av en søknad som ble finalist (plassering 2-4 av 172 søkere) til prisen Breakthrough Technology of the Year ved årets ADIPEC-konferanse i Abu Dhabi. Prosjektet har også resultert i en ny patentsøknad klar for innlevering og vurdering i desember 2018. De mest vesentlige delene av prosjektet er uført i Norge, og har bidratt til å opprettholde flere arbeidsplasser i perioden.