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Following a rigorous research and development program, Aberdeen-headquartered casing and completion technology business, Deep Casing Tools, has launched a completely new, unique tool to the well construction market. The mechanically lockable Drill Pipe Swivel has been developed, tested and brought to market by the firm’s in-house engineering team. Using their extensive industry knowledge and experience, the team have created a unique and innovative tool which addresses the challenges inherent in landing completions and liners at target depth. The patent pending tool has been robustly tested across a range of settings and circumstances. In addition to life and workshop testing, the Drill Pipe Swivel has also been tested in tension, under compression, and under a severe dogleg, and for extended periods of time. Throughout this process, the ...

National Oilwell Varco (NOV) has announced the signing of a frame agreement with Equinor for the provision of IntelliServ Wired Drillpipe to outfit their global fleet of offshore drilling rigs. This agreement is based on the success of recent field deployments of version two of Wired Drillpipe that have demonstrated the value of high-speed telemetry in multiple applications across their fleet of working rigs. The initial agreement is for three and a half years with five, two-year extensions. “We are delighted to see accelerated adoption of NOV’s proprietary Wired Drillpipe in the global drilling market,” Clay Williams, Chairman, President and CEO of NOV, said. “As the industry places further emphasis on drilling automation and optimization, high-speed telemetry, which allows data to be ...

Verus Petroleum is moving on to a new phase of growth, having secured a 12-fold increase in its production – from 1,500 to 18,000 BPD in less than a year – through drilling and key acquisitions in the UKCS. The private equity backed independent operator has recently completed three significant acquisitions; an interest in the Babbage gas field acquired from Premier Oil on 6 December, on the back of completing transactions to acquire Cieco Exploration & Production and Equinor’s Alba field interest in November. These three deals, each with an economic date of 1 January 2018, were funded by a combination of equity, existing cash reserves and debt. Equity has been provided by HitecVision, the majority-owner of Verus. Together with the drilling of ...

Halliburton has released the Illusion Spire, the first fluid-efficient dissolvable frac plug. This offering expands on the capabilities of current dissolvable plugs, but with a larger internal diameter and less mass for greater efficiency. In the unconventional market, the time to bring a well on production is critical. Traditional plug designs can result in sub-optimal plug conveyance and excessive fluid volumes. The company designed the Illusion Spire technology with a water-saving element so that operators can pump faster, resulting in reduced completion time. The reduced plug size also drives quicker and more consistent dissolution time. “Our goal was to develop the industry’s most advanced frac plug that delivers increased efficiency to help operators reduce rig time and save costs,” Mark Dawson, Vice President ...