Leading international oilfield service company Expro is pleased to announce the successful qualification and field trial of its FlowCAT™ retrofit wireless safety valve. The valve has recently completed a six-month trial in a gas well located onshore Southern Italy.
This success marks the first use of Expro’s award-winning Cableless Telemetry System (CaTS™) in a flow control application.
CaTS is a revolutionary development in the field of reservoir monitoring and control, allowing information to be transmitted in real time to and from downhole instruments without the use of cables. Its two-way transmission capability enables the remote control of downhole instrumentation, opening the path to the radical redesign of downhole completions.
FlowCAT is a fail safe closed safety valve that can be installed in the well’s existing safety valve nipple profile, or by using an alternative suspension mechanism, and is controlled from surface using the CaTS Electromagnetic (EM) wireless telemetry technology.
Installed in December 2008, the 4 ½” FlowCAT valve was deployed into the well using standard slickline intervention methods and, over the course of the six months, was cycled and inflow tested regularly during periods of both production and injection. The valve was seen to perform reliably and consistently throughout the test with no false closure events observed.
Steve Hudson, Expro’s wireless well solutions technology manager, said: “Now that we have proven the reliability of the valve mechanical components and the robustness of the wireless telemetry scheme over an extended duration test in the onshore environment, we are working to finalise the necessary system enhancements to allow us to take FlowCAT to the offshore platform environment. We feel well placed to take FlowCAT to offshore trial in the next three to six months.”
Brian Champion, general manager of Expro’s wireless business unit, said: “The successful qualification and trial of the FlowCAT safety valve marks a milestone achievement en route to achieving our vision of delivering the Retrofit Intelligent Well. Our focus is now on the further development and integration of additional flow control, monitoring and wireless telemetry components to enable the retrofit of instrumentation into complex well architectures, including multi-lateral wells.”
About EXPRO
Expro’s business is well flow management. Expro is a market leader in providing services and products that measure, improve, control and process flow from high-value oil and gas wells. Today’s Expro combines the strengths of its extensive worldwide operations under one Expro brand, in the five marketing areas of: Well Testing & Commissioning, Production Systems, Wireline Intervention, Connectors & Measurements and Drilling Choke Systems.
Expro’s industry knowledge and commitment to deliver, combined with its innovative technology, empowers the company to offer exemplary solutions for its customers. With its head office in the UK, Expro employs 5,000 people in 50 countries, committed to delivering excellence in operations to customers around the world.
For more information visit Expro Group website.
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