WASHINGTON, DC -- A Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored technology that allows natural gas and oil explorers to drill safer, more productive wells by using a high-speed, down-hole communications system has achieved a major milestone with the successful testing of a prototype in a full-scale commercial well for the first time, putting the technology, called Intellipipe^TM, on the fast track to commercialization.

“This is the type of innovative technology that will help make sensible use of our Nation’s oil and gas supplies now and in the future,” Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham said.   “Costs in oil and natural gas industries increase exponentially, leaving well operators to guess what they will encounter at deeper depths.   By removing the guesswork, this remarkable pipe technology will make oil and gas wells more productive, which reduces costs and is safer for the environment.”

Intellipipe is able to transmit large bits of data to the surface as a well is being drilled.    About 1 million bits of information -- including temperature, geology, pressure, and rate of penetration -- can be transmitted in a single second, which is unprecedented.    The tool relays data going in the other direction just as quickly, allowing operators to direct the drill bit almost instantaneously and more precisely toward oil- and gas-bearing sweet spots, and away from less productive areas.

The system was developed by Novatek Engineering in Provo, Utah, with funding from the Energy Department.    Since then, the system has attracted the attention of a global leader in drill pipe technology, Grant Prideco Inc. of Houston, Texas, which invested in Intellipipe.   The two companies have formed a joint venture, IntelliServ^TM, to market the revolutionary drill pipe.

To place a new technology in any well is viewed as risky by industry.    The willingness of the well operator and Grant Prideco to test it in a commercial well shows the highest confidence in the technology’s ability to transmit accurate data to the surface and back again, at speeds faster than internet e-mail.

Intellipipe is a drill pipe with built-in telemetry that can operate thousands of feet below the surface.    It has an innovative coupler that is embedded in connections between 30‑foot long sections of drill pipe.   At the end of each section is a tool joint, leading to high-speed data cable.   The coupler permits data to be sent across small gaps between each pipe section through the cable that is attached to an inner pipe wall.

In its first commercial test, about 6,400 feet of Intellipipe were deployed in an Oklahoma well during 500 drilling hours.    It established a high-speed data link with above-ground receivers, paving the way for testing modules to operate with higher-temperature ratings in the lowest portion of the string in a second well, which is now being drilled.

Researchers believe it may also be possible to place sensors at select points along the length of the drill pipe to monitor conditions throughout the wellbore, alerting operators to well-control situations.

Media contacts:
Jeanne Lopatto, 202/586-4940
Drew Malcomb, 202/586-5806