New method could save the industry billions every year. Since 2016 the inventor and CEO of Hydrophilic, Trond Rolfsvåg, and his team from among others Aarbakke Innovations and NORCE, have turned a simple idea into an advanced tool.
With the Hydrophilic probe, volume estimation of new oil discoveries can be completed quicker and more environmentally friendly than with today’s methods.
When an exploration well finds oil, the volume of the reservoir must be ascertained in order to decide whether the new discovery should be developed or abandoned. Today, this is achieved by drilling delineation wells. This process can take years and is both very expensive and time-consuming.
—We have calculated that the Hydrophilic probe can potentially reduce the number of delineation wells on the Norwegian shelf by approximately ten each year. That translates to savings of more than 2 billion NOK. Globally, the potential cost savings are estimated to be ten times that of Norway. We will also be able to turn a discovery into a producing field much quicker than today, because we will have better information a lot earlier, says Rolfsvåg.
A simple idea made real by technology
While the technology behind the tool is advanced, the idea is simple. By measuring the water pressure inside the hydrocarbon reservoir, Hydrophilic can calculate the depth to the oil/water contact, which in turn reveals the volume of the reservoir. This type of measurement has never been available to the industry before. But in the laboratories and workshops of NORCE and Aarbakke Innovation, the patented Hydrophilic probe has grown ever more advanced, capable of performing ever faster and more accurate measurements.
Enormous environmental savings
An oil rig uses on average around 35 tons of diesel a day, taking about 30 days to drill a delineation well. With the data Hydrophilic has been given, the energy companies will, by using the new technology, be able to cut around 220 rig days a year—on the Norwegian shelf alone.
That means a yearly reduction of around 32 000 tons CO2, 400 tons NOx, and 8700 tons of drill cuttings. In addition, the use of drill chemicals will be reduced by about 44 000 tons. The actual environmental savings will be even higher because these calculations don’t take into account the reduction in pollutants from supply vessels and helicopters.
Great interest in the market
As of June 2020, Equinor, AkerBP, OMV, Wintershall DEA, and Vår Energi are all involved in the technology as investors and supporters. In addition, NORCE and Aarbakke Innovation are partners in the project.
-We are now opening up to new investors who are interested in financing the commercialization of this exciting technology, and invite people to read more on our website, says Rolfsvåg. During the Research Council of Norway’s Demo2000 in 2019, the project achieved the highest possible grades, and was awarded development funds. The tool is set to be field tested in 2021. When the Hydrophilic probe is launched to the market, the technology will help make the Norwegian oil industry, already one of the cleanest of its kind, even more environmentally friendly, and even more profitable.
