Gruy Petroleum Management Co., a subsidiary of Magnum Hunter Resources Inc., Irving, Tex., on Monday said it has formed a strategic alliance and capital investment with internet technology company Aurion Technologies Inc., of Dallas. Gruy will use remote monitoring devices on producing oil and gas properties to obtain real-time well data, transmitted through the internet by Aurion. The data will allow personnel to efficiently monitor and control production.
Under terms of the agreement, Gruy will install about 2,000 monitoring devices on certain of the properties it manages. Some are owned by Magnum Hunter, and others are operated for third parties. Aurion's data center, located in Dallas, will manage the daily communication of information from the fields and make it available through the internet to Gruy field offices in Shamrock, Midland, and Gainesville, Tex.; Hobbs, NM; Oklahoma City; and Taylor, Ark.; and to company headquarters in Irving, Tex.
The devices will enable Gruy's petroleum engineers and field operating personnel to more efficiently monitor and control daily oil and gas production.
The equipment to be installed on these properties include plunger-lift controllers, pump-off controls, storage tank and separator monitors, electronic flow measurement devices, and other sensory monitoring equipment.
As part of the deal, Gruy is also acquiring a minority stake in Aurion, with warrants to expand that position as Gruy further deploys Aurion's remote monitoring units throughout its operated properties. And Magnum Hunter Pres. and CEO Gary C. Evans will join Aurion's board of directors.
"The use of the new technology will give our operating personnel the opportunity to obtain 'real time' well data in a format that will allow us to more efficiently manage labor-intensive producing properties," says Evans.
By using this technology, both companies believe that they can achieve significant operating efficiencies for upstream oil and gas companies and reduce the actual lifting cost for the Gruy-operated wells in addition to providing critical well data in a more timely manner for supervisors.
Gruy is one of the country's largest oil and natural gas property management companies, overseeing ownership interests in more than 3,000 properties and operating 2,255 wells in the US Southwest and the Gulf of Mexico.