Angel White
Associate Editor
HOUSTON, May 3 -- A group comprising the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, Norsk Hydro ASA, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, and Expro International Group, Aberdeen, will field test later this year a well-testing technique, said Trevor Burgess, Expro group director of marketing and technology, at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston.
The project, Burgess said, involves a closed-chamber test that uses fluid identification sensors and allows for the "fluids to be pumped back into the formation." He did not disclose the field to be tested.
Well testing and commissioning is currently a $3.2 billion market, Burgess said. He added that well testing has shifted to subsea and gas wells. "Subsea wells are doubling, supported by a growing fleet of deepwater rigs."
He said development wells constitute the largest and fastest-growing segment of the well cleanup market, since the number of exploration and appraisal wells are declining.
Contact Angel White at [email protected].
