Heavelock A/S and TECHNI A/S have signed a development agreement for a revolutionary new tool that enables drilling of challenging reservoirs from floating rigs.

A challenge of drilling offshore wells is the “piston effect” downhole that occurs when the drill string moves up and down with the heave of a floating rig. This can be a significant problem during drill pipe connections when the heave compensation system is disabled. In some wells, this piston effect can result in increased risk of kicks and blowouts or permanently damaging the reservoir.

The Heavelock™ system is a downhole tool that works by sensing the movement of the drill string and measuring the downhole pressure. The tool will dynamically and autonomously open up or restrict the flow of mud to compensate for downhole pressure fluctuations. The technology was invented by Professor Ole Morten Aamo at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and has been supported by Statoil since its inception.

“There have been a number of deepwater projects that could not be developed due to technical risk associated with narrow pore-pressure / fracturing pressure envelope. The Heavelock™ system enables drilling these wells,” says Martin Kvernland, CEO at Heavelock.

“We are very excited to start the next stage of the development of the Heavelock™ downhole tool and believe this revolutionary technology will make a significant impact on offshore drilling in the years to come,” says Espen S. Johansen, CCO at Techni. “This is a joint development program that fits well with Techni’s expertise and capabilities.”

The Heavelock™ system is a result of collaboration between NTNU and Statoil and is managed by CoFounder, a venture capital firm. Together with the Research Council of Norway, this strong constellation of partners is developing Heavelock™ to stringent Statoil specifications.

Tags: Heavelock A/S, TECHNI A/S