WorldwideMerrick Systems and BJ Services Announce Success in a Downhole RFID test
HOUSTON, TX – (April 30, 2007) – In an oilfield first, upstream information management leader, Merrick Systems, and global oilfield service leader BJ Services announced a successful completion of a pilot of downhole RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags. RFID tagging of valuable oilfield assets has immense value across manufacturing, inventory and supply and transportation. Merrick Systems RFID information solution has proven to be a much better approach to asset management.
Ian Binmore, the Director of Drilling Products at Merrick Systems says “Wells costing anywhere from one to one hundred million dollars to drill and complete are typically managing all critical drilling assets in a manner similar to how they were doing it when Spindletop was drilled over one hundred years ago – by paper and pencil.” The idea of using RFID technologies to manage drilling equipment has been around for many years with various companies trying different approaches. Merrick’s key differentiator is that it works by taking a new approach to the design and materials used to create commercially reliable downhole RFID tags.
Rick Coleman, a Tools Asset Manager and Process Control Specialist with BJ Services, says of the tests “My main purpose with this test was to make sure the product would work in a real world environment.” He continued to say that BJ Services “Ran them [the tags] in the field, sixteen hundred plus hours in the hole, 343°F under every type of fluid situation you can think of, including acid. [We] have not had a failure…it looks like the re-runable (downhole) tags will work.” Coleman added that “[these tags] would be an excellent way to track our equipment”. 0000 The patented technologies developed by Merrick Systems will have a sweeping impact on how downhole operations are performed, how equipment control systems are applied, and how components are selected, supplied, and managed to upstream oil and gas operations.
Merrick’s Rig-Hand™ and Tool-Hand™ software products work in conjunction with the unique identifiers contained in the extremely rugged RFID tags for surface and downhole drilling equipment to effectively track and manage equipment through inspection, transportation and operations. Binmore states, “Five years from now tagging of surface and downhole drilling equipment will likely be the norm. The industry has been waiting for a system that would work. Simply put, ours does.”
Merrick’s Rig-Hand™ system is comprised of RFID tags, industry certified intrinsically safe ruggedized handheld computers with built-in tag readers and software modules for handhelds, PC’s and inspection stations. It is designed for fast, accurate and consistent collection of information on downhole equipment for drilling, and workover and completions operations. The Rig-Hand™ solution contains a wealth of information about components but is also configurable to accommodate virtually any user-specific information that is desired to be tracked.
Tags utilizing newly developed and patented RFID technologies are embedded in downhole tubulars such as drill pipe, casing and other BHA (Bottom Hole Assembly) components. Rig-Hand™ provides rig operations, inspection services, storage yards and the transportation sector with immediate access to component information. Accurate dimensions, certifications, inspection records, or even sales and use history is accessible. Information collected from the downhole components is seamlessly available to both Rig-Hand™ software modules and to a variety of existing 3rd party applications via WITSML data output.
About Merrick Systems, Inc.
Merrick is energizing technology for the business of upstream oil and gas production and drilling. Merrick’s product offerings extend oil and gas producing asset life, lower lifting costs, increase production, and optimize operations. Merrick is headquartered in Houston Texas with a global presence in the major producing regions. For information visit us at OTC booth #1372 or contact Merrick Systems at 1-800-842-8389 or www.merricksystems.com.
