In Europe: France, Bulgaria, Germany and Scotland have imposed bans on fracking. Globally, several countries have either banned or restricted frack chemicals. There is a high level of mistrust between fracking companies and the public due to lack of transparency, suspicions of collusion, acid and heavy metal pollution, increase in traffic levels. Further to these barriers, huge quantities of relatively clean water (e.g. from rivers, lakes) are needed to fracture gas shale formations and this threatens supplies. By removing the need for the fracking process, our technology would allow multilateral well completions to be made at a fast and sustainable rate; the Octopus technology will remove or reduce the potential for conflict, and shale gas will become easier for energy companies to ‘sell’.
An alternative solution to fracking is to drill lots of small holes of a main bore to access the gas, but this process is too time consuming as each lateral is drilled separately. This process might take 5-10 days (depending on the sealing level) and must be repeated for each lateral.
Octopus Completions’ current product uses innovative technology to simultaneously deploy hundreds of ‘mini-drills’, which are driven in to the formation by fluid flow from the rig pumps, leaving a full-bore production liner behind. Up to four mini-drills can currently be installed within each joint of casing; each capable of drilling a micro-lateral that creates a production pathway and dramatically increases contact with the reservoir. In a matter of hours, 400 micro laterals can be drilled simultaneously. Laterals are achieved without the need to use acid-loaded fracking fluids and without the use of hydraulic fracturing; furthermore, the spread and distribution patterns can be optimised for the formation being drilled.
Octopus technology has a high potential value to Europe and to the world by enabling sustainable exploitation of shale gas and tight oil and gas. It would also increase profitability of SAGD wells and could easily be adapted for deep geothermal energy resources. We expect for our technology to deliver significant and sustained increases in production from horizontal wells by substantially increasing reservoir contact.
The main objective for the Phase 1 was successfully achieved, this was to create a Feasibility Study report. The overarching objectives for the Octopus project are are to enhance the Octopus technology and demonstrate to the target market the efficiency and environmental improvements our technology offers over state-of-the-art alternatives. We plan for these objectives to be achieved during Phase 2.
