TUV NEL, Schlumberger to build new R&D facility for heavy oil

Offshore staff

GLASGOW, UK -- TUV NEL is working with Schlumberger to establish a new facility for developing specialist multiphase flow meters. The UK government's technology program has awarded TUV NEL funding for the project.

"Heavy oil is the one natural hydrocarbon resource that so far has remained largely untapped," says Dr. Brian, Millington, TUV NEL's operations director. "There are around ten trillion barrels of technically recoverable heavy oil and bitumen deposits in place around the world, but in the past it has simply been too complex or too costly to produce the majority of these resources. However, new methods of extraction, combined with sustained high oil prices, mean that the production of heavy oil will quickly develop around the globe."

TUV NEL's new investment will create the world's first industrial scale facility specifically to research and develop the innovative techniques and technologies that are needed to measure these complex multiphase flows. The facility's first project will use Schlumberger's existing multiphase flow metering systems to model flows and produce a set of generic data. This data will help set the agenda for the development of future flow meters.

"Our multiphase technology is already proven with the oil, gas, and water mixtures produced in many fields around the globe," says Bruno Pinguet of Schlumberger. "We are working with TUV NEL to help establish the required industry specifications for the future generation of specialized multiphase oil flow meters that will be needed as heavy oil production increases."

8/16/2007