Wescorp Energy proves seafloor-capable equipment tracking technology

Offshore staff

HOUSTON -- Wescorp Energy says it has proven that the new generation of RFID tags can lie on the seabed of the Gulf of Mexico in 4,000 m (12,000 ft) for four months and be both readable and retrievable.

The company's Intelligent Field Resource Management (IFRM) Solution, linked to Wescorp's NAVIGATOR Process Management services, is an RFID-driven location and tracking solution that tags industrial and oil-field equipment.

The IFRM technology will report such things as exactly where that piece of equipment is, what kind of shape it's in, whether it's functioning at any precise moment, and if it needs to go back for a rebuild, according to Wescorp.

"Cost management is a paramount concern for offshore oil and service companies," says Scott Shemwell, Wescorp Energy COO. "The equipment associated with deepwater operations in places like the Gulf of Mexico is big, expensive, critical to operations and, in most cases, in short supply. An RFID tag, which now can be attached to an ROV operating in the depths of the GoM, can be the key to unlocking important information about that piece of equipment when linked to a suite of process management services, thereby helping to reduce the costs of oilfield operations."

Wescorp Energy is exhibiting its RFID technology at the Alberta exhibit pavilion booth No. 1929.

05/02/2008