Offshore staff

ABERDEEN, UK -- Expro International Group PLC has deployed its Cableless Telemetry System (CaTS) to monitor the reservoir pressure and temperature response behind casing in an offshore platform well. This application of the CaTS technology was installed in the Woodside Energy Ltd. Operated Thylacine field in Otway basin off Victoria in southeastern Australia.

CaTS allows real-time information to be transmitted to and from downhole without a direct cabled connection in the well. Its two-way transmission capability enables the remote control of downhole instrumentation, allowing the redesign of downhole completions.

The CaTS system was installed in a Thylacine well in July 2006 as part of a lower completion assembly that provided zonal isolation between immediately producible reservoir layers and a separate zone, potentially producible in the future. CaTS transmits data from the reservoir zone being monitored to a pick-up higher in the well, then onwards to surface using Expro's wireless telemetry technology. The design uses a CaTS receiver on the unmanned platform topside to collect, process, and store the data. This data then is transmitted from the receiver to the client's onshore facility.

"We have performed reservoir monitoring behind casing using CaTS in onshore wells previously, but this latest installation marks our first installation in the offshore platform environment," said Brian Champion, Wireless Well Solutions general manager.

12/13/2006