Energy Ventures invests $9.9m in 2TD Drilling

Friday, March 30, 2012

Energy Ventures has agreed to invest "up to NOK 57m" (USD $9.9m) in Norwegian drilling technology company 2TD Drilling AS.

2TD Drilling produces an electro-mechanical rotary steerable drilling tool, to use both onshore and offshore. It has a special design which is aimed at "combining lower operational costs with improved maneuverability down-hole, improved borehole quality and reduced non-productive time associated with tool failure."

At the same time, the founders and employees of 2TD Drilling are investing another NOK 6m (USD $1m).

Helge Tveit and Anoop Poddar from Energy Ventures will join 2TD's Board of Directors.

The company was founded by 5 Norwegian drilling experts based in Stavanger and Kristiansand, who have also built up a number of other oil technology companies. Their names are Tom Fedog, Per Olav Haughom, Børge Kolstad, Tore Kvalvik and Erik Zachariasen.

'It is 2TD's ambition to become a leading independent supplier of advanced drilling tools for the oil and gas industry,' said Tom Fedog, chairman and co-founder of 2TD Drilling.

'We believe that we have a highly innovative and unique design for the first product that will allow us to rapidly gain market share."

'Energy Ventures has looked long and hard for an investment in rotary steerable technology that has the capability to transform the directional drilling market,' said Helge Tveit, partner at Energy Ventures.

"Oil and gas companies everywhere are pursuing a highly successful strategy of drilling fewer but longer horizontal wells to achieve the same reserves additions at lower overall cost. Such wells can only be drilled with directional drilling equipment.'

The company was formerly known as Tuteedee.