Silixa gets $8m investment from Statoil and Chevron ventures for acoustic fibre

Friday, August 24, 2012

Silixa Ltd, a UK company which develops acoustic fibre optic sensing for wells, including acoustic sensing, has taken an $8m investment from Statoil Technology Invest (STI) and Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV).

It follows an earlier investment from CTV and Lime Rock Partners.

"Within five years, the company has blossomed from a garage start-up into a specialist service company backed by three of world's leading private equity investors from the energy sector," Silixa says.

'We are very excited to make an equity investment in Silixa, which will strengthen what already is a strong cooperation between the two companies', say Sigurd Paulsen, STI's Investment Director.

"In addition to the technology being able to tell us precisely what is going on in the well at every location, we are also excited about its application in other areas of growing importance, such as pipeline and environmental monitoring."

The system can measure the acoustic signal at every metre of the cable, along "tens of kilometers" of optical fibres, with a dynamic range of over 120 decibels. It can also be combined with a temperature sensor.

Applications include seismic appraisal at the borehole, cement evaluation, monitoring fracturing and fracture analysis, flow profiling, monitoring casing leaks, gas lift and electric submersible pump optimisation.

The system has been run on pre-installed fibre optic cables in the North Sea together with Statoil, and used on Chevron's high temperature gas wells to a depth of 18,000 feet.