19th Oct 2016 08:22
LONDON (Alliance News) - Highlands Natural Resources PLC on Wednesday said it has concluded its preliminary analysis on data collected over a three week period following the completion of recent testing campaigns for DT Ultravert in the Piceance basin in Colorado, US.
Highlands shares were trading up 32% to 33.80 pence per share on Wednesday morning.
The DT Ultravert technology is used to re-frack existing wells to boost production and Highlands has been advancing the technology with three partners; Laramie Energy, Schlumberger Ltd and Calfrac Well Services Corp.
The tests carried out in Colorado were primarily aiming to test the application in its ability to protect existing wells from bashing, which occurs during fracking operations when the frac fluid of an adjacent well infiltrates the wellbores of other nearby wells - reducing or destroying the production and reserves.
Laramie and Highlands have both faced problems with bashing in the past and therefore agreed to try the technology out on the wells in the hope it can protect them from bashing in the future. Highlands is financing all of the parent well protection costs as part of its research and development and commercialisation efforts related to DT Ultravert.
Highlands said, following analysis, that the testing of DT Ultravert was successful in demonstrating the technology as a "solution" to bashing, as well as enhancing well productivity by allowing companies to re-frack horizontal wells.
Bashing was avoided in both wells that were tested and the group of companies also achieved the desired pressure build-up, which Highlands said was a "critical element of a successful diversion process". The wells tested are owned by Laramie.
"The positive initial results from our first test of DT Ultravert represent an important milestone for Highlands and all stakeholders in this technology," said Domingo Mata, vice president of engineering at Highlands.
"These initial tests answer three key questions: Firstly, that DT Ultravert can achieve significant and sustained down-hole pressure that effectively diverts fluids from depleted areas of the reservoir. Secondly, that DT Ultravert can prevent well bashing. Thirdly, that the application of DT Ultravert can enhance the stimulation of child wells and improve production performance," he added.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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