The AX-S system, on board the Havila Phoenix vessel, completed its final commissioning successfully on a subsea well in a fjord (Onarheimsfjorden), in Norway, in April. Many major milestones were achieved and preparations are now under way for its first commercial well intervention job in the North Sea.

All operations during the commissioning were carried out safely without any incidents. All the subsea packages were fully deployed twice in a complete stack-up and 34 tools runs were performed on the well deploying a variety of down hole equipment including callipers, production logging, CCL, gamma ray, deep set plug, crown plugs and wireline tractor.

More than 40 potential customers attended the commissioning and witnessed the successful demonstrations.

Dave Shand, AX-S Managing Director, said: “After more than seven years of development and innovation and $200million investment in technology, it is testament to the hard work of our AX-S team and the backing of Expro that the AX-S system is now ready for business.

“The final commissioning of this innovative well intervention system is an epic milestone and we are delighted that we have delivered a leading edge solution to the oil and gas industry which will significantly change how operators approach well intervention globally.

“The feedback we have received from this major milestone shows that AX-S has been recognised as a novel, safe, cost efficient and efficient way of performing well intervention.”

With its industry experience and innovative technology, Expro offers tailor-made solutions for its customers across the lifecycle of their wells.

Expro has been commended in the oil & gas industry sector of the annual 2012 Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) safety awards.

Expro has received awards from RoSPA for the past eight years, achieving a gold award in 2005 and then winning the Oil & Gas sector award in 2006 and retaining it in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

In 2010, Expro received a coveted Gold Medal in recognition of six years of industry-leading health and safety performance and commitment. In 2011, Expro was also commended in the oil & gas industry sector.

David Ford, Expro’s group HSEQ manager, said: “Receiving a RoSPA safety award is an outstanding achievement. We are very proud to be recognised eight years in a row which rightly demonstrates that safety is constantly at the top of our agenda globally. Expro’s safety culture is testament to the hard work by all our employees.”

David Rawlins, RoSPA awards manager said: “The RoSPA awards programme provides well-deserved recognition for the winners and spurs on other organisations to raise their standards of accident and ill health prevention. We congratulate Expro on its success and encourage it, and all our other winners, to remain committed to safety and health, an approach that is well recognised to be good for workers and the bottom line.”

Expro’s CaTS advanced reservoir testing (ART) service will be utilised by two operators in Brazil to provide high value, accurate and reliable pressure and temperature data from four suspended deepwater subsea exploration / appraisal wells.

 In addition, the ART service will also be used by operators of two wells in the North Sea, with one well located west of Shetland with the other located in the Central North Sea.

CaTS is a revolutionary development in the field of reservoir monitoring and control that can be retrofitted into existing wells. The system transmits data to surface in real time using the well’s casing or tubing as a conduit for the signal to transfer along.

Advanced reservoir testing is a special application of the CaTS technology that enables abandoned or suspended exploration or appraisal wells, zones or pilot holes to be cost effectively converted into long term monitoring assets. By installing CaTS when abandoning or suspending a well it is possible to release the rig early, whilst continuing to gather high value pressure and temperature data for extended periods beyond abandonment.

As CaTS communicates using an electromagnetic signal it is not influenced by cement plugs or bridge plugs, meaning that the well can be permanently abandoned using conventional abandonment equipment and procedures and the pressure integrity of the well abandonment is not compromised.

Brian Champion, Expro’s sales director for the CaTS product line, said: “We are delighted with these contract awards which mark a significant milestone in the industry’s recognition of the value offered by CaTS for advanced reservoir testing. The CaTS data is proving valuable in identifying reservoir boundaries during the extended build-up period and also to check for reservoir connectivity with adjacent assets.”

 “I believe that these awards are the beginning of an accelerated market uptake of the CaTS technology in the exploration and appraisal stages of the well lifecycle.”

Expro’s Chief Executive Officer Charles Woodburn said: “We are increasing our presence at this year’s OTC, as we demonstrate our continued investment in developing the technologies to meet both customer and industry needs.

“Delegates attending our technical presentations will see that we continue to enhance our portfolio to position Expro as a global provider of well flow management from exploration and appraisal through to abandonment. We are committed to investing in the growth strategy of our core business and OTC is the ideal platform to showcase the wealth of knowledge and expertise we have globally.”

On display will be Expro’s subsea test tree and lubricator valve models as well as Expro’s latest drill stem testing model. Expro’s cableless telemetry system (CaTS™) team will also take centre stage at the booth as they celebrate winning $10mn of new contracts globally.

Expro will also be on hand to discuss the commissioning of the AX-S™ well intervention system which took place in a Norwegian fjord earlier in April.

Delegates will be able to watch technical presentations on Expro’s products and services from Monday to Wednesday on the top deck of the booth.

Deepwater developmentsExpro’s range of landing string assemblies and subsea control systems are specifically designed to minimise risk in subsea completion and intervention operations and achieve secure well status in the event of an emergency. The latest landing string technology development to be offered by Expro – the ELSA-EA Express system – incorporates a number of enhanced safety and efficiency features, further building on Expro’s market-leading position in subsea safety systems.

Expro subsea experts will be on hand to discuss this development, while the company’s industry-first 15,000psi deepwater electro-hydraulic subsea landing string controls will be on show. This deepwater control system was deployed in the Gulf of Mexico, where Expro successfully installed and commissioned multiple deepwater wells on the flagship Tahiti and Blind Faith projects.

A model and 3D animation of Expro’s AX-S deepwater intervention system will also be on display for discussion with booth visitors. AX-S brings safer, deeper, faster and lower cost intervention to wells in water depths up to 10,000ft. Its aim is to deliver a full range of wireline intervention services in deepwater wells at substantially less than the cost of using a rig.

 Exploration & Appraisal Following significant investment in expanding its drill stem testing (DST) capabilities, Expro can now offer a full range of solutions across the exploration and appraisal phase of a well. Already one of the largest well testing companies in the world, the introduction of this DST capability across Expro’s operating regions provides its customers with the complete package of technology and specialist data services from reservoir to disposal, including tubing conveyed perforating, data acquisition, surface read-out through cableless telemetry, fluids sampling & analysis, compact well testing solutions and enhanced flow measurement. This builds on the solid track record for delivering DST that Expro has built up over more than a decade in North America.

Wireline Intervention

Expro’s cableless telemetry system (CaTS) is a revolutionary development in the field of reservoir monitoring and control that can be retrofitted into existing wells. The system transmits data to surface in real time using the well’s casing or tubing as a conduit for the signal to transfer along.

Advanced reservoir testing (ART) services are a special application of the CaTS technology that enables abandoned or suspended exploration or appraisal wells, zones or pilot holes to be cost effectively converted into long term monitoring assets. By installing CaTS when abandoning or suspending a well it is possible to release the rig early, whilst continuing to gather high value pressure and temperature data for extended periods beyond abandonment.

Another technology on display will be Expro’s recently-introduced downhole video camera, HawkEye IV, which can store 1,000 images and offers operators a cost-effective way to view downhole problems and improve understanding of wells through enhanced data. A range of Expro’s cameras, calipers and logging tools will also be on show, to assist in demonstrating Expro’s global wireline intervention capabilities and its ability to offer
BOP and Riser inspection services.

For more information, visit the Expro booth, 4241, Reliant Centre, Houston, April 30th – May 3rd 2012.

The project, in the Chibata region, began in April 2011 and included the deployment of a complete well testing kit, using computerizing control for oil and gas ration data.

“This is an important land production well in Brazil, and Expro prides itself on delivering the highest quality test results,” said Sergio Zubelli, Expro regional director.

“Given the environmental sensitivity of the region and implications of the project, we were determined that there would be no compromise on safety or accuracy.”

Expro’s well testing kit measures performance of customer wells, providing data to plan optimal production. The kit includes safety systems, solids management systems and multiphase flowmeters. Expro has more than 35 years experience of providing well testing services to the oil and gas industry worldwide. Its versatile surface test packages and expert onsite fluid analysis capabilities, combined with superior service quality and technological innovation provide the most accurate measurement of customer wells. 

Through its well-established facilities in Sao Mateus, Expro has a long-standing history of working to Petroleum National Agency (ANP) requirements and adhered to these throughout the project.

“The success we have had is due to our team of professionals who offer great experience and provide our customers with the highest level of support,” Zubelli said. “Our partnership with Petrobras has helped us open a new market, and we hope further projects will develop next year from our success on the Chibata field.”

This accolade follows on from previous awards bestowed by Cameron, including gold, silver and bronze awards and also an award for continual improvement in quality performance.

Expro Connectors & Measurements has an established global reputation for the manufacture and delivery of market-leading subsea connector and measurement technology. This award, by one of Expro’s largest customers, clearly demonstrates the ability to continually provide high quality market leading technology to its customer base.

Expro product manager Stuart Hughes commented: “This is a great achievement by all who have manufactured and delivered product to Cameron Leeds with no defects for more than two years. This demonstrates excellent control in both procedures and work practice. Product quality is Cameron’s number one priority and I would like to personally thank everyone at Connectors & Measurements for their continued support in delivering quality products.”

Expro’s C&M business is a market leader in the design, manufacture, assembly and installation of subsea electrical power and data connectors and temperature and pressure sensors.

The C&M business had revenues of approximately US$119million in the calendar year 2011. The C&M business employs approximately 450 people in Ulverston in the UK, Bømlo in Norway, Houston in the US, Niterói in Brazil and Johor in Malaysia.

Expro Chief Executive Officer, Charles Woodburn, said: “We received several unsolicited indications of interest for our C&M business last year, allowing us to explore strategic alternatives that led to the optimal outcome for our shareholders, customers and employees. We are very pleased with the result of the sale process.  We will look to use the net proceeds from the sale of the C&M business to repay existing borrowings and support our strong position within the industry by further investing in the growth strategy of our core business. We wish Siemens and everyone at C&M every success in the future.”

The transaction is conditional upon receipt of approval from competition authorities in Norway.  Completion of the sale is expected to take place in May 2012.

The Innovator Award, which was presented at a ceremony in Aberdeen on Thursday (15 March), recognises excellence in innovative technological solutions developed in the UK for the offshore energy sector.

AX-S is a unique, remotely-operated, inherently safe and cost-effective intervention system, operated from a mid-sized construction vessel.  AX-S will change the way in which oil and gas companies can access and intervene on their subsea well assets at any water depth down to 10,000ft.

The award comes only five months after signing its first long-term frame agreement with Total E&P UK Ltd to further advance the technology.

David Shand, AX-S managing director, said: “Subsea and deepwater well intervention are increasingly important as operators look to extend reservoir life and maximise production. Fundamentally AX-S reduces risk, increases recovery, improves safety and minimises environmental impact to subsea well operators worldwide.

“After seven years of dedication to the development of AX-S, it is extremely rewarding to be recognised by the industry for our efforts.”

With its industry experience and innovative technology, Expro offer tailor-made solutions for its customers across the lifecycle of their wells.

Expro will undertake analysis of more than 100 PVT studies in a contract award with Gazprom in the Badra field situated close to the Iranian border. Gazprom is critical for Expro as it has positioned Expro in the central part of Iraq.  It is also the first PVT contract for Expro with Gazprom.

Two further contract awards with large operators in the south of Iraq involve further PVT sampling studies and laboratory work.

Expro will utilise its Iraqi capabilities as well as its fluids analysis centre (FAC) and analytical data services (ADS) teams in the UK to conduct more than 200 PVT studies.

Expro made significant investment throughout 2010 and 2011 in preparation for activity in Iraq in 2012 and beyond.

Expro’s fluids product line director, Bill Smith, said: “A trio of recent contract wins with major operators has further strengthened Expro’s profile in the region and positions us as the preferred fluids choice in a highly lucrative and competitive marketplace. This is a solid start to 2012 as we look forward to further enhancing our profile in the region as the year progresses.”

Expro is an established leader in the field of well flow management, and throughout its service offers the expertise and experience borne of many years as an industry leader. Expro’s engineering expertise and flexibility to meet the specific needs of its customers allows it to offer integrated solutions to well flow management challenges, at every stage of the well lifecycle.

Expro Connectors & Measurements (C&M) partners with Alstom to develop a cable connection and management system to be deployed on one of Alstom’s ocean energy projects, thus contributing to Alstom’s development of clean technology solutions to harness the energy potential of the world’s oceans.

Expro will be supplying its market-leading SpecTRON, DigiTRON and FoeTRON wet mateable products alongside a cable connection system and termination head as well as cable protection and aftermarket services for site cable termination.

This system will provide the subsea connection between the power export cable and the energy converter device.  Rob Wyatt team leader of the renewable division said: “This is all the equipment the client will need to make the connection between the subsea cable and the generator.”

Expro’s renewable division launched in 2011 and the team is excited about the project win. Trevor Thistlethwaite, Expro’s C&M renewable business manager, said: “This order demonstrates Alstom’s confidence in our skills and expertise to deliver a complete connection package.

“The renewable industry has seen something of a surge in terms of development; and it is Expro’s aim to support such innovation with our proven subsea products.  The new division was created in a bid to set ourselves as the market leaders and to receive such an important order is a brilliant achievement.”