Unconventional gas driller Greka Drilling (LON:GDL) has enhanced its horizontal drilling technology by purchasing four Rotating Magnet Ranging Systems (RMRS).
The China-focused company, which drills for coal bed methane (CBM), said the delivery of the RMRS equipment will save as many as five days of drilling per LiFaBriC (Lined Faulted Brittle Coal) well.
The RMRS technology has replaced the Magnetic Guidance Technology (MGT) previously used and helps to intersect a separate offset vertical production well on the first attempt.
So far, Greka said it has successfully intersected seven wells on the first approach with the new equipment.
“We will provide our clients with the very best technology available on the market today and continuously enhance it,” said chief executive Randeep Grewal, who called it a milestone for the company.
“We intend to make LiFaBriC the chosen completion method of choice for the unconventional sector in China and globally, where applicable.”
Greka has adapted the RMRS technology – which is typically used in the conventional oil and gas sector – to suit its LiFaBriC methodology.
LiFaBriC is Greka’s version of horizontal drilling, where geo-steering techniques are used to gain a far greater surface area exposure to the coal seam.
The new systems create a time-varying magnetic field to detect sensors placed in a separate well up to 100 metres away and avoid ‘under-reaming’, which makes the target easier to intersect, but is known to affect production in structurally unstable coal.
Greka shares dipped 0.25 pence to 18.4 pence.