Qteq is making the most of its recent acquisition of subsurface data logging company Surtech Systems, securing what it believes is the first of many expected contracts to provide borehole data using new measurement sensors and systems.
The contract for environmental logging in the Northern Territory, Australia, will use Qteq’s patented Borehole Magnetic Resonance (BMR) technology to provide real-time accurate measurement of the aquifer.
BMR technology, which has been used in the oil and gas industries since the early 1990s, is sensitive to both the fluid volumes present in a rock, and the geometry of the pores containing these fluids. It, thus, provides information on both storage and flow potential.
Not only does BMR provide fluid volume and porosity, independent of any lithology effects, it can also differentiate the volume fraction of mobile fluid that can be produced from the fluid volume fraction bound in place in the rock. The pore geometry information obtained directly from BMR measurements also allows permeability and hydraulic conductivity to be derived, providing an understanding of how effectively the fluids will produce.
Tools developed for BMR application (Qtec’s own, pictured above) have typically been too large, too complex and too costly for use in other georesource sectors, however Qtec has developed fit-for-purpose tools that meet both the environmental and commercial requirements of a number of sectors.
Qteq said its recent acquisitions made its exploration analysis offering that much more complete.
“The addition of Surtech Systems and directional drilling and measurement while drilling company WellServ, means Qteq clients now have access to industry-leading systems to collect accurate data on the composition and behaviour of subsurface rocks.”
Qteq Chief Technology Officer Dr Tim Hopper said the two acquisitions, which will be re-branded as Qteq Measurement Systems, expanded the company’s operational footprint and market adoption of BMR, spectroscopy and logging while drilling services that are currently being developed.
“We now have a platform for commercialising a range of new technologies in our R&D pipeline,” Dr Hopper said.
Earlier this month, Qtec was one of eight recipients of government funding through the METS Ignited Collaborative Project Funds.