As IM’s annual exploration technology focus goes to the printer, comes news that Coretrack has executed a binding Share Sale Agreement to acquire Globe Drill. Globe Drill is one of Australia’s premier technology, manufacturing (and soon to be drilling services) companies, having been established by Warren Strange in 2005 as a specialist drill rig manufacturing company which develops cutting edge drilling equipment for the rapidly growing and increasingly important renewable energy sector. It is anticipated these rigs will result in significant time savings to exploration and production focused companies who require wells drilled to depths of up to 3,000 m.
The Transaction, if completed, should create a leading drilling technology and services company. With the acquisition of Globe Drill, Coretrack will be in a position to provide uniquely tailored technology, focused primarily on servicing the energy and mineral sectors and specialising in drilling at depths of up to 3,000 m with “incredible efficiency and speed,” it reports. This will open up market opportunities well beyond that in the conventional energy/mineral sectors, including geothermal, shale gas and coalbed methane.
The result should be a larger, more diverse company with a specialised range of products and services. The merged entity will also employ some key industry professionals, R&D specialists, and engineering/manufacturing professionals.
It is anticipated that upon completion of the transaction, Strange will be appointed as executive director to the Board of Coretrack.
of the Transaction will take place in early March 2010. Managing Director, Nanne van’t Riet, commented “the acquisition of Globe Drill is a perfect strategic fit for Coretrack, one that will firmly embed the company in the energy and mineral sectors with a more diverse, improved and complementary service offering. The addition of Warren to the Board as an executive Director is also a huge advantage to Coretrack allowing the company to benefit not only from Warren’s strategic contributions but also his vast operational experience in the rig building and drilling environment.”
Coretrack is an ASX listed company which provides leading technological solutions to the global oil and gas industry. Coretrack’s primary focus since listing has been the commercialisation of its revolutionary and patented technology, the Core Level Recorder System (CLR). This is a measuring and recording device that is placed inside the inner core barrel. During coring the unit rests upon the column of core that is entering the barrel and records the amount of core captured. This data collected will inform geologists from what depths core was captured and conversely, where core was lost, if a full recovery was not obtained. Coretrack has run the CLR (without the telemetry to surface) with a number of major operators and the tool is market ready now.
Coretrack has designed and is in the process of completing development of the Core Level Recorder System (CLRS) (CLR with real-time telemetry) – a coring tool that will enable an explicit measurement of the acquisition of a core sample during a coring operation. The availability of real time data on the rig floor will ensure substantial cost savings to the exploration and production companies.