DEEP CASING TOOLS: Cutting Edge Well Technology Fuels Efficiency
Aberdeen’s Deep Casing Tools is putting its significant engineering experience to good use, developing tools that can be used across a well lifecycle to dramatically improve efficiency for operators. CEO David Stephenson tells Energy Focus more about an ongoing growth journey for this simple, sustainable, strong organisation.
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A report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2020 claimed that no energy company will be unaffected by the clean energy transition and every part of the multi-faceted industry must review and respond accordingly. “Doing nothing is simply not an option,” said Executive Director, Fatih Birol.
Thankfully, the oil and gas industry has responded and many majors and operators are putting in place solutions to drive change. Oil and natural gas remain the underpinning elements across most major developed and developing economies and a transition away from fossil fuels will take time.
In the interim, the use of technology to drive efficiency in oil and gas production is not only good practice, it is essential in meeting ESG goals. Clearly, oil and gas production must be as good as it possibly can be, and specialist engineering is required to ensure every step of the process is efficient.
David Stephenson, CEO
This is the mission of Deep Casing Tools, an Aberdeen-based technology development company. Home to an abundance of technical knowledge from across the oil and gas space, the company innovates new and fresh ways of doing things with the goal of consistently being better than before.
“Our ethos is simple, sustainable, innovation,” CEO David Stephenson tells Energy Focus.
ENGINEERING CHALLENGE
Stephenson joined the business seven years ago, taking over as Global Account Manager for the company’s pioneering turbine powered reamer shoe product. Utilised by big-name clients on sites around the world, it was the perfect role for the former Schlumberger and Weatherford engineer who boasts hands-on offshore, design and senior management experience. He was looking for a challenge in the UK after returning from 15 years in the Middle East and Asia Pacific, and Deep Casing Tools offered a unique environment in technology development.
But the company had been through a tough stretch. Revenue had declined following the oil price collapse of 2014, and a lack of range in the product suite heaped risk as the pandemic forced cuts in spending. Stephenson, along with Chairman Steve Kent, set about revitalising and regrowing the business to align with its original purpose.
“The business had gone from £10m revenue to under £500,000,” he remembers. “A lot of the problem was there was only one product offering. Very quickly, we began working on a business plan and we set about diversifying. That started around the end of 2018.”
The goal was to develop technologies that would further assist drilling campaigns, and associated activity, that could be added to existing customer deliveries. Stephenson took the reins as CEO a year after joining and encouraged a company-wide commitment to innovation. After developing the MechLOK™ Drill Pipe Swivel – the world’s first mechanically lockable Drill Pipe Swivel – Deep Casing Tools continued to innovate and began work on the SelfLOK Flotation Device™ and Rubblizer™, and the level of ingenuity and engineering know-how was unrivalled.
“Our revenue increased by around 1,400% by 2019 and then Covid came along. We lost a couple of years, but we quickly picked up again, doubling revenue year on year since 2021,” says Stephenson.
“From there, we have built the business and globalised. We have cemented long-term corporate purchase agreements everywhere from Mexico to Saudi Arabia to Abu Dhabi and beyond. It has been a fantastic journey, and we are now set for ongoing growth.”
Today, Deep Casing Tools is a multimillion-dollar business achieving year-on-year growth. For Stephenson, the highly experienced team is the catalyst for success, and he believes that by listening to clients, instead of delivering a one-size fits all approach, is what separates the company from others.
“I have worked for small companies in the past who have been acquired by bigger corporations, and there is a massive difference. The ability to listen and understand what the customer needs is a major advantage for us,” he explains.
“Deep Casing Tools appointed a board member who had worked for operators. He had been with BP, Total, and some of the other major operators. When we were asked about having this new board member I thought, as a small company who supplies technology to these operators, understanding how operators think is of massive value to us.
“The larger service companies think they know what the end user needs, and they produce something to fit. As a technology development company, it is absolutely critical for us to develop the technology that the end user needs. We cannot afford the time and cost of developing something that end users do not find perfect. It is critical that we listen to what the end user needs.”
CUTTING EDGE
The product range on offer goes across the well lifecycle, from early-stage drilling to eventual plug and abandonment (P&A). Key lines include the famed Turbocaser™ and Turborunner™- high-speed, turbine-powered casing running systems that help land casings, intermediate liners and completions at target depth in complex wells. Deep Casing Tools is proud that these products have proven to save time and money, improving efficiency. The product line has proved hugely successful, with over 800 tools now sold to blue-chip customers globally, and multiple long-term purchase agreements in place.
MechLOK™ allows the drill pipe to be rotated independently of the work-string resulting in reduced drag, redistributed friction and mitigation of helical buckling. Cost-saving, risk mitigating, and increasing speed, MechLOK™ was first proven onsite in New Zealand on a complex enhanced oil recovery project.
“We own all the IP and design for that. We have commercialised that and we have completed our 40th run in the UK and Norwegian North Sea, the Middle East, Australia, and Malaysia. We are very proud as it is a fully global product,” says Stephenson. “We have been running MechLOK™ in Norway and we came with our first generation of the tool but one of the drilling engineers requested a minor change and a slight redesign which slightly changed the specification. We listened, we sat down with the team, and we now have the tool running regularly and successfully for the operator.”
The SelfLOK Floating Device™ helps float liners to target depth more cost-effectively. It offers users a reduced drag profile and enables long liner strings to be floated to target depth in unconventional ERD wells.
The Rubblizer™ is one of the more recent additions to the product portfolio and furthers the company’s ambition to become involved across the well lifecycle. The tool reduces rig time and results in significantly less force required to pull casing strings, driving efficiency. In partnership with PrimeStar Technologies, Deep Casing Tools deployed the Rubblizer™ to recover 676ft of 9-5/8” 47lb/ft of casing by rubblizing cement behind the casing, breaking the bond and structure. The Rubblizer™ has now completed 14 jobs globally.
“A lot of what we do is to try and increase predictability in operations,” Stephenson declares. “There’s a lot of things that are difficult to predict and when you’re drilling, completing, or abandoning projects on an oil and gas well, you’re never going to 100% predict the outcome as there are so many variables. If you can increase predictability and try and make the operation efficient, that is a very good thing, and all of our products aim to do that.”
To achieve efficiency and improve environmental credentials of projects, Deep Casing Tools invests significantly in research and development. There is no development of innovative technology without education, and the company is always keen to learn from clients, working in partnership to identify and solve problems.
“We are looking at different sizes for products in our existing portfolio,” details Stephenson. “We are also looking at building some systems around our current offering. We have the Rubblizer™ tool that is an enabler for other products in the P&A space and we want to have some of those technologies within our portfolio. Rather than turning up and doing one or two days on a rig while enabling others to come along, we want to have a wider product offering and a systemic approach, delivered by Deep Casing Tools.”
SIMPLE, SUSTAINABLE
Importantly, the efficiency delivered by Deep Casing Tools remains top class. The company’s tools always improve speed, reduce overall cost, and enhance reliability. This, says Stephenson, is where the company plays a role in the energy transition. To date, operators around the world have saved 241,362.5 MT CO2 emissions using simple, sustainable technology from Deep Casing Tools.
“I am very clear when I am asked about how we can play a part in the energy transition. We design and commercialise tools for oil and gas, geothermal – we are not a company that is going to start designing solar panels or wind turbines. We are not going to jump 100% into the geothermal market. I firmly believe that a mix of everything is the solution. The world is addicted to hydrocarbons at the moment, and while I firmly believe we need to move away from that, it is not going to happen anytime soon – not in this or the next generation,” he says.
“We supply technology that will make the production of oil and gas as clean and efficient as possible. That is what we strive to do, and we do it day in day out. We conceive products, build prototypes, take those products to market, commercialise, and we have a fantastic team that believes in the vision. Through this, we do see emission reductions across the projects we are part of.”
This improvement in emission performance is welcomed by operators who are searching for advancement through every stage of the process to align with ESG strategy. Currently, oil and gas activity accounts for around 15% of energy emissions globally, but through technological innovation and improvements across all processes, this will fall by 60% – including reduced consumption of oil and gas – by 2030 according to IEA scenario forecasting.
Across the scenario, Deep Casing Tools has so much to offer. “A lot of wells that we have taken advantage of over the last 40 or 50 years are coming to the end of their life in the North Sea, and it is very important that we do the right thing, abandoning in a responsible manner,” closes Stephenson, adding that now able to fulfil needs across different operations, he is expecting a 30% increase in business through 2024.
Clearly, Deep Casing Tools is not a company to sit contently with past achievements. This business is busy innovating and groundbreaking – developing efficiency improving tools that contribute to a more complete, more robust, and more sustainable oil and gas industry. If products could not deliver on their efficiency claims, further growth would not be possible. Right now, Stephenson and Deep Casing Tools occupy a very strong position in the market.