Australian based company V2H International is launching a new environmentally safe jetting technology for the oil and gas industry.
This will come after the completion of a merger between technology group Coal Bed Methane Innovations (a spin off company of CRC Mining) and Zero Radius Laterals, with the technology suitable for both surface and underground operations, and in the CSG industry.
The technology replaces traditional drill heads with a high-pressure water system that can rapidly install extensive patterns of lateral radial boreholes into multiple coal seams from a vertical production well.
The speed and steering capabilities means more gas can be drained from each well and all laterals are steered ‘in-seam’ to maximise drainage efficiency.
The technology helps lower capital and operational expenditure, increase well recoverability, and lower environmental impacts.
V2H International CEO Darren Rice said there was an opportunity for it to compete against, and possibly replace, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the CSG industry due to its low environmental effects.
The company is also in talks with Australian oil and gas producers to deploy V2H as a workover technology on existing wells that have already been drilled to recover more oil or gas.
As a ‘green’ technology, the system does not require fluid or chemical additives to be added for drilling and it can drill with recycled CSG water. It reduces the total number of wells required, with enhanced production due to multiple coal seams being accessible from a single vertical well.
Surface spacing of wells can be increased, with reduced surface infrastructure.
Rice said the technology had the potential to transform oil and gas markets worlwide.
“It’s been a two year journey since I originally identified the value opportunity in merging the complementary technologies of the two companies. We are all very pleased with the outcome and look forward to developing the business going forward,” he said.
He added they aimed to use the technology to re-energise Australia’s oil and gas sector.
“Due to a range of factors there have been no wells drilled in the Australian oil and gas industry this year; this puts the future cost of energy under intense pressure,” he said.
“Where environmental or commercial issues are the concern, we think we have found the solution.”