Shell ‘s low cost prospecting technology
Posted: 27 November 2003
A new, low-cost oil and gas prospecting technology from Shell Global
Solutions is helping to find oil and gas reserves by measuring ethane
gas escaping from the ground.
LightTouch was developed by Shell Global Solutions working in co-operation
with scientists from the Optics Applications Group at the University
of Glasgow. It uses a specially-adapted vehicle fitted with what
is probably the world’s most sensitive ethane gas sensor.
The vehicle also uses equipment that measures wind speed and direction,
and a wireless local area network to download data in real time
to computers, so that information can be analysed while the survey
is under way. Sources of hydrocarbons can be detected at a range
of several kilometres from the vehicle.
Initial estimates show that the cost of a LightTouch is only about
10 percent of those of a seismic survey over a similar area. In
addition, the results are available immediately so exploration resources
can be focused on areas where hydrocarbons are present.
Ethane gas is a good indicator of oil and gas reserves because
it is formed through the cracking of larger hydrocarbon molecules.
Unlike methane, it is not produced by biological decay, and the
atmospheric background concentration is a thousand times lower,
meaning that seepages of ethane show up far more clearly.
Bill Hirst, Principal Scientist of Measurement and Instrumentation
at Shell Global Solutions, said: “We see this technology as
a fast and inexpensive way of screening large areas for oil and
gas, and you get the results the same day”.
"It allows you to make decisions more quickly and identify
where money would best be invested in further exploration. We also
expect LightTouch to provide useful additional input to ranking
prospects for drilling.”
LightTouch could also lead to important developments in the detection
of cancer. Scientists at the University of Glasgow have begun a
two-year research programme to test whether it can identify the
early stages of lung cancer in which ethane is expelled in the patient’s
breath. Ethane and other hydrocarbons are produced when in response
to cancer, free radicals within the body break down cell membranes.
For more information see www.shell.com.
Posted by Richard Price,
Editor Pipeline Magazine
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