Red Spider has completed an agreement with Nigerian agent AOS Orwell. The company will promote Red Spider's suite of Remote Open Close Technology (ROCT) and provide a permanent presence for customers in the region from operational facilities in Port Harcourt and a sales office in Lagos.
Products in the Remote Open Close Technology range include Red Spider's product eRED and the two new products - PowerBall and the eRED-FB (a completion placement valve).
Red Spider Chief Executive Steve Nicol said: "There has been a great deal of interest in our technology in West Africa because of the particular benefits it delivers for deepwater operations. Having an agent in place gives us the capability to make an impact and achieve successful results with a rapid turnaround. We are a small company but have proved our technology delivers for many operators. Now we have the logistics in place to sustain operations in a key target location for us."
Barry Killoh, Red Spider's sales manager for Africa, said: "Red Spider is delighted to sign an agreement with AOS Orwell. We see a huge untapped market for ROCT technology in West Africa and partnering with a prominent and successful indigenous company like AOS Orwell allows us to work together to replicate our success in other regions in Nigeria as well as the wider region."
AOS Orwell Chief Executive Femi Omotayo said: "We are delighted to provide Red Spider the platform to explore opportunities within the Nigerian oil market. Red Spider's technology strongly complements AOS Orwell's existing large array of well construction and automation services. Our penetration into the completions market is further boosted by Red Spider cutting edge capabilities which now become available to West Africa through us."
David Somorin, AOS Orwell Director for Sales and Marketing, added: "There is a positive feeling within AOS Orwell about the Red Spider representation. This is in line with our corporate quest to provide customers with value driven fit for purpose engineering solutions that also deliver on cost savings. Red Spider's unique ROCT technology will help operators cope better within the ever increasing challenges and complexities associated with drilling smarter wells, particularly offshore Gulf of Guinea."
eRED, Red Spider's first tool to use its patented Remote Open Close Technology for remotely operating downhole valves, has been used more than 200 times by more than 20 operators in the UK, Norway and Australia, resulting in significant risk reduction and maximising production time by removing wireline runs from operations. The technology is on its way to becoming the industry standard solution for various downhole applications.
The valve has allowed major operators to save up to $900,000 during a single subsea completion operation, typically reducing slick line runs from eight to one. In deepwater workover operations savings of up to 36 hours and $800,000 have also been recorded in a single job, as well as major reductions in risk.
It quickly became apparent from the eRED’s continuing success that there were other potential applications for Remote Open Close Technology in the completion of wells. Further customer requests led to around $3million of investment and over two years of extensive research and development work, which has resulted in PowerBall and the eRED-FB.
eRED-FB completely eliminates slickline intervention from completion operations, resulting in savings of up to 32 hours and $1million in subsea scenarios. Moreover, a mechanical downhole barrier is present, to be activated upon request and to take control of the well.
PowerBall is a pioneering reservoir isolation barrier that prevents fluid loss during the upper completion phase of well construction. Remote opening of PowerBall happens with no pressure cycles, but on detecting a specific trigger much as with the eRED, thus resulting in a much more flexible, safe and quick operation, with potential savings of up to 12 hours and $250,000.
