Deep Imaging has introduced the first and only real-time solution for tracking fluid as it’s pumped through the wellbore and out to the fracture tips during a completion job, the company announced. As a result, upstream companies can validate models and successful stages while identifying, fixing or avoiding problem stages as they occur.

“We are proud to provide to clients answers about what’s happening in their reservoirs and now we will deliver that information in real-time,” said David Moore, CEO and president of Deep Imaging. “In addition to making decisions on how to design the next completion more efficiently, customers will now be able to make decisions on how to stop frack hits, see plug failures and bad cement and decide how to mitigate the impact, stage by stage.”

The prevailing approach to developing shale has delivered mixed results. Drilling larger wells more closely together has reduced per unit costs, but many new wells are underperforming production expectations by as much as 30%. Without the right instruments to see what is happening during a well completion, operators are experiencing frack hits and are unable to identify poor cement jobs, failed plugs and unclosed zippers, all of which leave valuable resources in the ground. With the ability to see a frack job in real-time, operators can now truly optimize full-field development.

At around the cost of a single frack stage, payback on this surface-based real-time fluid tracking technology is quick and the upside is large, especially considering not “closing” a zipper frack can mean up to 30% of the reservoir is untapped. With projected sales of $500 million from a development project, operators utilizing fluid tracking could capture the $150 million that would otherwise be left behind.

Among other benefits, such as reducing waste and boosting overall productivity, the technology also enables operators to determine which downhole products and strategies are causing problems to help improve their purchasing plans. If an operator understands they have failures 20% of the time with a certain type of plug, they can find a better provider.

Deep Imaging is a frack diagnostics company based in Tomball, Texas. Its advanced diagnostic tools track and measure frack fluid placement from the surface and away from the pad. With real-time fluid tracking technology operators can now identify the reasons for and locations of subsurface problems in the oil field. With this information teams can quickly fix issues, dramatically reducing waste and improving development economics. Deep Imaging was founded in 2008 and holds patents on its proprietary technology. To learn more visit www.deepimaging.com.