China’s largest offshore oil producer has selected Xerafy to deploy its downhole drill pipe tracking technology.
Founded in 1982, CNOOC is the third-largest national oil company in the People’s Republic of China, with revenues over $19 billion. CNOOC and its subsidiary, China Oilfield Services (COSL), selected the Xerafy Xplorer as the world's first UHF RFID tags, ATEX-certified, designed for use in downhole drilling operations. The deployment of 100,000 Xerafy Xplorer tags will align with the 10 percent year-over-year growth rate of oil output targeted by CNOOC.
For CNOOC, the Xplorer tags will improve the company’s ability to track drill pipes' identity, integrity, and lifecycle, how long the asset has been in service, and what maintenance/repair work has been conducted. Traditionally, this information has been tracked manually by oil and gas producers using paper forms. By automatically tracking the complete asset lifecycle, CNOOC can anticipate when parts will need replacement in advance of a failure, which can significantly improve safety on the deep offshore and onshore well drilling platforms.
With improved maintenance, the drill strings will also have a longer lifecycle. This will reduce both the need for additional inventory and equipment and maintenance/repair costs.
“The deployment of Xerafy’s RFID technology is an extension of CNOOC’s focus on technology-driven innovation and efficiency enhancements,” said Michel Gillmann, Director Product & Marketing at Xerafy. “By enabling real-time drill pipe tracking, they can improve and ensure the safety at their offshore platforms as they expand production around the world.”