First downhole measurement using fiber-optic Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS)

In February 2009 our CTO Dr David Hill performed the first downhole measurement using fiber-optic Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) with Mathieu M. Molenaar of Shell Canada on an unconventional gas well in Alberta. The initial application was for hydraulic fracture monitoring with the invention of downhole DAS going onto be used for cross well strain front measurement, seismic surveys, enhanced oil recovery, flow measurement, well leak and integrity monitoring, CCU and microseismic monitoring to mention some of the many applications.

ONYX™ Peta Sensing Unit

Over the past 15-years DAS has come a long way and is a well-established tool used across the oil & gas industry as well as in many other industries such as transport, security, and the utilities as well as in geophysics research. Dr Hill has been at the forefront of DAS technology and was instrumental in our new ONYX™ Peta Sensing Unit, the world’s first petabyte scale system with unparalleled low frequency response and dynamic range.

Dr Hill the inventor

Dr Hill is the inventor of over 30 Patents in the field of fiber sensing and recognised as a global leader in DFOS technology. In 2016 Dr Hill’s pioneering work in DFOS led to him being appointed SPE Distinguished Lecturer on DFOS.

As we look towards the next fifteen years, Dr Hill and Sintela will continue advancing the state-of-the-art in Distributed Fiber-Optic Sensing (DFOS) by improving the sensing performance on fiber, increasing the processing power, reducing the size of the Sensing Units and lowering the cost of ownership in order to continue the widespread adoption of this remarkable sensing technology.