UTEK sells Intelli-Well unit to Avalon (November 2006)

Technology-focused venture capital unit UTEK Corp. has sold its Intelli-Well Technologies (IWT) unit to Avalon Oil and Gas. IWT holds a license for a borehole casing technology developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). LLNL’s ‘smart borehole casing’ uses a dense network of a variety of sensors to monitor production.

Tomography

Data from multiple sensor types is combined using ‘data fusion technology’ to provide real-time knowledge of processes such as primary and secondary oil recovery. Various sensors are assembled onto the outside of the casing before it is cemented in place, including seismic, resistivity tomography, electromagnetic induction tomography and thermocouples.

Rodriguez

Avalon CEO Kent Rodriguez said, ‘One of our primary goals is to improve oil recovery efficiency for existing resources. We believe this technology potentially accomplishes this by deriving useful information about field production.’

Elder

LLNL business development executive Randall Elder added, ‘Avalon is helping us develop and commercialize our new well casing-based geophysical sensor apparatus, system and method.’ The LLNL is operated by the University of California under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy.�

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