Innovative Start-ups Are Shaping the Future of Oil

David Millar, director of the TechX programme at The Oil & Gas Technology Centre, discusses the pioneering technology revolutionising Scotland’s oil and gas sector. The past year saw us celebrating the successful culmination of The Oil & Gas Technology Centre’s (OGTC) inaugural technology accelerator programme, TechX Pioneers.

In March we whittled down more than 125 international applications to just ten start-ups that met our exacting criteria for enrolling on the first TechX Pioneers programme. The intensive 16-week accelerator, and follow-on 12-month incubator, provides unprecedented access to a host of expert mentors, global partners in the oil and gas industry, routes to market, and crucially, game-changing funding.

Up to £100,000 is available to each start-up without any equity take or pay back. What’s more, the developers retain all intellectual property.

From artificial intelligence-based data analytics, to cutting-edge scientific materials technology, each of the ten finalists has developed a unique and exciting technology offering. While the majority of participants hailed from the north-east of Scotland, two came from London and one from Italy.

Of these ten companies, seven have secured 14 different field trial opportunities with major operators in the North Sea – a 70 per cent success rate. This is an astonishing statistic, considering many of these companies didn’t exist 18 months ago. Historically, it has taken up to 15 years for some new technology to be accepted by the UK oil and gas industry. Start-ups faced an uphill battle, with unprecedented failure rates in excess of 90 per cent. However, the downturn has turned that trend on its head.

The impact $30 per barrel (£23/bbl) oil prices had on the UK industry and the north-east of Scotland is still fresh in our minds. Nonetheless, with 20 billion barrel of oil equivalent (boe) still out there to recover in the UK, we have a huge opportunity ahead of us. A realisation has dawned for industry players that they have done as much as they can to make themselves as lean as possible. If they want a further step-change, it has to come from new ways of working.

This is where pioneering, cost-effective technology comes in. New technology which saves the industry money. New technology which helps unlock and recover reserves from increasingly complex wells. In short, new technology which enables the oil and gas industry to do more for less.

With the support of the OGTC and the surrounding supportive ecosystem in northeast Scotland, the industry is embracing numerous of these early technology opportunities. Graduates of the OGTC’s first TechX Pioneers programme are already making their mark on the industry, with some of the industry’s key players keen to trial their technological solutions to sector challenges. One of these is Tenzor Geo, which has secured offshore trials of its micro seismic technology with BP in the North Sea, starting early in 2019.

Another is Test1, which developed a unique foam which can soak up oil from spills – so the oil can be recovered, and the foam reused – is carrying out field trials at Aberdeen Harbour. Meanwhile, Blue Gentoo, a firm which has produced a hydrate management tool that could save billions of dollars in reducing the amount of chemicals used to prevent hydrates, has a letter of intent for demonstrations. Sensalytx, a company developing software to make sense of the vast amounts of data produced by fibre optic downhole sensing systems, has a trial lined up with an independent operator in the North Sea.

Finally, Envio has developed shipment tracking technology, and RAB-Microfluidics, which has devised an oil conditioning monitoring lab on a chip technology, both have field trials coming up.

In October, hot on the heels of these finalists graduating, we launched the global search for our next group of ground-breaking entrepreneurs

The TechX team and I have since taken to the road, visiting London, Manchester and Edinburgh as well as our home city of Aberdeen. We also crossed the Atlantic, holding roadshows in Houston and Boston, in a bid to attract the most innovative tech start-ups from around the world. 2019 is set to be another busy and exciting year.

Following the applications deadline on 31 January, a select group will take part in a finalist bootcamp in February. Applicants who make it through the bootcamp will then be offered a place on the Pioneer programme which will begin in May and run for 16 weeks.

The Pioneers from Cohort 1 are forging ahead with industry trials and market penetration. Cohort 2 is taking shape as we welcome applications from around the world. It’s fair to say that TechX isn’t just another accelerator scheme; it is THE accelerator for oil and gas. – Applications for the OGTC TechX Pioneer programme close on 31 January 2019

Source: www.scotsman.com