Jet-propelled well conveyance tech completes US field trial
WellSense developed a single-use, jet-propelled and battery-powered well conveyance technology that is able to rapidly deploy bare fiber into highly deviated wells. The conveyance system has been designed to improve the speed, quality, cost and efficiency of diagnostic surveys in horizontal wells.
WellSense completed a technology field trial in August 2025, where the FiberLine Intervention Conveyance System (FliCS) deployed bare fiber into a 19,000-ft uncompleted well in the Permian Basin for cross-well strain monitoring. The deployment took 50 minutes, which is approximately 10 times faster than a standard pumpdown operation.
FliCS has been developed at WellSense’s UK headquarters and R&D hub in Aberdeen by Dan Purkis, the company’s founder, technology director and respected industry innovator. The new well access solution introduces the ability to deploy FliCS into horizontal wells to acquire distributed acoustic sensing and distributed temperature sensing data across the reservoir.
The FliCS conveyance system from WellSense uses lightweight, battery-powered jet propulsion triggered by a magnetic switch at launch. Jet-drive technology accelerates well fluids through an impeller sub to generate thrust while the probe de-spools optical fibre along the well to enable highly sensitive distributed fibre optic sensing data to be acquired.
The prototype model deploys 25,000 ft of fiber in little over an hour, traveling approximately ~350ft./min. versus ~35 ft./min. for a conventional tractor conveyance. The risk to future operations is negligible as the lightweight components can be left in the toe of the well or pushed to the bottom.
