This is the seal that was tested in the North Sea, Hungary, Kazakhstan, and Canada in 2007.

Dec 2008

Following the launch of Caledyne’s retrievable metal-to-metal (MTM) downhole seal system in 2007, the technology has now been granted a European patent.

Developed at the company’s base in Aberdeen, Scotland, the MTM downhole seal consists of flexible material contained inside a metal shell. The structure creates a complete metal barrier in the well, and when fully energized, protects it from the harshest downhole conditions. The system acts in a similar way to a standard rubber or elastomeric seal, while remaining resistant to high hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations.

Performance-rated to above 10,000 psi at 300 degrees C, the MTM seal can be installed on permanent and retrievable packers, bridge plugs, hanger packers, sliding sleeves and subsea sealing applications such as plugs and flange seals. Certified to ISO14310, the international standard for downhole equipment in the oil and gas industry, it will potentially supersede all elastomeric packing element systems currently on the market as temperature limitations and chemical compatibility concerns are no longer an issue.

“The Caledyne MTM Seal System will allow operators to confidently develop reservoirs that up to now have presented real problems. It is step change technology”

At the UK Department of Trade and Industry in 2001, an important technical paper was presented by the Oil and Gas Directorate. Oil analysts Grist, Simpson and Milton- Worssell concluded, “We see the High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) operational conditions of the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) as a hot opportunity …… the largest physical hurdle in exploitation is the temperature of the reservoir and its fluids.”

While written with the UKCS in mind, this quotation is equally apt for most of the world’s basins.