DeadAhead™
Wired-pipe active magnetic ranging that turns the relief well into a ranging-while-drilling operation.
High-current active magnetic ranging built directly into a powered (DualLink™) drill string, so the relief well ranges continuously while drilling, with no wireline runs and no BHA trips.
Traditional relief wells require repeated wireline runs and BHA trips to confirm proximity and adjust trajectory. DeadAhead™ replaces that model with ranging while drilling: high-amperage excitation, detection and telemetry deliver deterministic distance and direction updates without interrupting operations.
By maintaining a continuous low-impedance path through the powered drill string, DeadAhead establishes direct galvanic coupling with the formation, roughly 10× the current injection of wireline systems. Stronger casing excitation means a clearer signal, expanded detection range and more stable solutions as the wells converge.
Because all ranging stays within the drillstring, the BHA remains in hole: operators keep circulation, pressure-control integrity and full directional capability while receiving real-time proximity updates. Ranging becomes an ~8-minute survey at each station, reducing intercept timelines and relief-well AFEs by 50%, and in some cases up to 75%.
U.S. Patent 11,781,421 B2, reaffirmed by USPTO PTAB (2025). Co-presented at SPE/ISCWSA #62, Alaska, Sept 2025.
- ·Relief wells & blowout intercept
- ·Time-critical dynamic kill
- ·Plug & abandonment intercept
- ·High-dogleg convergence geometries
- ·Highly resistive & insulative environments (oil-based mud, salt)
A no-access wireline active ranging system built from the ground up for first-time intersection.
Real-time magnetic ranging inside a fully pressure-contained coiled-tubing drilling assembly.
Real-time ranging data at the bit, vendor-neutral, and deployable in virtually any BHA.
No-access, MWD-style magnetic ranging computed from your existing steering data, on short notice, processed remotely.
A casing-magnetization service that strengthens the passive ranging signal, for detection where active ranging struggles.
The only commercial end-to-end ranging software in the industry.
Turns intercept geometry into real-world milling parameters.