A Laramie company is testing a device that could help cut the cost of producing shale oil. WellDog announced this month that it’s doing field testing of what’s called a “Raman spectrometer.” The device can help pinpoint oil and gas reservoirs thousands of feet underground. WellDog CEO John Pope says right now, hydraulic fracturing or fracking doesn’t work thirty to fifty percent of the time, but that this technology could dramatically improve that.
“The purpose is to make the exploration and development process in shale gas and oil more efficient, reduce the amount of fracking that’s required, increase the economic sustainability of the industry and reduce the social and environmental impacts,” he said.
The announcement comes at a time of heightened concern about the cost of shale development. Oil prices have dropped almost a quarter in the last five months and many have questioned whether expensive shale development can continue to boom. Pope says WellDog is hoping to bring their technology to market in the next few quarters.