Epi-V has taken a technology guru's breakthrough idea and provided the funding, resources and expertise required to fully commercialise a revolutionary sand management solution.
We have applied our value creation methodology to fully develop the technology, position the product and build a business capable of making strong inroads into the growing market for sand screen technologies, estimated to be worth over £600 million.
Darcy's management team
Background
The brainchild of Darcy's novel technology is inventor Paul Metcalfe, who is well known in the industry for designing and commercialising various expandable pipe technologies.
Paul has a strong relationship with Epi-V and in 2008 he approached us with the concept of a sand screen and inflow control technology which uses hydraulic force applied from the surface to change the shape of pressure chambers within the screen sections.
Initial tests demonstrated that the new screen provides higher flow rate capability, a step significant improvement in collapse resistance, and lowers installation risk by utilising surface activation.
The investment
In 2008 Epi-V backed the infant technology, by providing Paul with access to a high quality design team and state of the art manufacturing facilities through our investment in i-Tec.
After successfully passing a number of engineering milestones, a new business, Darcy was established to provide the platform from which to carry it through the development, testing and market introduction phases of commercialisation.
Epi-V provided a multimillion pound funding package to support this and led the process of establishing a business capable of releasing the full potential of this technology.
The strategy
The first step in the strategy was to open of an office and product development facility in Aberdeen and hire a seven-strong team, which quickly to grew to 12. Epi-V also used its industry network to recruit managing director Steve Bruce, who has over three decades of management experience in the sector at Schlumberger, PSL and Expro.
We have also worked with management to create a proposition and brand (Darcy) which will help build a new market within the well completion segment of upstream oil and gas production.
This has centred on Darcy's Matrix Management System ("open hole performance with cased hole functionality") which provides customers with a straightforward, low risk solution that offers significantly improved collapse resistance and demonstrates a step change in sand management which is currently operationally intensive and costly.
Outcomes
There continues to be high profile technical failures in the sand control market which is further validating the simplicity and ease of installation of Darcy's products.
Following an official launch in late 2010, there has been significant industry interest, with a number of major service businesses expressing a desire to field test the product.
"Epi-V's innovative approach provided the perfect incubation set up for Paul to use his engineering skills to develop a revolutionary technology, and for us to build a business able to fully commercialise and internationalise this product.
"Darcy is capable of adding significant value to a well and will be of interest to the completions engineers looking for a simple, but hugely effective sand management and inflow control system.
"With the management team's technical knowhow, commercial and operational expertise and Epi-V's strategic support, Darcy is in a strong position to quickly become a significant player in the sand screen market."
