Shell tests laser sensor to identify shale gas

Royal Dutch Shell is working with an oilfield services company to test a laser device to find shale natural gas deposits.

The device, known as WellDog, is dropped down a well and uses lasers to identify what kind of energy, if any, is in the well, the Houston Chronicle reported.

John Pope, chief executive officer of the company that makes WellDog, told the Chronicle that unlike other methods for measuring shale gas, it can actually tell a drilling company what is in the well with certainty.

Shell has been testing the product for about two years, with the hope that it can give Shell a more accurate picture of what is underground to inform its decisions about further drilling or fracturing.

WellDog is promoting the product as a way to be more efficient and drill fewer unnecessary wells, the Chronicle said.

The device reads the laser frequencies that bounce off hydrocarbon molecules to determine what they are. Each molecule returns a unique light frequency that WellDog can analyze.

The company said it is more accurate than systems that use infrared and less sensitive to water.

Shell declined to provide details to the Chronicle on its testing.