A journey to the
centre of the earth

A journey to the centre of the earth

Prysmian’s state-of-the-art downhole technology delivers reliable, long-life and cost-effective oil well & production management data solutions.

Customer proximity is one of our primary goals. Making leverage of our global presence, we will bring Gulf Coast Downhole Technologies expertise and innovative abilities to a bigger customer audience, granting us the opportunity to develop a versatile and advanced  supply chain”.

For more than thirty years, Prysmian has pioneered the d evelopment of groundbreaking downhole technology solutions. The search for ever more innovative new products and services has always been at the heart of the Prysmian culture.

Balancing the design requirements for reliability, long-life and cost-effectiveness has been a stimulating and demanding task. This reference is not casual. In Jules Verne’s masterpiece, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, written over 150 years ago, Otto Lidenbrock explains to Axel, his nephew and narrator of the novel, how scientific research works: “science is eminently perfectible, my lad, and each theory has constantly to give way to a fresh one”.

Prysmian solutions are used to connect the surface with equipment and sensors located in oil wells hundreds of meters below the surface of the Earth. Reliability, long-life and cost-effectiveness are then crucial for monitoring the conditions of a well and managing the production of oil and gas. Prysmian’s experience and expertise is the result of the acquisitions by Prysmian, of Draka and Gulf Coast Downhole Technologies (GCDT) which were completed in April 2017. The integration of these businesses allows us to address the needs of a wide range of applications from the opening and closing of valves, to downhole flow measurements and flow assurance. These demands also include technology that can be used in high temperature, extreme pressure and aggressive / corrosive wells.

This aligns with Prysmian Group’s commitment to respond quickly and promptly to our customers’ demands. As CEO Valerio Battista stated soon after the acquisition of GCDT, “customer proximity is one of our primary goals. Making leverage of our global presence, we will bring Gulf Coast Downhole Technologies expertise and innovative abilities to a bigger customer audience, granting us the opportunity to develop a versatile and advanced supply chain”.

The PDT product portfolio includes downhole cables, control lines & flatpacks, protectors and a range of associated accessories and services.  The cable range includes Tube Encapsulated Cables (TEC) which are used to carry data or supply power to downhole instrumentation, sensors and powered equipment and Tube Encapsulated Fibre (TEF) which are used in temperature, pressure, flow, strain measurement and acoustic sensing applications.

From simple, single duty land-based installations through to the most complex multi-parameter systems for deep water developments, operators all around the world rely on Prysmian Downhole Technology. “Our success is a result of the dedication and hard work of our people,” said Giovanni Calimani, who leads the PDT team. “Our people’s experience, knowledge and skill has created a world beating portfolio that is relied on by customers all around the world to produce vital information about their oil and gas production,” he explains.

The welding, assembly, flushing and filling processes are so specialised that PDT has had to invest in a machine shop and employ specialist in advanced manufacturing techniques to build and continuously improve the equipment to manufacture and assemble our products.

This gives PDT a major advantage over the rest of the industry. Rather than needing to compromise a solution to match a standard range of products, PDT designs and then manufactures a solution that exactly matches a customer’s needs. And being a specialist who produces thousands of meters of TEC a year, they do this at a very competitive price.

The Group’s global expertise in the Oil & Gas industry is mirrored in a brand new dedicated website area, launched in October. Aimed at boosting Prysmian reach to its customers, the new area includes a more efficient navigation and several content that will help visitors understand how the Group helps customers in the oil & gas industry address their toughest challenges.