NexTier Teams with Silixa to Launch IntelliStimSM Frac Optimization System, Completes First Project in Mid-Continent Region

Press Releases

Aug 23, 2021

HOUSTON, Aug. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — NexTier Oilfield Solutions Inc. (NYSE: NEX) (“NexTier” or the “Company”) today announced that the Company has recently launched the IntelliStim fracturing optimization system and has completed its first project for a major operator in the Mid-Continent region.

The proprietary IntelliStim system packages the full array of NexTier’s NexHub® digital technologies into a comprehensive, value-added offering. It will enable NexTier customers to monitor every aspect of the completion operation in real time, including detailed downhole visualizations to verify that the fracturing treatment is performing as planned.

Exclusive to NexTier, the system builds upon the Company’s focused strategy of integrated wellsite operations that improve wellsite performance and decrease oilfield operators’ ultimate cost per barrel. Using personnel already on location to quickly deploy instrumentation, the system is designed to merge seamlessly and without interruption in today’s high-efficiency fracturing operations.

From pre-job treatment design to offset well monitoring, stage-by-stage performance assessments and detailed visualizations of downhole fracture propagation during pumping, all surface and downhole data will be hosted on the NexHub Digital Center and displayed using the industry-leading Corva visualization platform. This empowers all decision makers, whether at the wellsite or from a remote location, with precise control to make dynamic adjustments to optimize completion performance.

The IntelliStim system uses Silixa’s Carina® sensing system to assess frac-design performance in real time. The Carina system incorporates a Constellation fiber-equipped sensing wireline cable to cost-effectively monitor fracture growth, azimuthal development and cluster efficiency while pumping. With the ability to be repeatedly deployed and retrieved in multiple offset wells via a NexTier wireline truck, this proven Silixa intervention solution achieves the most accurate measurements and highest signal-to-noise ratio in the industry.

“Partnering with Silixa brings our leading completions expertise together with the global leader in fiber-optic sensing,” said Robert Drummond, President and Chief Executive Officer of NexTier. “In real time, as the operation progresses, the IntelliStim system provides an unprecedented level of quality control and efficiency over every component of your completion program.”

Pete Richter, Vice President, North America at Silixa, added, “Working shoulder to shoulder with NexTier gives us access to the largest dedicated wireline fleet in the US, which enables operators to deploy Silixa’s precise crosswell monitoring and microseismic surveys in more wells – and for a much lower cost than permanently installing fiber optics along the well casing. In addition, by integrating our fiber-acquired data into the NexHub Digital Center, operators gain an exponential increase in the value their data can provide.”

“From a technological perspective, it’s the best possible array of surface equipment, downhole measurements, real-time monitoring and comprehensive data collection – right at your fingertips,” commented Otman Algadi, Director of Commercial Engineering at NexTier. “It’s the next step in our ultimate goal of deploying artificial intelligence across the wellsite, and we’re proud to make it a reality.”

About NexTier Oilfield Solutions
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, NexTier is an industry-leading U.S. land oilfield service company, with a diverse set of well completion and production services across the most active and demanding basins. Our integrated solutions approach delivers efficiency today, and our ongoing commitment to innovation helps our customers better address what is coming next. NexTier is differentiated through four points of distinction, including safety performance, efficiency, partnership, and innovation. At NexTier, we believe in living our core values from the basin to the boardroom, and helping customers win by safely unlocking affordable, reliable, and plentiful sources of energy.

About Silixa
Headquartered in the UK with satellite offices in Houston (serving the oil and gas sector) and Missoula, Montana (serving the environmental, infrastructure, and mining sectors), Silixa is the leading independent global provider of fiber-optic-powered data solutions. We offer an integrated suite of distributed fiber-optic technologies (DAS, DSS and DTS) that provides ultrahigh-definition data sets to solve critical measurement challenges in the alternative energy, mining, environmental and earth sciences, infrastructure, and oil and gas sectors. Our dedicated, domain-specific teams deliver world-class, real-time data solutions that enable our clients to gain actionable insight into their assets and systems. These solutions are proved to increase efficiency, prevent loss, reduce operational costs and extend equipment lifespans.

Media Contact: Samuel DeSarro, Samuel.DeSarro@icrinc.com