The investment in this NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) spin-off follows a successful pilot of SeekOps’ drones equipped with methane detection sensors in Eagle Ford and Bakken assets.
Measuring and reducing methane emissions from our US onshore operations is a key priority for Equinor. SeekOps’ methane detection sensors were originally developed for NASA Curiosity rover’s Mars expeditions, and are 100X lighter and 1000X more sensitive than comparable technologies. SeekOps’ vision is to be a leader in autonomous gas detection, and the sensors are uniquely suited for operations on unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Through the pilot period, Equinor was able to increase alarm accuracy, localizing leaks to a great degree, and determining the flux of emissions from several wellsites.