Vivione Biosciences Inc., have announced an array of early adopters for its comprehensive suite of rapid microbial tests recently launched in the Oil and Gas Markets through its affiliate, Petro Chemical Bio-Diagnostics (PC Bio).

Just five months ago, Vivione introduced its RAPID-B system to the Oil and Gas Industry through PC Bio, and already companies such as Newpark Drilling Fluids, Trican Well Service, Enervest and Newfield Exploration Co. are utilizing these services to gain unparalleled insights into the treatment of damaging oilfield bacteria. Bacteria related corrosion, well souring, and plugging issues cost exploration and production companies billions of dollars annually. The industry employs cutting edge chemical treatments to combat bacteria in the field, but has lacked advanced microbial testing techniques to accurately diagnose the problem or measure the effectiveness of their biocide treatments. The power of the RAPID-B technology in combination with PC Bio's other microbial laboratory services have begun to catch the attention of independent and major oil operators who want a more accurate and effective approach to combating microbial damage to their producing wells.

Early this year a large oilfield service company made the decision to purchase the RAPID-B System and incorporate it into their fluid testing and water treatment services. That decision has proved to be profitable as just this week they reported that a major E&P company with a market capitalization of over $50 billion hired them to test for bacteria in water and frac fluids in West Texas in order to systematically identify potential points of bacterial contamination throughout all stages of the frac. They deployed their mobile testing lab, collected fluid samples at key points in the process, including analysis of various size proppants and gels. The Rapid-BT technology was able to provide them with the live bacteria counts within 15 minutes of initiating the test, resulting in identification of several samples with high bacteria levels detected after the biocide treatment. The Rapid-BT identified quantitative values of live bacteria allowing the service company time to apply additional treatment of biocides before the fluid entered the formation.

Vivione's CEO Kevin Kuykendall said, "The customer response to the results RAPID-B delivers has been extremely positive. Rapid diagnosis and real time monitoring of biocide treatment effectiveness has always been the Achilles Heel in the area of controlling harmful bacteria like sulfate reducing bacteria and acid producing bacteria. With the Rapid-B System and PC Bio's testing services we can now, for the first time get a thorough handle on the problem and address it quickly with confidence. This represents a significant change in the way E&P companies can combat SRBs and APBs and lower their operating costs."

Garett Heath of Newpark Drilling Fluids Canada also shared, "We view PC Bio's service offerings as a powerful tool to help provide better insight into producing wells and fluid sources where bacterial contamination is of a concern. We strive to surpass our customers' expectations by continuously looking for up and coming, innovative testing that will provide meaningful data to increase our efficiencies in remediating microbial contamination of producing wells and water sources. PC Bio's service offering along with Vivione's RAPID-B platform provides a value-added technology that is designed to do both."

In addition to proactively addressing bacteria related damage to well equipment and pipelines, bacteria testing is also necessary in order to recycle and reuse oilfield waters during the hydraulic fracturing process. To effectively reuse flowback water, it must be first analyzed for microbial contamination. If contamination is present, even in low concentrations, the RAPID-B System can detect this condition on the spot, and can confirm the efficacy of the subsequent treatment process with a much greater degree of confidence. PC Bio's suite of technologies brings a quantum leap in speed and accuracy to the entire process from start to finish. Grant Farion, the Technical Supervisor, International R&D, for Trican Well Service said, "We conduct fracturing services in Canada, Russia, Kazakhstan and the US. There is a general trend away from fresh water toward produced and recycled water, which increases the potential for bacteria to be present in the waters we use."