Changes in Ownership and Operation

CALLISTO (Calibration (at Leicester) and In-Situ Tool Optimisation) has been a commercially  accessible logging calibration and test facility providing a platform on which to build and develop research alongside the needs of industry. It was derived from the EUROPA facility, established in Aberdeen through a joint Industry - European Community project led by AEA Technologies.  In 1997 components of the facility were transferred to the East Midlands and a smaller calibration facility was established between the University of Leicester and Reeves Wireline Technologies Ltd (now part of Weatherford). The current facilities include four tanks, each containing two formations, each six feet thick and comprising six slabs, in freshwater.  The formations include three sandstones, three limestones and two dolomites of a range of porosities. All formations have 21.7 cm holes. The facility is primarily intended for the calibration of nuclear logging tools. Please see the following link for more information: http://www.Callisto-calibration.co.uk 

After more than a decade, the running of the facility is no longer aligned with the University’s petrophysical research activities and hence the University has decided to devolve itself from involvement in the operational facility.  Petrophysics research will continue at the University of Leicester but, as before, will concentrate on using petrophysical data from core and logs in investigating conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs, waste repositories, ocean and continental crust, and in identifying novel and appropriate techniques for interpreting petrophysical data. The University looks forwards to continuing its strong collaboration with industry and academia worldwide in pursuing petrophysical research.

In exiting from association with CALLISTO, the University is keen to ensure the spirit of the original agreement is upheld as far as possible in changed times. Consequently the facility has been temporarily closed during a careful evaluation and extensive discussions towards determining its future operational use.

The existing facility will now continue to operate, solely under Weatherford control, with ownership of the 8 formations transferring to Weatherford. Weatherford have agreed to receive ownership of the Rocks and to allow continued access for public users until 1st July 2013  under notionally similar conditions as before, although the cost of access will reflect the real costs of maintenance and access, and users will be obliged to accept the terms and conditions of use, including liability. After this date Weatherford will review the terms of access to CALLISTO.

Anyone interested in using CALLISTO should contact Alex Pereira at Weatherford (email Alex.Pereira@eu.weatherford.com)

Most of the original materials comprising the EUROPA facility have expired over time – for example de-airing tanks and chambers that succumbed to the elements, as well as offcuts of blocks, but in addition to the current operational facility there remain an additional nine formations stored dry since 1997 (see Table 1).

At this time, the University also wishes to dispose of the remaining 9 formations and invites expressions of interest for these. It should be noted that use of these formations in a future calibration facility would require resaturation and establishment of appropriate holding vessels.

Anyone wishing to express interest in the remaining formations should contact Professor Mike Lovell (email: mike.lovell@le.ac.uk) no later than 31st November 2011.