Badger Explorer

Badger Explorer ASA (ose: BXPL) was a Norwegian company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. It developed a technology used to explore and map the extent of hydrocarbon resource and reserve base and provide long-term monitoring. Badger Explorer ASA was listed on the Oslo stock exchange in 2007 and has new ticker from May 2017. In 2018 the company changed name to Hunter Group ASA.

Technology
The technology is based on an invention of the researcher at International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS). The invention was granted a patent in 2002 (Norway) and 2006 (USA). The Badger tool drills into the subsurface without a rig and buries itself. It carries an electrically powered drilling system and sensors, which continuously record data, producing logs while drilling, and providing continuous, long-term data in surveillance mode. The tool connects to the surface by a power and communication cable, which are initially spooled inside the tool and gradually released in the course of advancing.

"Named after the company, the badger tool is essentially a 100-ft-long bottom-hole-assembly package that is designed to reach subsurface depths of 3000 m. [...] The entire exploration program could be done by a service vessel used to launch the tool, or probably several tools to form an array. The badger is then guided down and locked into its drilling position by a remotely operated vehicle. Each tool will be installed with various logging and sonar systems to analyze geological conditions and monitor the prospective reservoir. [...] Tethering the tool to the outside world is a combined power and fiber-optic cable that will spool out of the back end connect to a seabed manifold that provides power. [...] The data will be streamed beyond the manifold and up to a satellite buoy to enable operators to monitor and readjust its drilling parameters."