Weatherford International Plc released the Revolution rotary steerable system (RSS) at the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, the company said July 21.

The Revolution RSS completed several successful drilling projects for major operators in the Eagle Ford Shale. Recently, it was used to drill through a challenging, dense limestone and sandstone formation to 16,559 feet (ft) total depth and 328 degrees Fahrenheit. The average rate of penetration was 75% faster than conventional steerable motor systems, Weatherford said.

In a separate, six-well Eagle Ford project, Revolution averaged 180 ft per hour on all six wells and a record of 227 ft per hour on one well. The drilling cycle was reduced by two weeks and the operator saved $1 million in operational costs.

Revolution is compatible with the full line of LWD formation evaluation services.

Operators must be able to minimize risks and reduce drilling time to quickly arrive at the production stage. Revolution’s point-the-bit technology allows for diverse directional drilling in complex wellbores. It has advanced sensors and telemetry.

Etienne Roux, vice president of drilling services, said Revolution has drilled 284 vertical-curve lateral wells in a single run in the last year and half. This totals 2.4 million feet, he added.

Weatherford was one of the first service providers to offer a RSS for high-pressure, high-temperature environments.