Battery-powered fiber system deploys 25,000 ft in record time

The article reports on WellSense’s FiberLine Intervention Conveyance System (FliCS), a breakthrough battery-powered, jet-propelled fiber-optic deployment technology tested successfully in the Permian Basin in August 2025. FliCS rapidly deploys bare optical fiber up to 25,000 feet in under an hour—about ten times faster than traditional pump-down or tractor-assisted methods—by using magnetic launch activation, onboard batteries, and a jet-drive propulsion system that accelerates well fluids to move the probe through complex, highly deviated, or horizontal wells. This system enables real-time distributed fiber-optic sensing (DFOS) for temperature, strain, and acoustic monitoring along the wellbore, improving diagnostic survey speed, quality, cost, and efficiency. Developed at WellSense’s UK headquarters and R&D hub in Aberdeen, FliCS offers significant operational advantages including reduced fluid usage, lightweight non-metallic components that minimize risk to future well interventions, and the ability to leave components