Drilling Deeper: How Data and Trust are Forging a New Identity for Energy

EDMONTON, AB – December 11, 2025 – In the high-stakes, high-pressure world of energy exploration, what you can’t see can cost billions. Thousands of feet below the earth's surface, complex machinery grinds through rock in extreme conditions, largely invisible to the human eye. For decades, operators have relied on a mixture of experience, surface-level data, and educated guesswork to navigate this subterranean realm. But a new partnership signals a pivotal shift, aiming to replace ambiguity with certainty by giving the downhole environment a verifiable digital identity.

Edmonton-based Recon Intelligence Corporation, a specialist in advanced drilling diagnostics, has been selected to join the Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV) Catalyst Program. While it may read like a standard corporate announcement, this collaboration represents something more profound: a major validation of technology designed to build trust through data, empowering the human layer in one of the world's most challenging industries.

At the heart of the issue is non-productive time (NPT)—a benign-sounding term for any period where drilling operations cease. Caused by equipment failure, tool dysfunction, or unexpected geological challenges, NPT is a colossal drain on resources, accounting for an estimated 15-30% of total drilling costs globally. It's a problem measured not just in dollars, but in project delays and heightened safety risks. Recon's mission is to tackle this problem by providing an unprecedented level of visibility where it matters most.

Creating a Digital Identity Underground

Recon Intelligence has developed a suite of patented, ruggedized sensors engineered to survive and record data in the most hostile drilling environments. These miniature data loggers, such as the TR1™ Environmental Logger, are retrofitted into existing downhole equipment. Once deployed, they act as a black box for the bottom-hole assembly (BHA), capturing ultra-high-resolution data on vibration, temperature, rotation, torque, and pressure at a granularity previously thought inaccessible.

This isn't just more data; it's a fundamentally different kind of information. By providing a detailed, second-by-second chronicle of the BHA's journey, the technology creates a verifiable digital identity of downhole events. Instead of inferring the cause of a tool failure after the fact, operators can access a precise record of the dynamics that led to it. This shift from inference to evidence is transformative. It allows drilling teams to understand why a drill bit wore out prematurely or how destructive vibrations began, enabling them to adjust parameters and prevent recurrences.

"CTV has a long-standing commitment supporting innovative technologies that aim to advance the energy industry," said Jonathan Prill, President and Co-Founder of Recon Intelligence, in the original announcement. "It affirms the potential value of our patented technology and the role it can play in addressing critical challenges in drilling operations."

This affirmation is crucial. By building trust in the data, the technology builds confidence in the multi-million-dollar decisions that rest upon it. It moves operations away from a reactive, failure-response model toward a predictive, data-driven one.

Chevron's Strategic Bet on Verified Innovation

For an energy major like Chevron, this partnership is more than just an investment; it's a strategic play in de-risking innovation. The CTV Catalyst Program, launched in 2017, functions as an 'on-ramp' for early-stage technologies. It provides funding and, more importantly, a structured pathway for startups to prove their value and potentially integrate with Chevron’s massive global operations.

By selecting Recon, Chevron is placing a bet on the power of high-fidelity data to optimize its core business. The program's history reveals a broad vision, supporting companies far beyond traditional oilfield services. Past participants include firms working on carbon-capturing electrolyzers (Solidec Inc.), immersive AR/VR training platforms (Motive.io), and AI-driven data analytics (Cerebre). This diverse portfolio shows that Chevron is building an ecosystem of trusted technologies to navigate the future of energy, which will be defined by efficiency, digitalization, and lower carbon intensity.

Bringing a company like Recon into this ecosystem serves a dual purpose. It provides Chevron with early access to a potentially game-changing efficiency tool while giving Recon the resources and operational proving grounds necessary to scale. This symbiotic relationship is essential for bridging the gap between a promising prototype and a globally deployed, trusted industrial solution.

Empowering the Human Layer on the Rig Floor

Perhaps the most critical aspect of this technological shift is its impact on the human layer. Advanced technology in heavy industry often raises fears of automation replacing human expertise. However, Recon's approach appears centered on augmentation, not replacement. The company's mission to "democratize expert analysis" speaks directly to this.

Raw sensor data, no matter how high-resolution, is useless without interpretation. Recon's development of AI-driven software, including its upcoming Artemis™ platform, is designed to translate terabytes of complex environmental data into actionable insights for the drilling team on the rig floor. Instead of waiting for a specialist in a remote office to analyze post-run data, teams can gain a quicker, clearer understanding of downhole dynamics.

This empowers them to make smarter, safer, and more efficient decisions in near-real-time. It builds a new layer of trust—not just in the technology, but in the crew's own ability to manage increasingly complex operations. By providing intuitive tools that enhance situational awareness, the technology elevates the skill and effectiveness of the operators, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and proactive problem-solving.

"Participating in this program is a powerful step forward for us," added Nasim Morawej, Recon's Vice President. "It contributes to our mission of improving drilling analysis capabilities for operators globally."

As this technology matures, its impact will extend beyond oil and gas. The same challenges of NPT, equipment failure, and harsh environments exist in geothermal drilling and mining—sectors critical to the energy transition and raw material supply chains. By proving its value in partnership with an industry leader like Chevron, Recon's technology is poised to provide the digital identity and data-backed trust needed to optimize resource extraction across the board, making operations smarter and safer for the people who run them.