Founder
Kristian Brekke, PhD
As a Norsk Hydro engineer in 1991, Kristian ran the first hand calculations on inflow control performance for horizontal wells in the Troll West thin oil zone. By 1992 he had co-invented the original ICD and filed the European patent that defines the technology still deployed in wells worldwide today.
Over the following three decades, he developed the simulation methods, from network solvers to coupled reservoir modelling, that became industry-standard tools including NETool. The CFD-based method in Flowpro Insight is the natural evolution of that 30-year body of work.
Original ICD inventor
European Patent EP 0 588 421, Norsk Hydro ASA, 1992
SPE author since 1993
7 papers including the 2025 Vienna keynote
NETool methodology contributor
Theory for wellbore network modelling, 1994–96
Flowpro Dynamics founder
CEO and lead scientist, established 2019
30 years of innovation
A complete lineage of firsts
First ICD hand calculations on Troll West, North Sea
Kristian Brekke, then a Norsk Hydro engineer, performs the first hand calculations on inflow control for horizontal wells in the Troll West thin oil zone.
Original ICD patent filed and prototype developed
European Patent EP 0 588 421 filed. First prototype ICD designed and deployed at Troll West, the world's first inflow control device installation.
First coupled reservoir and wellbore simulations
SPE 26518 published: "A New Modular Approach to Comprehensive Simulation of Horizontal Wells", the conceptual ancestor of Insight.
SPE paper demonstrates 50% production gain from ICD
Landmark study on Troll field shows inflow-control liner delivers 50% higher plateau rate and 14% more cumulative oil vs conventional completion.
Theory for NETool-type wellbore modelling developed
Methods for steady-state network modelling of horizontal well completions. Now the industry backbone for ICD simulation.
Multiphase near-wellbore network modelling published
ASME OMAE 2009 paper bridges the methodology from the Norsk Hydro era to modern Insight architecture.
Flowpro Insight development begins
CFD-based ICT analysis and upscaling software initiated, with Lundin Energy and Aker BP as founding development partners.
ICT Forum presentation: phase segregation breakthrough
New CFD methodology for modelling annulus phase segregation presented at the Inflow Control Technology Forum, Houston.
Insight upscaling method validated against Ansys Fluent
Independent validation confirms accuracy of Insight's CFD upscaling against commercial-grade CFD software.
SPE-225617-MS published at SPE Europe, Vienna
Flagship paper: "Method for Modelling and Upscaling Inflow Performance of Advanced Well Completions While Incorporating Effects from Annulus Phase Segregation."
Development partners
Built with operators
Insight was built in active partnership with North Sea operators from day one. Aker BP and Lundin Energy co-funded the original R&D programme from 2019, keeping the software focused on real operational problems on real wells.