Methods for gathering downhole oil and gas well data have grown more sophisticated in recent years, but the speed with which this data is communicated from the bottom of the well to drillers on the rig can be slower than the Pony Express. IntelliPipeTM, a revolutionary new drill pipe with built-in telemetry, hopes to change the state-of-the-art in downhole communication speed. In a recently completed full-scale field test at the federal Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center (RMOTC) near Casper, Wyoming, the IntelliPipeTM technology was able to transmit downhole data more than 200,000 times faster than technology commonly in use today. Referred to by some as the "Downhole Internet," the IntelliPipeTM technology has the ability to transmit large amounts of downhole data, such as local geology, temperature, pressure, and rate of penetration to the surface as fast as 2 million bits per second. It also will allow data to be sent the other direction just as fast, giving oil and gas drillers the capability to direct the drill bit more precisely toward oil- and gas-bearing sweet spots and away from less productive areas almost instantaneously. This will enhance the efficiency of oil and gas wells and reduce the number of wells needed to produce a reservoir.