The 2016 World Oil Awards honored those “Rising to the Challenge” during a difficult period for the upstream oil and gas industry. For 15 years now, World Oil has recognized innovations and innovators, as well as companies and their personnel, for their contributions in technology development that have helped drive the industry forward.

Sponsored by Zentech Inc., Baker Hughes, Saudi Aramco, Halliburton, Freudenberg, Eddie V’s, and Amros Corporation, the 15th annual World Oil Awards honored winners and finalists in 18 categories. The judging process is conducted by an esteemed advisory board, made up of well-known leaders in the industry, with a diverse range of expertise. 

This year’s winners took home trophies from The Houstonian Hotel on Oct. 13. The evening’s master of ceremonies was Tim Stroud, a former U.S. Army combat medic, who is very active with veterans and organizations throughout Houston. 

The World Oil Awards endow leading universities with necessary funds and encouragement to educate the industry’s future leaders. Since the inception of the World Oil Awards, thousands of dollars have been donated to educational programs worldwide. The recipient of this year’s university endowment was the George R. Brown School of Engineering at Rice University.

On behalf of the World Oil Awards advisory board members, Gulf Publishing Company and World Oil, congratulations to this year’s winners and finalists. Your commitment to revolutionizing the industry with cutting-edge technology and innovative ideas will continue to inspire your peers and the next generation of leaders. 

Best Completion Technology 

This award recognizes the leading solution that provided a substantial impact on the industry’s completions. Criteria for the award include innovation, reliability, commercial application and industry impact.

Finalists: Ascent high-side fracturing service, Baker Hughes; AutoFrac System, Weatherford; Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing for shale reservoirs, OptaSense; ESP Reliable Power Delivery System, Saudi Aramco and Schlumberger; Innovative Forged Completion Landing String, Vallourec Drilling Products; Laser Snake Perf, Saudi Aramco; ResFlow CV Check-Valve Inflow Control Device, Schlumberger; SPECTRE disintegrating frac plug, Baker Hughes; StackFRAC Titanium XV System, Packers Plus Energy Services

Winner: Manara Production and Reservoir Management System, Saudi Aramco and Schlumberger

The Manara production and reservoir management system provides continuous real-time monitoring and control, in up to 60 compartments, in multi-lateral wells or targets, at step-out distances exceeding 10 km—all with a single electric control line. This industry-first, intelligent completion system can be run in any well type, and it requires no changes to drilling programs. It identifies problematic zones, diagnoses the source of the problem, and rapidly adjusts downhole valves accordingly to keep the well in production. Patented inductive couplers transmit power and telemetry wirelessly between the upper and lower completion stages, and across lateral junctions, simplifying installation and maximizing recovery with fewer wells. Additionally, its built-in automation capability further improves operations. Managed with WellWatcher Advisor completion software, operations are monitored, using real-time surveillance, which integrates, analyzes and translates well data to enable improved collaboration and streamline the decision-making process.

Best Data Management & Application Solution 

This award is given for an implemented, viable workflow solution, focused on data storage, delivery or management processes and technologies, that provided tangible results for an operator or service company.

Finalists: AM BIT fiber-optic data management service, Baker Hughes; Comprehensive data acquisition strategy, Laredo Petroleum
and Halliburton; DecisionSpace Petrophysics, Halliburton Landmark; QuickCut Pro Service, Weatherford

Winner: Blackstream along-string measurement (ASM) tool, National Oilwell Varco

The BlackStream along-string measurement tool acquires temperature, annular pressure, rotation and three-axis vibration data at high frequencies, from sensors embedded throughout the drillstring at regular intervals. These measurements are streamed to the surface in real time, through high-speed, wired-pipe telemetry. Because the amount of downhole data is greatly increased, an equivalent fluid density (EFD) viewer was developed, to display annular pressure and lateral vibrations in a more efficient manner. The EFD viewer allows the operator to obtain an instant and intuitive understanding of downhole conditions. This new, real-time data acquisition and visualization technology provides considerable cost-savings, and will serve as an added safeguard against well control problems. 

Best Deepwater Technology 

This award recognizes significant technology in the area of drilling, completions and production in deepwater applications.

Finalists: Dash Large Bore Electrohydraulic Control Module, Halliburton; DeepRange, Wild Well Control; HCS AdvantageOne, Halliburton; Marine Riser Cleaning Assembly, M-I SWACO, a Schlumberger company; MaxPull High-Pull Wireline Conveyance System, Schlumberger; Subsea Connection System Project for Statoil’s Polarled Pipeline Project, Freudenberg Oil & Gas Technologies; TerraForm Openhole Packer System, Weatherford

Winner: BASTILLE HPHT removable production packer, Baker Hughes

The BASTILLE HPHT tool is the first production packer designed to be fully removed after being deployed in harsh, ultra-HPHT conditions. BASTILLE creates a reliable seal between the casing and tubing, while the well is flowing, and reliably disengages when well intervention or retrieval is required. It incorporates a new chassis design, with upgraded HPHT elastomers that maintain a V0-rated, gas-tight seal in conditions up to 450°F and 20,000 psi. Additionally, a unique slip design increases the contact area, keeping it anchored while minimizing stress on the casing. The packer features a cut-to-release, modular design, which enables it to be removed with a wireline-deployed, mechanical pipe cutter, and brought to the surface in a single trip as part of the production string. The BASTILLE system extends removable packer technology benefits to deepwater and ultra-deepwater developments. It also supports single- and multiple-packer completions.

Best Drilling & Completion Fluids 

This award recognizes an innovative drilling or completions fluid, or a fluid-related mechanism or process that was commercially introduced within the last year, and which helped to drill for, or produce, oil or gas.

Finalists: EquiSeal Conformance Service, Halliburton; Multiple Opening Circulation Sub (MOCS) second generation design G2, National Oilwell Varco; NeoCem Cement, Halliburton; TETRA CS Neptune – Non-zinc, non-formate high density completion fluid, TETRA Technologies

Winner: HydraGlyde High-Performance Water-Base Drilling Fluid System, M-I SWACO, a Schlumberger company

The HydraGlyde high-performance, water-base drilling fluid is engineered to quickly, and successfully, address the challenges of shale plays, including their economic and environmental constraints. The system’s novel chemistry delivers a rate of penetration comparable to oil-base mud, along with the optimal hole cleaning characteristics of water-base mud. The result is high wellbore stability in high-angle build and long-lateral sections, and reduced torque, drag, shale swelling and dispersion. Comprised of three components—a specially engineered shale inhibitor that provides a high degree of wellbore stability; a proprietary encapsulator that minimizes clay dispersion and enhances wellbore integrity; and an ROP enhancer that improves drilling speed—the fit-for-purpose system provides exceptional lubricity and formation stability. HydraGlyde helps operators harmonize the requirements of economic and environmental drivers of shale production, while supporting trouble-free drilling. Further, the system delivers results at a lower cost compared with oil-base mud.

Best Drilling Technology

This award goes to innovators, who executed an industry-leading effort during the year that had a significant impact on the industry, onshore or offshore, through drilling innovation.

Finalists: BroadShear Enhanced Shearing Technology, Cameron, a Schlumberger company; IntelliServ for the Second Generation of Wired Drill Pipe (WDP) System “IntelliServ2,” IntelliServ; SF Cementor D Stage Collar, Packers Plus Energy Services; SOLIDrill Modular Impact Wellhead System, Cameron, a Schlumberger company; Talon Force PDC Bits, Baker Hughes; Tektonic Drill Bit Platform, National Oilwell Varco

Winner: Quasar Trio Service, Halliburton

The Quasar Trio service is the first full M/LWD triple-combo service that can operate in temperatures up to 200°C. It is designed to be run with Quasar Pulse, to provide additional resistivity, neutron porosity, and azimuthal density measurements, with the same quality as legacy tools. It features an integrated, real-time system, which provides a set of essential downhole measurements of well trajectory, borehole pressure, drillstring dynamics and natural gamma rays, allowing the well to be drilled safely and more efficiently. Quasar Trio delivers critical, real-time formation-evaluation data, enabling the operator to analyze a reservoir and make financially critical decisions early in the well construction process, at temperatures up to 200°C. This combination of both density and neutron-porosity measurements, as well as resistivity and gamma ray, allows for accurate reservoir evaluation, even in the gas zones of high-temperature wells.   

Best EOR Technology

This award is given to a company whose innovative EOR technology has enhanced crude recovery substantially.

Finalists: CO₂ Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) project, Saudi Aramco; Plasma Pulse Technology, Novas Energy

Winner: GelBlock temporary annular isolation system, Baker Hughes

The GelBlock temporary annular isolation system provides a strong, but temporary cement-like barrier for short-term isolation, for enhanced hydrocarbon recovery during refracturing and recompletion operations. This economical solution allows more of the reservoir to be accessed, while leaving existing flow paths connected. The water-based system is engineered and pumped as a viscous slurry. Using Baker Hughes’ guar-based chemistry, it can be applied at temperatures ranging from 125°F to 250°F. After exposure to downhole temperatures, it becomes a solid that can be used to temporarily isolate a zone. Following the refracture, a fast-acting breaker dissolves the hardened material, making it a low-viscosity liquid that is easily circulated out with production flow. Its simplicity, and lack of reliance on pipe, can cover longer laterals than what has been feasible with mechanical isolation options. GelBlock’s temporary isolation allows for access to both new and existing zones of the reservoir, for increased ultimate recovery.

Best Exploration Technology

This award is given for the leading acquisition technology (including seismic, geochemistry and remote sensing) or algorithm/processing technology introduced during the previous year.

Finalists: Amazon Class Vessels, Schlumberger; Capacitive Em Sensing, Saudi Aramco; Compact Formation Sampler, Weatherford; Tomographic Full Waveform Inversion (TFWI), Stanford Exploration Project (SEP), Stanford University

Winner: EarthStudy 360, Paradigm

EarthStudy 360 was developed to recover high-resolution data that are either underutilized or lost with standard seismic imaging procedures. The innovative processing approach can recover, and separate, specular and diffraction energy from recorded seismic data. The new process decomposes the fully recorded seismic wavefield in-place and in-depth, without integration or stacking, so that the lower energy associated with subsurface diffractions can be isolated and subsequently enhanced. The recovery of diffraction energy from seismic data is enabled by a rich multi-dimensional decomposition, defined by full-azimuth directivity and reflectivity. Once diffraction energy is isolated, it can be followed by interpretation image enhancement techniques to create high-resolution images of subsurface stratigraphic and structural features. Also, the diffraction images can detect reservoir heterogeneities that are completely obscured by standard imaging procedures. This procedure is applicable to all exploration and field development projects, including deep water, shale plays, fractured carbonate reservoirs and mature fields. 

Health, Safety, Environment/Sustainable Development—Offshore 

This award is presented to a company that has made significant strides in protecting and enhancing the offshore environment where it operates. Whether through technical innovations, implementation of new standards or processes, or introduction of social and economic development efforts, the winner will have a program that made a marked improvement in an HSE/sustainable development endeavor.

Finalists: AQUA-VES Offshore Water Treatment System, National Oilwell Varco; ENVIROUNIT Offshore Slop Water Treatment System, M-I SWACO, a Schlumberger company; eSource Bandwidth Controlled Airgun, WesternGeco and Teledyne Marine; SCAVTREAT—Production Enabling Multi-phase Scavenging in the Brazilian Pre-Salt, Clariant Oil Services

Winner: DeepShield Deepwater Subsurface Safety Valve, Baker Hughes

The DeepShield Deepwater subsurface safety valve provides a field-proven design and reliable barrier, to minimize the chance of reservoir fluids escaping up the wellbore in critical, deepwater applications. The valve, which is the industry’s first to be certified to API’s level 14A-V1, is designed to provide fail-safe closure, if well control is lost—even with debris buildup—to protect against HSE incidents. The system provides full control system redundancy and enables the valve to function at extreme depths and pressures, as well as to close when commanded, even if primary nitrogen chamber pressure is lost. This reliable system reduces the need for costly subsea well interventions, while the debris mitigation system ensures valve closure in challenging environments.

Health, Safety, Environment/Sustainable Development—Onshore 

This award is presented to a company that has made significant strides in protecting and enhancing the onshore environment and communities where it operates. Whether through technical innovations, implementation of new standards and processes, or introduction of social and economic development efforts, the winner will have a program that made a marked improvement in an HSE/sustainable development endeavor.

Finalists: EcoDiDesh, Ecopetrol; ExpressKinect System, Halliburton; Fall Brook AMD Treatment & Restoration Project, Southwestern Energy; Fractal Systems, Fractal Systems, Inc.; Optimized Saltwater Disposal Facility, National Oilwell Varco

Winner: xWATER Integrated Water-Flexible Fracturing Fluid Delivery Service, Schlumberger

The xWATER integrated, water-flexible, fracturing fluid delivery service mitigates the economic and environmental burden of freshwater sourcing, transportation, treatment and disposal in hydraulic fracturing operations. This service enables operators to use an engineered fracturing fluid customized for the available alternative water source, well conditions and reservoir properties. It uses an inexpensive polysaccharide gelling agent and a proprietary metal crosslinker to formulate a water-flexible fluid that is able to handle waters with total dissolved salts in excess of 300,000 ppm, delivering a cost-effective alternative to crosslinked gels made out of expensive guar derivatives. This new approach creates an opportunity for operators to use flowback or produced water from previous hydraulic fracturing jobs, as well as nearby alternative water sources, such as brackish groundwater or seawater.

Best Outreach Program 

This award spotlights a program that has done the best job of teaching the general community, and younger generation, about the value of the oil and gas industry, which is often one of the greatest challenges confronting the energy sector.

Finalists: PetroChallenge pre-university students educational event, NexT, a Schlumberger company; VIP Consultant Program, Paradigm

Winner: energy4me Program, SPE International

energy4me is designed to deliver online educational resources to educators, while helping students of all ages find balanced information about the industry. The energy4me program has increased awareness and, through its workshops, created opportunities for students to enter the industry. The program has contributed, by using hands-on activities, to the increased interest and passion of the students, leading them to choose engineering as their career path. These hands-on activities ensure that many students will be exposed to the various career paths in the industry, and will contribute to increasing manpower and available human resources in the future.

Best Production Chemicals 

This award is given to a company whose innovative stimulation or treatment chemicals have enhanced the production of oil and gas.

Finalists: PBaSOL-2000  HP Scale Dissolver, Schlumberger; Fracturing with Saudi sand in resin consolidated pillars, Saudi Aramco and Halliburton; ProSolv W18581 Parrafin Inhibitor, GE Power-Water Process Technologies

Winner: Fathom XT Subsea525 Asphaltene Inhibitor, Baker Hughes

FATHOM XT asphaltene inhibitor improves flow assurance, to enhance operators’ production output with less remediation downtime than was previously possible. The new inhibitor’s unique chemical formula, which can be injected continuously at much lower dosage rates than traditional inhibitors to control asphaltene deposition, improves long-term flow assurance and helps reduce costs throughout the life of the well. It also helps to mitigate the risk of costly, unplanned production shortfalls in offshore applications. The new asphaltene inhibitor was developed using Baker Hughes’ Analytical Centrifuge Stability Analysis for Asphaltenes (ACSAA) laboratory evaluation method, enabling differentiating asphaltene inhibitor product selection, formulation development and treatment monitoring. Using this method, Baker Hughes can more precisely develop and select appropriate inhibitor programs for specific crude types and well conditions, as well as monitor the program’s effectiveness for further optimization.

Best Production Technology

This award recognizes a newly introduced production program, solution or fluid utilized during the year that allowed an operator to effectively manage and maximize production.

Finalists: MaxFORTE High-Reliability ESP System, Schlumberger; Pumpchecker, Artificial Lift Performance, Ltd.; Reservoir Driven Production Optimization, Paradigm; Subsea separation and processing technology, Fluor; ToughMet 3 Sucker Rod Couplings, Hess Corp. and Materion Corp.

Winner: Integrated Sensor Diagnostics Services, Halliburton

Integrated Sensor Diagnostics is a customized service, designed to impact unconventional resources delineation and development by dramatically improving their recovery. The service and technologies focus on solving the fundamental challenges of optimized fracture spacing, well spacing, well placement, completion process, and completion timing. The sensor diagnostics are then analyzed to leverage the measurements from multiple fit-for-purpose stimulation and completion sensor technologies, on a set of wells on a pad. These can include diagnostic sensors, such as fiber optics, microseismic and microdeformation mapping, pressure gauges, DFITs, conventional and geochemical coring, openhole logging and PVT measurements. The engineered recommendations are then implemented on subsequently drilled wells, to shorten the learning curve and optimize field development. The service will play a major role in helping reduce break-even costs of shale/tight formation assets in a low-commodity-price environment.  

Best Visualization and Collaboration

This award recognizes the data visualization, storage, software or manipulation solution that shows the greatest promise in enabling operators to achieve and create a real-time collaborative environment with potential for a step-change in operating efficiency.

Finalists: BluCube E&P application infrastructure solution, Schlumberger; FieldPulse predictive analytics software, Baker Hughes; Multi-dimensional Prestack Seismic Data Visualization & Analysis, Paradigm

Winner: DES DrillingXpert Software, Halliburton

Drilling Engineering Solutions (DES) brings technical domain experts together, to work collaboratively in a common location to deliver drilling solutions. This collaboration is accomplished using DrillingXpert software, which consolidates modeling applications from the different product lines into one comprehensive package. This software provides the ability to design an entire drilling system—including bit and hole enlargement tools; drilling fluid; BHA directional tendencies and dynamics; drillstring torque and drag; and wellbore hydraulics—in a single package. The software contains specific information about drilling tools, enabling accurate modeling of their downhole behavior and displaying intuitive warnings when a tool operating limit or wellbore stability limit is exceeded. The result is reduced modeling time, more efficient well planning and reduced non-productive time (NPT). Additionally, integration of advanced drilling engineering algorithms helps reduce technical and operational risks, as everyone is working collaboratively from the same dataset.

Best Well Integrity Technology

This award recognizes a company with technical, operational or organizational solutions, which reduce the risk of an uncontrolled release of formation fluids and provide E&P operators with an increased level of well integrity assurance. 

Finalists: Acoustic Conformance Xaminer (ACX), Halliburton; CasingWear Well Integrity Software, Halliburton – Landmark; Low Force Shear Ram Generation 5 (LFS-5), National Oilwell Varco; Obex Annular Casing Packer, Halliburton

Winner: Integrity eXplorer Cement Evaluation Service, Baker Hughes

The Integrity eXplorer cement evaluation service uses proprietary, electromagnetic-acoustic transducer technology to directly assess the integrity of cement bonds by responding to cement shear properties—the true indicator of the presence of solid cement behind the casing. The transducers generate and propagate shear and lamb acoustic waves along the casing itself, uniquely making it part of the transmission, and completely eliminating the effect of borehole fluids from the measurements. By combining the shear and lamb acoustic waves, eXplorer detects the presence of a microannulus, and the quality of the cement behind it, in a single pass, eliminating the need for an additional pressure run. The service delivers results on site, helping operators make faster decisions for long-term zonal isolation.

Best Well Intervention

This award is for advances in well maintenance, which can represent the highest expenditure over the life of a well. This award recognizes new intervention technologies that help make significant improvements in terms of time saved, costs reduced or production improved.

Finalists: ACTive Q CT real-time downhole flow measurement service, Schlumberger; The Chameleon, CDC Scotland; Z-210 Liftboat, Zentech, Inc.

Winner: ProMILL trip-saving milling and underreaming system, Schlumberger

The ProMILL trip-saving milling and underreaming system enables an operator to set a bridge plug, condition the wellbore to milling fluid, and then mill and under-ream a section, all in a single trip. The result is significantly reduced rig time, costs, and NPT. The system enhances plug integrity, and the optimal rock-to-rock zonal isolation is guaranteed by the innovative under-reamer component. This component is unique in the industry, in that its opening size, relative to body OD, is unrivaled for reach. The system’s advanced cutting structures are optimized through dynamic modeling, and are dressed with tungsten carbide inserts that provide high ROP and maximum footage. Its overall design enables consistent cost-savings in a range of environments, from the Gulf of Mexico to the North Sea.

Innovative Thinker

This award honors an individual who has demonstrated thought leadership in the upstream oil and gas sector. The winner will be an inspiration to all and a champion of the industry, not only in terms of the breadth of achievements, but also through the demonstration of vision and innovative thinking.

Finalists: Adnan A. Al-Kanaan, Saudi Aramco; Andrew Churchill, Churchill Drilling Tools; Harald Frigstad, Frigstad Engineering; Dan Scott, Baker Hughes; Dan Themig, Packers Plus Energy Services, Inc.; Dr. Jonathan J. Wylde, Clariant Oil Services

Winner: Dan Purkis, Well SENSE Technology, Ltd.

Dan Purkis’ passion for inventing has led him to be recognized as one of the most imaginative industry thinkers of his generation. Much of Dan’s career has been spent at Petrowell, which he co-founded and launched with four employees. In just eight years, the company grew to employ 180 people, with Dan leading one of the most talented teams of its era, supplying the industry with first-class completion, intervention, openhole and fracing tools. In 2015, he co-founded Well SENSE Technology. During his career, Dan has been awarded over 50 patents, proving himself to be a gifted engineer, who won’t stop until he finds a solution.

Lifetime Achievement

This award honors an individual, who has made significant strides, and impacted the oil and gas industry, throughout his or her career. The recipient may be retired from the industry, but will be an individual whose legacy still has an impact. [Nominee must be living].

Finalists: Saad M. Aldriweesh, Ronald G. Dusterhoft, Saeed M. Mubarak, Alexander Palynchuk, Clifford Neal Prescott, Charles Oliver “Doc” Stokley

Winner: Nathan Meehan

Dr. Nathan Meehan is a renowned petroleum engineer, with expertise in interdisciplinary projects involving reservoir characterization and technology development; horizontal well applications; thermal and compositional reservoir simulation; waterflooding; and hydraulic fracturing. His 40-plus year career includes worldwide leadership of reservoir, well construction and HSE teams. Nathan earned a BS degree in physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology, an MS in petroleum engineering from the University of Oklahoma, and a PhD in petroleum engineering from Stanford University. He has served on the boards of directors of publicly-held oil producers, oilfield service companies and professional organizations. He has served as consulting professor of petroleum engineering at Stanford University and also teaches an industry-approved engineering ethics and professionalism course. He has authored scores of technical articles and two books on reservoir engineering. He is a pioneer in multi-stage hydraulic fracturing of horizontal wells and slickwater fracturing. He has received several SPE awards, and last but not least, Nathan served as SPE President for 2016, a tenure that he just finished in September. Dr. Meehan’s lifelong commitment to the industry is a towering example of dedicated service and professionalism that all oilfield personnel can strive to emulate.

New Horizons Idea

The winner of this award is a company with a game-changing product, technology or idea that redefines the industry’s thinking. The winner of this award symbolizes how the industry will operate in the future and will serve as a guidepost to the next generation of leadership entering today’s upstream energy sector.

Finalists: CoreVault RFP (rocks-fluid-pressure) system, Halliburton; The Heron, CDC Scotland, Ltd.; Lateral Science Engineered Completions Process, C&J Energy Services; Maze Microfludic SARA Analysis, Schlumberger; Production Profile, Amros Corporation; XACT downhole telemetry and distributed sensor network, XACT Downhole Telemetry, Inc.  

Winner: Axon X-treme BOP Design, Axon Energy Products

The X-treme BOP design utilizes an optimized orientation with staggered spacing between each cavity, allowing for a substantial decrease in height and weight. It is available in double, triple and quad configuratons. The staggered spacing arrangement allows for simultaneous maintenance on multiple cavities, as well as easier access for servicing internal components. This design configuration also reduces body stress, as the supporting material between the in-line cavities is increased, due to the offset angles. The staggered pattern also allows for additional shearing rams at no extra cost. The new BOP system’s innovative approach provides the industry with increased safety and effectiveness—without surpassing the costs of traditional methods to meet regulatory requirements.