The 11th annual World Oil awards ceremony was held in Houston, Texas, to honor the upstream energy industry’s top innovators and innovations. This year, Weatherford was a finalist in five out of the 16 categories, taking home the ‘Best Completion Technology’ Award, for the i-ball™ multi-zone fracturing sleeve. The i-ball system not only won, but was the only technology named as a finalist in more than one category.

 

The i-ball fracturing sleeve eliminates downhole pressure buildup and associated logistics and storage concerns by using one ball and seat size for all sleeves in the lateral casing string. Zones are fractured one at a time, which greatly reduces frictional forces and allows for a more efficient frac at each zone. The i-ball sleeve is an alternative to the common industry method of plug and perf, and helps to maximize proppant delivery and ultimately production.

 

Eric Blanton, Director – Lower Completions, accepted the award on behalf of Weatherford. Blanton shared, “We are all working toward the goal of developing innovative technology to address the challenges in the complex environments we work in while increasing efficiency, reducing costs and ultimately increasing production.” He continued, “This is a prestigious honor and we are happy to see that our engineering efforts are making an impact in the industry”.

 

Weatherford was a finalist in five categories total, including:

 

 

The World Oil Awards not only showcase the talent and accomplishments of the category winners, but also benefits selected universities whose programs support entry into the petroleum industry. This year, the University of Tulsa and the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (India) were chosen as beneficiaries because of their commitment to preparing qualified global oil industry professionals.