With a striking increase in submissions this year, our judging panel had to scrutinise a competitive crop of candidate from across the upstream, midstream, downstream and utilities sectors. The shortlist represented some of the best in the industry, but ultimately, one winner and one highly commended nomination were chosen.
The winner of Technical Innovation of the Year 2019:
Saudi Aramco’s Auto Well Space Out was awarded the Technical Innovation of the Year award, which one judge said was “the first time an Internet of Things platform has been implemented on a drilling rig in Saudi Arabia. The technology provides a deep understanding on how to connect smart sensors, perform in-depth analytics through artificial intelligence and machine learning at the edge, and prompt users for action.”
The technology leverages a host of new technologies, including smart sensors, machine learning, data analytics and edge/fog computing.
“I’m delighted on behalf of the team at Saudi Aramco for the recognition of all the effort that has gone into coming up with this innovation,” said Mike Affleck, senior petroleum engineer, EXPEC ARC, drilling technology team at Saudi Aramco. “There’s a large team of people involved from multiple departments that have to pull together to not only come up with the invention but to implement it at the rig site.
Highly commended for Technical Innovation of the Year 2019:
Saudi Aramco was also highly commended for its Smart Water-based Polymer Flooding.
The jury panel this year, comprising six judges – Abhay Bhargava, director, industrial practice, MEA, Frost & Sullivan; Ali Al Janabi, UAE country chair, vice president, Shell Upstream, Shell Group of companies; Bart Cornelissen, energy, resources & industrials leader, Middle East, Deloitte Middle East; Joseph J Anis, president and CEO, power services and gas power systems, MENASA, GE Power; Nicholas Cochrane-Dyet, special advisor to the chief representative, BP Oil International; Vinod Raghothamarao, director, energy wide perspectives and strategy, IHS Markit EMEA– considered the merit of the nominees, and decided the winner and the ‘highly commended’.
CLICK for the full list of winners and highly commended!
The Middle East Energy Awards 2019 recognised excellence across all sectors of the energy industry, with 16 categories representing the industry:
- Clean Energy Initiative of the Year
- CSR Initiative of the Year
- Digital Enabler of the Year
- Downstream Project of the Year
- Energy Woman of the Year
- HSE Initiative of the Year
- Logistics Service Provider of the Year
- Oilfield Services Company of the Year
- Operational Excellence Strategy of the Year
- Technical Innovation of the Year
- Talent Development Initiative of the Year
- Upstream Project of the Year
- Utilities Project of the Year
- Young Energy Professional of the Year
- Lifetime Achievement Award
- Innovator of the Year
