In a category that was inundated with nominations that detailed excellent and path-breaking innovations from Saudi Aramco, the oil and gas behemoth, quite naturally then, bagged the ‘Technical Innovation of the Year’ award for its seawater-based fracturing fluid system.
The system “developed entirely in-house, so it is impressive,” as one of the judges observed, “avoids the costly treatment of seawater in wells, saving operating costs, energy and reducing the waste footprint of the project.”
Mohammed Al Khaldi, a supervisor at Saudi Aramco, who represented the company at the Awards, after receiving the trophy, said: “I am very happy and also want to thank the management and the company, because they provide all resources and consultation and help and support to you to, and that has helped us win this prestigious award. The judges might have been impressed with the cost-saving that we are associated with; we are in a region where we have an abundance of seawater, and that’s been put to use.
In the entry submission, Aramco said: ‘Pioneering and exceptional research has resulted in the development of seawater-based fracturing treatments, which are considered to be a breakthrough technology in hydraulic fracturing operations.’
Elaborating on the development and application of this system, Al Khaldi said: “It (developing the system) was a challenge. As you know, we are coming into (exploring) the hard and tough oil (reserves) and we need to dig into more resources like tight reservoir formations; the one way to do is that you need large amounts of water. You need large amounts of freshwater which will consume all the resources. I believe that seawater will open doors to saving large amounts of freshwater resources.”
ABB which was also highly in contention for an award in this category otherwise monopolised by Aramco, emerged as the ‘highly commended’ nomination for its artificial lifting solution. The system “increased well average production in Oman by 17%, reduced HSSE risks and improved the asset integrity;” and that “visible improvement was cited,” the judges said.
