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. It’s worth to mention, 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. He shared, “This is a prestigious honor and we are happy to see that our engineering efforts are making an impact in the industry”.The 11th annual World Oil awards ceremony was held on Thursday, October 18, 2012 to honor the upstream energy industry’s top innovators and innovations.
