First Oil: Honoring the very best of some really outstanding technology

KURT S. ABRAHAM, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & CHIEF FORECASTER 

Fig. 1. Attendees at the Gulf Energy Information Excellence Awards listen to the announcements of winners in various categories.

As we do every year in the fall, we at World Oil and our parent, Gulf Energy Information (GEI, including sister publications), have just hosted our Gulf Energy Information Excellence Awards. Held on Oct. 16, 2025, at the Post Oak Hotel in Houston, this black tie gala recognized the energy industry’s leading innovations and thought leaders, Fig. 1. 

Indeed, the Gulf Awards continue to grow each year. For all sectors—upstream, midstream, downstream and special achievement, we received more than 500 nominations this year, with nearly 200 finalists. “This is a record year for nominations, and a testament to the evolution in the technologies shaping the global oil and gas industry,” said our GEI CEO, John Royall.  

Honorees received awards in 29 categories, encompassing the full breadth of the oil, gas and energy industries. And I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that these innovations are enabling operators to find, produce, transport and process hydrocarbons more safely, economically, efficiently and sustainably. Out of the 29 categories, 16 were upstream-oriented, which is what we at World Oil are most concerned with. So, here is a complete list of the upstream categories and winners is as follows:  

• Best Completions Technology: CoilFUSE™ – Segmented CT System for Ultra-Reach Laterals – NOV 
• CCS/CCUS/Carbon Removal Project of the Year: Oil States CCS Netherlands Project – Oil States 
• Best Controls, Instrumentation, Automation Technology – Upstream: Hummingbird™ all electric-land cementing unit – Baker Hughes 
• Best Deepwater Technology: Well Radar™ ranging and interception services – SLB 
• Best Drilling Technology: Stream™ high-speed intelligent telemetry – SLB  
• Best Digital Transformation – Upstream: Automated Drilling Mud Report Using Generative AI – NOV 
• Best EOR Technology: Magnetically enhanced oil recovery – Saudi Aramco 
• Best Exploration Technology: OnWave™ Autonomous Logging Platform – SLB 
• Best Health, Safety or Environmental Contribution – Upstream: VIGILANCE™ Intelligent Safety and Surveillance Solution – Expro 
• Best Modeling Technology: Scalable Earth Modeling – Halliburton Landmark 
• Best Oilfield Fluids and Chemicals: OpenPath Flex™: Breaking barriers in Carbonate Stimulation with optimized efficiency – SLB 
• Best Production Technology: FloTrac™ Ultrahigh-Resolution Nanoparticle Tracers – QuantumPro, Inc. in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) FORGE Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) Project 
• Energy Project of the Year – Upstream: 'Zero’ Flaring Design on MJ Ruby FPSO Deepwater Operations – Reliance Industries Limited 
• Most Promising Engineer – Upstream: Fatimah H. AlNasser – Saudi Aramco 
• Lifetime Achievement – Upstream: Ronald R. Johnson – ExxonMobil 
• Operator of the Year (Upstream): ExxonMobil   

Hearty thanks go out to all the generous sponsors of the 2025 Excellence Awards, including Aramco, Kuwait Oil Company, Expro, Lummus Technology, CNPC, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, QuantumPro, Inc., Superior Energy Services, T.D. Williamson and McCormick & Schmick’s. It was a great night enjoyed by a full house of industry attendees. Congratulations to all the winners! 

Trump opens up Arctic drilling, countermands Biden’s ban. The Trump administration announced on Oct. 23 that it is opening the entire coastal plain of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas leasing. The move reverses a Biden administration decision that banned activity in the wilderness area.  

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the agency was opening the 1.56 million acres of tundra on the state’s North Slope and holding a lease sale this winter in the nearby National Petroleum Reserve. It’s yet another move by President Donald Trump to boost domestic oil and gas production. 

Fig. 2. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. Image: Official portrait.

“This land should, and will, be supporting responsible oil and gas leasing,” said Secretary Burgum (Fig. 2) said during an event at the Interior Department’s headquarters in Washington on Oct. 23. 

The U.S. Geological Service estimates that the refuge’s coastal plain holds between 4.3 Bbbl and 11.8 Bbbl of oil. But many operators have been reluctant to target the area, given the high costs, not to mention lawsuit interference by environmentalists.  

During Trump’s first term, Congress lifted a 40-year-old ban on oil and gas development in the refuge in 2017, thus mandating lease sales. Upon entering office in 2021, former President Joe Biden canceled leases that were already sold and barred exploration in over half of the nearby National Petroleum Reserve. 

No companies chose to bid in two additional lease sales in the region that had been mandated by Congress and were held just days before Biden left office. In reaction, industry executives and Alaskan officials had complained that the lease sale’s structure discouraged bidding from the start. 

The Interior Department also said that it has brokered a land-exchange deal that will allow construction of a contentious road through southwestern Alaska’s Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. 

Meanwhile, the Trump administration said that it will buy an initial 1 MMbbl to help replenish the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Officials are taking advantage of low oil prices to purchase 1 MMbbl of oil to start refilling the nation’s depleted emergency crude storage. The SPR is only around 60% full.  

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Oct. 21 that it plans to purchase oil for delivery during December and January. Officials will use a portion of the $171 million from President Trump’s signature tax and spending law allotted for crude purchases. A statement from Energy Secretary Chris Wright said, “While this process won’t be complete overnight, these actions are an important step in strengthening our energy security and reversing the costly and irresponsible energy policies of the last administration.” 

Speaking of oil prices, West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, was down about 30% since its peak in mid-January. It was trading at just over $58/bbl on Oct. 21, near the lowest point since 2021. However, WTI recovered to close at $61.50/bbl on Oct. 24, thanks to sanctions that President Trump put on Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil the day before.  

With oil prices well below $70/bbl, it is a good time to refill the SPR. Holding just 408 MMbbls, the reserve is only about 60% full. But DOE only has the $171 million to buy crude—or enough for roughly 3 MMbbls, based on recent prices. “This administration doesn’t have anything left in the tank except the money Congress gave them, and that’s going to limit the ability to buy low,” said Kevin Book, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners LLC, a Washington-based consulting firm. 

Fig. 3. World Oil Editor-in-Chief Kurt Abraham (left) and University of Aberdeen Professor Alex Kemp (right, also a World Oil editorial advisor) visited and recorded a podcast while attending Offshore Europe in September. Image: World Oil staff.

The reserve’s levels were reduced significantly under former President Biden, when gasoline prices spiked following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Biden’s drawdown of about 180 MMbbls in 2022 cost about $280 million and delayed maintenance of the SPR, according to DOE. Bids for DOE’s 1 MMbbl solicitation are due by 11:00 a.m. CDT on Oct. 28. The purchases will be handled via a spot-price-indexed contract. 

Visiting an old friend/familiar face to World Oil readers. Before I forget to mention it, I had the great pleasure of visiting with World Oil’s senior editorial advisor, Professor Alex Kemp, while attending Offshore Europe in Aberdeen, Scotland, during early September, Fig. 3. For those of you, who don’t already know, Alex is Professor of Petroleum Economics at the University of Aberdeen. He also is Director of Aberdeen Centre for Research in Energy Economics and Finance. In addition, Alex is the longest-serving of World Oil’s editorial advisors.  

It's not a stretch to say that Alex is the UK’s most renowned petroleum economist, having served multiple times over the years as an economic advisor to the British national government, as well as to the Scottish regional government. He was awarded the OBE in 2006 for services to the oil and gas industries and has written "The Official History of North Sea Oil and Gas," which was published in 2012 in two volumes. In March 2012 Professor Kemp received SPE’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and In October 2022 he was given a Lifetime Achievement for the Advancement of Education for Future Energy Leaders award by the International Foundation for Energy & Sustainable Development in Doha, Qatar. 

You can see some examples of the Professor’s work here. 

And, of course, Alex will contribute his usual article as part of our core group of advisors providing their upstream outlooks for next year in our upcoming December issue.  

Fig. 4. Golfers strive to make par or better on a green at Black Horse Golf Club (Cypress, Texas, north of Houston) during the NOMADS International golf event, during the fall of 2024. Image by the author.

A good excuse for golf in December. For those of you living in the greater Houston area, the Houston-based National Oil-equipment Manufacturers & Delegates Society (NOMADS) has told us that they will be hosting their NOMADS International Annual Golf Event on Friday, Dec. 12, at the well-regarded Black Horse Golf Club (Fig. 4) on the far northwest side of Houston, near Cypress. As the NOMADS Executive Committee so aptly says, it will be “a day of birdies, bogies, and making a difference.” 

The latter item refers to the fact that after expenses, net revenue from this tournament will go toward providing college scholarships through the NOMADS scholarship fund. Beyond that worthy purpose, it will be a fun, mid-holiday golf outing that offers networking with other senior industry leaders, camaraderie, great prizes and giveaways, and good food. Oh yeah, golfers also will be able to take part in on-course competitions with a pro from Backswing Golf Events. 

For more information and registration/sponsor details, please go to: https://www.nomads-international.com  If you need additional assistance, please contact Natalie Strabala, NOMADS business administrator, at NStrabala@power-flow.com and +1 (713) 464-1832.  

IN THIS ISSUE  

Special focus: Advances in Drilling. Among the features in our lead section is an article from several NOV experts on how integrated fluid cooling technologies are boosting drilling efficiency in high-temperature environments. They say that NOV’s low thermal conductivity drill pipe coating and two-stage mud chiller are extending BHA service life and reducing NPT. Meanwhile, an author from TWMA explores how innovative drilling waste management is reshaping offshore sustainability. By treating waste onsite and leveraging technologies like TWMA’s electric, automated RX series, operators can significantly reduce emissions, enhance safety, recover valuable materials, and align offshore operations with global net-zero ambitions. Finally, the Directional Technology manager for TAQA Industrialization & Energy Services Company details how the firm has launched its Esaar™ mud motor. He says this advancement ushers in a new era in drilling performance and flexibility.  

Reservoir optimization: Single-stage sandstone acidizing fluid improves subsea well productivity. In this case study, two SLB authors discuss stimulation of nine subsea wells throughout offshore Angola, utilizing a riser-less light well intervention vessel for hydraulic well access only, plus a dedicated stimulation vessel for treatment injection. These wells were intervened successfully over two campaigns. This was the first subsea offshore application of a newly developed, low-temperature single-stage, sandstone acidizing fluid. 

Regional report: Middle East. In this detailed examination, Contributing Editor Gordon Feller says that it is likely that the region’s hydrocarbon and energy footprint will be redefined by expanded LNG capacity, midstream monetization, strategic global investments, and rapid technology adoption, driven by NOCs and sovereign investors. The region will operate amid moderate economic growth, price volatility, and rising priorities for “smart spending” and diversification.