For the 39th consecutive year, E&P is pleased to announce the winners of our Meritorious Awards for Engineering Innovation. This year we had 56 entries in 10 categories.

These awards represent the pinnacle of achievement for companies introducing new technology to the oil and gas industry. Unlike other industry awards, there is no cost to enter, and each category is judged by industry experts who have no conflict of interest with any of the entries. A special shout-out goes to these hard-working men and women who volunteer their time to help with this process.

And the winners are:

Drillbits: Quantec Force PDC bit, Hughes Christensen

Drilling Tools: Secure Drilling System, Weatherford

Formation Evaluation: OPTV Imaging System, Superior Well Services Completions: Renaissance WDCL Damaged Control Line System, Weatherford

Exploration Technology: PGS hyperBeam, PGS

Production Technology: SureFlo-298EX, Baker Hughes

Intelligent Systems and components: ResFlow Inflow Control Device, Schlumberger

Stimulation: PSET Method using FracStar Array, MicroSeismic Inc.

IOR: DeepLook EM, Schlumberger

Remediation: Gamma FRac System, Superior Well Systems

Congratulations to all! To find out more about these winning technologies, look for the special section in our May issue. Most of the awards will be presented at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston May 3.

The opening date for the 2011 awards is April 1, 2010. The process is fairly simple. Go to epmag.com and click on the MEA logo about halfway down the page on the left-hand side. You will be directed to a landing site where you can either create a personal entry page or, if you’ve done so in the past, access your entry site. Those creating new pages will be screened before being given a password.

Once you’re on your personal entry site, you will enter the name, category, and website of each entry. You then provide a 500-word abstract and a 500-word case study. You are also allowed to upload up to three supporting files, which can be documents, pdfs, diagrams, pictures, or videos.

I would encourage everyone to enter early and often! We want to be sure we’re awarding the best of the best.

If you have any questions about this process, please contact me at rduey@hartenergy.com.