The Texas Oil & Gas Association hosted its Energy Elevated Technology Showcase in Houston on Aug. 27, spotlighting companies developing tools for produced water treatment, pipeline monitoring, worker safety and environmental services in the oil and natural gas sector.
The association said innovation within the industry took center stage at the event and recognized two presenters with awards: Aquafortus, named Most Innovative, and UES Professional Services, named Audience Favorite.
“America is a nation where new ideas and new technologies are not only welcomed and celebrated, but it is a land where new technologies that improve our lives are rewarded and embraced,” TXOGA President Todd Staples said. “TXOGA created Energy Elevated to showcase the latest and greatest ideas coming out of the energy sector, because modern-day oil and gas companies are innovation and technology incubators. The innovators gathered at this year’s Energy Elevated Showcase are reshaping how our industry operates and creating new possibilities to reliably and affordably meet daily power needs.”
According to background material the association released with the announcement, Aquafortus developed a non-thermal, solvent-based desalination technology called ABX that treats hypersaline produced water for what the company describes as a fraction of the cost of thermal and membrane alternatives. The association said Aquafortus is working directly with oil and natural gas majors in the Permian Basin to deploy mobile demonstration units and validate the technology on real produced water streams.
UES Professional Services assists with the installation of groundwater monitoring wells, soil and groundwater sampling, remediation system installation, microbe and chemical oxidation injections, excavations and project management for the industry, the association said. The firm operates from 14 offices across Texas with more than 800 employees, supported by a national network of more than 4,200 professionals at more than 100 locations.
Other presenters included Baker Hughes, which showed its onshore composite pipe portfolio of corrosion-resistant piping systems; NOV, which the association said has pioneered energy technology for more than 150 years; PipeSense, which offers pipeline leak detection combining high-resolution sensing, real-time data acquisition and analytics; and Safety Radar, a Tulsa, Oklahoma, company whose SAFE AI platform turns years of incident reports and near misses into predictive intelligence.
Brad Johnson, co-founder and reporter with Texas Bullpen, served as guest commentator. Sponsors included Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Valero, Devon Energy, Occidental Petroleum, Ovintiv, Inc., Repsol, Apex Natural Gas, Archrock, CITGO, EOG Resources, Murphy Oil, Texas Mutual and TXOGA Insurance Agency.
TXOGA, founded in 1919, describes itself as the oldest and largest oil and natural gas trade association in Texas.