Downhole isolation specialist, Meta Downhole Ltd (Meta), is celebrating after being shortlisted for the Commitment to Innovative Use of R&D award in the Northern Star Business Awards. The nomination was for the development of its liner hanger and packer products.
The award recognises companies that have demonstrated an innovative use to research and development to create commercial growth and gain competitive advantage.
Meta was born from the challenges the offshore oil and gas industry faced post Macondo, where operators and drilling contractors started to review long-established well integrity practices with a desire to introduce new ways of working and secure isolation and well integrity for the lifetime of their wells. Meta is assisting operators, with its patented Metalmorphology technology, to solve integrity challenges by delivering metal-to-metal seals.
The company’s latest developments have seen the creation of ground-breaking products, the Meta Liner Hanger and the Meta Permanent and the Meta Frac MorphPacker, which are set to disrupt the aforementioned markets.
Meta’s Liner Hanger has no elastomers. Crucially to Operators this means it meets the worst-case ‘Maximum Discharge’ standard ratings in the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, this technology allows the liner hanger to make an optimum connection as the method is insensitive to casing ID tolerances.
The MorphPackers have been engineered to be simple, reliable and high end, but more affordable than others on the market, filling a vital gap in the sector.
“These are exciting developments, which are set to change the way in which the industry operates”, says Kevin Stewart, CEO of Meta. “We are not aware of any other company in the world currently offering a liner hanger with an integrated metal to metal seal. Current liner designs are also limited in tieback ratings, whereas ours is full through bore and maintains higher axial loads and pressures.
“In terms of packers, our Permanent MorphPacker breaks the rules of conventional packer design,” continues Kevin. “By using Metalmorphology, a V0 packer with only 7 components, no moving parts, and no internal seals has been created. It’s a complete rethink of how packers are typically designed.
“Their simplistic design provides the market with a reliable and high end product, and yet more affordable than others on the market. It also allows for a full-bore design that matches liner ID. It provides less risk as there are no moving parts, no elastomeric seals and no cones – so no compromise”.
Over the past few years, Meta has received a number of prestigious accolades for its ground-breaking technology, including a Queens Award for Enterprise, Platt’s Global Energy Award, Innovation of the Year in the Africa Oil and Gas Awards, Chamber of Commerce and Business Enterprise awards for innovation.
Winners will be announced an awards ceremony taking place at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre on 24 September 2015.