Arefco Special Products, a Northumberland-based manufacturing specialist has won an award for its innovation at the North East Business Awards.
The company beat two other nominees to the Tyneside & Northumberland Innovation Award, thanks to its new Hybrid Oilfield Packer technology, which creates a unique synergy between elastomer and polyurethane in a bonded Hybrid structure capable of withstanding increased wear and friction, resulting in a longer product lifespan.
A change in environmental legislation surrounding the control and operation of packers now dictates that they can no longer be lubricated by the deliberate escape of well fluid once in service. This change to the global Offshore Oil Market has caused a significant increase in costs for operators, in inventory and downtime in order to replace the component due to excessive wear brought on by the packers now operating in an unlubricated condition. Arefco’s Hybrid Oilfield Packer now alleviates this problem by producing a tenfold increase in expected lifespan for each unit, when compared to the traditional standard packers under the same operating conditions whilst at the same time maintaining the environmental integrity.
The company will now compete for the competitions’ top innovation accolade; taking place on 21 April at Hardwick Hall Hotel, Sedgefield, the final of the awards, which are run by the North East Chamber of Commerce and The Journal, will see Arefco go head-to-head with Mayhems Solutions and Bollard Load Testing for the North East innovation award.
Alison Stewart, Business Development Manager at Arefco Special Products, said: “In recent years Offshore oilfield operations have been placed under increased scrutiny following the Macondo disaster, with the objective of reducing their environmental risk. All components are now required to meet much more stringent standards in terms of quality and product integrity in order to reduce the overall risk of incidents.
“The product for which we won the award is a technology step-change on the established design and is likely to become the benchmark by which all other products in its class are judged. The Hybrid Oilfield Packer is also significantly more cost effective and is designed to install into the existing architecture; so there is no need for the Operator to replace any part of their system.”
Caroline Lofthouse, Business Development Manager at NOF Energy, added: “Arefco has designed and manufactured a product that has delivered large efficiency gains to operators and contractors, and is rightly being recognised for its innovative contributions to the oil & gas sector.”