The Special Meritorious Engineering Awards for Innovation (MEA)

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The Special Meritorious Engineering Awards for Innovation (MEA) stands as the premier and most esteemed engineering awards program in the industry. Annually, it honors the most groundbreaking tools and techniques for discovering, developing, and producing hydrocarbons.

Entries for the MEA are evaluated based on their transformative impact, both technically and economically. The judging panel comprises distinguished professionals with deep expertise in the categories they assess.

We encourage you to participate in the 2025 awards competition—entry is completely FREE.

Deadline: March  31, 2025 12:00 midnight

2025 MEA Award Categories

Artificial Lift: ESP, PCP, rod lift, plunger lift, gas lift, jet pump, hydraulic pump, capillary injection and wellsite automation

Carbon Management: emission reduction technologies, carbon capture, satellite imagery, e-fracs

Digital Oil Field: remote operations, automation, intelligent systems and components, smart and real-time control and monitoring systems, Big Data, field optimization tools, and drilling and completions digitalization

Drill Bits: natural diamond, impregnated, PDC, bi-center, milled tooth, hybrid, insert and hammer

Drilling Fluids/Stimulation: chemicals, drilling mud, additives and flow enhancers 

Drilling Systems: LWD/MWD, motors, coring, tool joints, fishing tools, drillpipe, whipstocks, subs, packers and rotary steerable systems

Exploration/Geoscience: potential fields, geochemistry, seismic acquisition, processing algorithms and software, reservoir characterization, interpretation software, and hardware

Floating Systems and Rigs: floating production and topsides systems and designs, drilling units, turrets, loading and offloading, mooring and positioning, people and cargo transfer, and safety and evacuation

Formation Evaluation: wireline logging, core analysis, cuttings analysis and well testing hardware and software

HSE: hardware, software and methodologies 

Hydraulic Fracturing/Pressure Pumping: matrix acidizing, proppants and chemicals

IOR/EOR/Remediation: advances in all IOR/EOR and remediation methods, reservoir monitoring and modeling, stimulation, workovers, chemicals, CO2, environmental advances, and containment and response systems 

Machine Learning and AI: machine learning, artificial intelligence, system innovations, automation applications, data management, and networks and software

Marine Construction & Decommissioning: vessels and systems, pipelay and flowlines, platforms, subsea construction, marine transportation and installation, heavy lift, hookup and commissioning, structure removal, intervention, and workovers 

Nonfracturing Completions: modeling/simulation software, completion hardware and completion effectiveness monitoring (microseismic, tracers, etc.)

Onshore Rigs: pad drilling, mud pumps, power generators, top drives, rig equipment, BOPs, pipe handling and automation 

Subsea Systems: christmas trees, BOPs, tiebacks, manifolds, processing subsea isolation valves, SURF, pipelines, power supply and controls, ROVs/AUVs, inspection, repairs and maintenance, intervention, flow assurance, and metering and monitoring 

Water Management: treatment, produced water, flocculation, reverse osmosis, recycling, ultrafiltration, oxidation, storage, wastewater, metal removal and biocides