CNPC USA and CPET Downhole Win Hart Energy Meritorious Award for Engineering Innovation
Houston, TX, May 14, 2025 – UltraFrac™ HT Frac Fluid technology, invented by CNPC USA and applied by CPET Downhole, received the 2025 Meritorious Awards for Engineering (MEA) Innovation from Hart Energy in the Hydraulic Fracturing / Pressure Pumping category.
According to Hart Energy, the Special Meritorious Engineering Awards for Innovation (MEA) is recognized as the premier and most esteemed engineering awards program in the industry. Each year, it honors the most groundbreaking tools and techniques for discovering, developing, and producing hydrocarbons. Entries are judged based on their transformative impact—both technically and economically—by a panel of distinguished professionals with deep expertise in each category.
UltraFrac™ HT Fluid is specifically designed for wells with temperatures up to 230 °C (446 °F). The fluid uses a synthetic polymer as the gelling agent in combination with a zirconium crosslinker and a multifunctional additive, which serves simultaneously as a pH buffer, crosslinking delay agent, and temperature stabilizer. These three components work together to significantly extend the thermal stability of the fluid.
When fully broken, the fluid turns into a water-thin liquid with no solid residues, enabling easy and efficient fracture cleanup. The technology has been successfully applied in 15 well treatments across deep and ultra-deep reservoirs in the Qinghai, Daqing, and Tuha oil fields in China. The cumulative fluid volume used exceeds 20,000 cubic meters, with a 100% operation success rate.
Key performance metrics include an average friction-reduction rate of over 72%, and several domestic records for 230 °C fracturing operations—including the largest-scale fracturing job, highest pumping rate, and maximum proppant volume.