Weatherford Signs Four-Year Contract with Eni S.p.A

Radio Frequency Identification-Equipped Downhole Casing Isolation Valves Aim to Increase Operational Safety and Reservoir Performance

HOUSTON, July 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Weatherford International plc (OTC Pink: WFTLF) announced it has been awarded an exclusive four-year contract with Eni S.p.A. The contract will provide a minimum of 30 Non-Umbilical Downhole Deployment Valves (NU-DDV™) that will be deployed in Eni's critical wells, improving their operational safety and reservoir performance.

"This award is the result of two years of R&D collaboration with Eni to launch a downhole casing isolation valve with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device)," said Dean Bell, President, Drilling, Evaluation and Intervention for Weatherford. "The goal was to develop an innovative solution capable of providing an independent downhole safety barrier to supplement the conventional barriers already in place, assuring control of unwanted formation influx while tripping."  

During MPD or UBD applications, the NU-DDV addresses operators' need to improve process safety by mechanically isolating the surface from the reservoir during tripping, thereby eliminating the need to kill the well. The RFID-enabled valve eliminates external control line and clamping operations, thus providing increased system reliability, decreased installation time and removal of personnel from the red zone. This NU-DDV also eliminates swabbing effects and reduces tripping time for improved operational efficiency.

Bell added, "This contract aligns with both the Weatherford and Eni pursuit of continuous improvement in operational safety and environmental performance across the start-to-finish drilling and completion process."

About Eni
Eni is an integrated energy company operating in 66 countries with some 32,000 employees (2019). Eni's activities cover the entire oil and natural gas supply chain, as well as the production and marketing of electricity and chemical products. Eni's way of operating, based on operational excellence and focusing on health, safety and the protection of the environment, is aimed at preventing and reducing operating risks. For more information visit www.eni.com.

About Weatherford
Weatherford is the leading wellbore and production solutions company. Operating in more than 80 countries, the Company answers the challenges of the energy industry with its global talent network of approximately 20,000 team members and 600 locations, which include service, research and development, training, and manufacturing facilities. Visit https://www.weatherford.com/ for more information or connect on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube.

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