Oilfield services company NESR has turned recycled produced water into artworks in what it says is a first for the energy sector.
National Energy Services Reunited Corp., listed on Nasdaq with a market capitalisation of $1.6 billion as of January 8, commissioned the pieces using water from its operations.
The company unveiled the initiative, titled It Starts with Us, at The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai. NESR said it is the first oilfield services firm to use distilled produced water as a medium for artworks.
Nasdaq-listed NESR commissions art made from oil and gas water
The event brought together government, media and cultural figures. Sharif Al Olama, Undersecretary for Energy and Petroleum Affairs at the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, attended alongside Marwan Al Awadhi, known as DJ Bliss, a cast member of the Netflix series Dubai Bling.
NESR hired Bali-based artist Jenna Bitar to create the works using water treated by its Environmental & Decarbonisation Applications (NEDA) business.
NEDA, which means Call to Action in Arabic, recycles, treats and reuses water produced during oil and gas operations to reduce freshwater consumption and environmental impact.
The project was designed to challenge perceptions of the energy sector. Produced water is one of the industry’s environmental issues, particularly in water-stressed regions. NESR said the collaboration demonstrates how industrial byproducts can be repurposed and interpreted.
“If I told anyone in oil and gas that we would be discussing produced water through art, they would hardly believe it. This collaboration proves that innovation doesn’t have to exist in silos. Energy and creativity are often seen as opposites, but they are part of the same ecosystem,” Sherif Foda, NESR’s chairman and chief executive officer said in a statement.
NESR unveils water recycling art project in Dubai
Bitar said the project offered a chance to give life to a resource considered industrial waste. “It’s giving water a new lease on life – whether through the uses NESR has for it, or through the artworks themselves,” she said. “The water gets to live on in the art.”
NEDA continues to expand its portfolio of water treatment and decarbonisation solutions across the Middle East and North Africa.
Founded in 2017, NESR is among the national oilfield services providers in the MENA and Asia Pacific regions, employing more than 6,000 people across 16 countries.
