Research & Development

Oil and gas is a high-technology industry, where companies, scientists, and engineers continually challenge the barriers of what is possible to find and produce energy. New techniques and technologies discovered through R&D have been vital in enabling the industry to meet global energy demand, and will continue to be vital as the industry overcomes current and future challenges.

Find information on SPE activities to encourage and facilitate R&D in the oil and gas industry with a focus on exploration and production.

• Grand Challenges Facing E&P Industry Explored
  What are the biggest research challenges facing our industry? The Research & Development Committee identified five areas it considers key grand challenges in E&P and is developing articles on each.

  The first four papers are available.

• Additional R&D Articles and Papers
  Download and read R&D committee's white paper and Technology Tomorrow series and Spotlight on R&D series articles published in the Journal of Petroleum Technology.
  
• R&D Technical Section
  SPE members interested in research and technology development can engage in discussions and share documents in our online community. Read more about the section or join now

• R&D Conference
  Every other year, SPE holds a conference focused on identifying and discussing key R&D challenges facing the E&P industry.

R&D Standing Committee

This is a standing committee whose role is to identify and facilitate global R&D activities that will provide needed technology for future use of petroleum engineers. Volunteer for the commitee.