2009 SPE President wants to hear from you!
1 October 2008 in President's Forum
SPE President’s Forum – dialogs with 2009 SPE President Leo Roodhart. Read President Roodhart’s monthly column in the Journal of Petroleum Technology and JPT Online.
View a 45-second video clip of Leo Roodhart, 2009 SPE President.
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Congratulations, and welcome to the world of blogging!
1 October 2008
Mr. Roodhart, it´s a great idea that you´ll be in touch with all SPE members by this President´s Forum. Congratulations!!
We hope you to visit our Sections here in Venezuela during your period as SPE President
Best Regards!
Jesus Saavedra
Emerging Leaders Program Chair - Eastern Venezuela Section
Membership Chairperson - Young Professionals Chapter, Puerto La Cruz
jesus1saavedra@spemail.org
1 October 2008
Dear SPE Fellow Members,
I found Great Pleasure this year when Dr.Leo Roodhart and Dr.Bill Cobb
came to CHINA, HONG KONG/SHEKOU section to meet with us CHINA’s MEMBERS.
SPE is indeed INTERNATIONAL and I learnt so much from BOTH PRESIDENTS’
LECTURES. I have strong sense of belonging to SPE and aspirations to
excel with SPE in ASIA/PACIFIC with the hope to “SERVING MANKIND WITH
COMPLETE SINCERITY!!” THANK YOU SPE PRESIDENTS for HELPING SPE MEMBERS WORLDWIDE!!
BEST REGARDS,
STEPHEN M. YUNG,SPE
HONG KONG,CHINA.
1 October 2008
Dear Mr. Roodhart,
Congratulations!!!
President’s Forum is a great initiative to have direct contact with the members through feedback.Was there at the President’s Luncheon (ATCE Denver) to listen to your views on “Your SPE” and on greater globalisation of this society.
Wishing you all the very best.
Best regards,
Rahul Bali
New Delhi Section
1 October 2008
dear Mr roodhart,
congrats!!!!
I believe you are competent enough for the position. The initiation of the presidents forum is a positive step towards your administration. I will also be delighted if SPE would initiate a forum through which employment opportunities will be made available to the students. Its really a tough attle securing employment in the industry and we are loosing most of our frash talents. Pls look into this mr president. Congrats once more for ascending the throne.
Regards
Jude Obulunne
University Of Aberdeen Grad. student
jude.okezie.obulunne.07@aberdeen.ac.uk
5 November 2008
Mr. Roodhart, I’m happy to hear that, you’ve started a forum, through which each of the SPE member will be in touch to you or you’ll be in touch to each of the SPE member easily.
CONGRATULATIONS.
9 November 2008
dear Mr roodhart,
congrats!!!!
The initiation of the presidents forum is a positive step towards your administration. I will also be delighted if SPE would initiate a forum through which employment opportunities will be made available to the students. Its really a tough securing employment/Industrial placement opportunity in the industry and we are loosing most of our talents. Pls look into this mr president. Congrats once more for ascending the throne.
Regards
Oseghale Lucas Okohue
University Of Portharcourt Nigeria. undergraduate student
10 November 2008
Dear Leo,
Great column in JPT November. Applaud your goal of further globalization for SPE. Great opportunity as you travel to solicit feedback from members and improve global dialogue. Other pieces from our growing regions like India, Africa, South America and Russia might be illuminating too.
Keep in touch and wishing you a great year ahead.
Greg Solomon
Singapore
10 November 2008
Dear all,
First of all thank you very much for the warm support. This is much appreciated. This forum I would like to use to hear directly from members, what is important, what is ‘alive’ in your minds. Anything you come up with will be taken seriously and action taken if possible.
Two questions from Nigerian Students on the initiation of a forum for employment opportunities, a dating service for students and employers. Interesting and doable, I even think we already have it. Why don’t you go to the student page on SPE.org and access the Student Job Board. It can be accessed from the Students page under the tabsections/Groups/Networking. Try it and let me know whether that is what you want
regards
Leo Roodhart
2009 SPE President
12 November 2008
PRESIDENT LEO ROODHART. i think you are the right man for the position.Congratulations on your appointment.Your idea is indeed a great one.i hope to play a key and major role during your tenure in office,i am presently a student of petroleum engineering.
PRINCE INTEGRITY OBARA
university of portharcourt
nigeria.
obarai@yahoo.com
11 December 2008
Respected Sir, It is really a great idea to get in touch with every member in SPE. Are you visiting INDIA section? Don’t you think that some more steps should be taken to attract newcomers in petroleum/energy sector. As I am 2nd year B.Tech student, so you can’t expect me to undestand the research papers 100%. But somewhere I have to start. http://www.spe.org is a treasure in itself for us. But why we are unable to explore it to ignite our mind. It may sound sily to some but if SPE introspect that why a student like me is not finding SPE much beneficial at this point,may be in future,this should be a concern for you.
Currently, We are the pioneer batch at Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University(PDPU),Gujarat, India. We are having a batch of 240 students in petroleum engineering. It can be converted to a skilled workforce for industry using SPE resources. But, How I don’t know exactly although I am secretary for the SPE Student Chapter,PDPU.
Parimal Raj,
Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University,India
parimal.rajbtech07@iptg.ac.in
21 December 2008
Dear Mr Roodhart,
I am really delighted to hear about the forum.I hope that all SPE chapters and members benefit from it.Also I think we need more cohesion that is attainable !We look forward any kind of cooperation with other chapters.
Don’t hesitate to contact me by this email:omidiehstudents@spemail.org
to Visit our chapter click on: http://omidieh.spe.org
President of Omidieh(Petro Gas) SPE Student Chapter
Islamic Azad University of Omidieh,Khuzestan,Iran.
23 December 2008
I am realy glad with you sir as a president, sir may the Almighty Allah help you out to solve your things in good condition Thank sir, I am Abubakar Alhassan i want to become petroleum engineering in future at University of Bauchi Inshall Allah and i also want to belongs to the member of SPE Student chapter in future so that i came feel you sir. You are welcome.
3 January 2009
Reply to Queastion 11
Dear mr. Pandit Raj
I will come to India first week of March and I will Visit Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore. Details are still being worked on, so this might change. It is of great concern to me if you do not find SPE not beneficial, and I would lioke to know why. Only by letting us know what you expect from SPE, we can change and offer members what they are looking for. So I might speak to you in India, or just let me know what would make SPE beneficial to you. you can alway e-mail to president@spe.org or use the forum
Leo Roodhart
2009 SPE President
4 January 2009
Leo,
Considering the current lack of diversity in sources for importing natural gas into European nations, it would seem that a European gas shale conference or, in the least, a session in this year’s annual European SPE conference solely devoted to this topic would be in order. Substantial information exists on (a) exploring and developing, (b) estimating reserves and (c) recent improvements in drillng and completion technologies that should be directly applicable to gas shales throughout Europe.
Regards,
P.J.(”Jay”)Thrash, Jr.
Haas Petroleum Engineering Services, Inc.
Dallas, Texas
5 January 2009
dear Mr roodhart
congratulations!
The initiation of the presidents forum is a positive step towards your administration. I will also be delighted if SPE would initiate a forum through which employment opportunities will be made available to the students. Its really a tough securing employment/Industrial placement opportunity in the industry and we are loosing most of our talents. Pls look into this mr president. Congrats once more for ascending the throne
please accept my excuse because of this delay.
pease contact me by: spe.ahwaz.gmail.com
5 January 2009
Leo,
Congrats and hope you have a good year as SPE president.
I have been member of SPE since 1970 and helped at the local section and international level for many years as a volunteer. I am now over 65 years of age and working as a consultant. Therefore, when I volunteer now it is a loss of consulting income for hours spent PLUS money going out for meeting fees, transportation, etc. I can more easily absorb the larger financial loss of consulting hours than money going out of my pocket for meeting fees, etc.
I think it is great that SPE is helping the younger members, but some of us older members have already paid our dues financially and with both time and effort for SPE over many years. Unfortunately, I do not have a large company to reimburse me for my expenses or time spent helping SPE.
I noted my comments to SPE over 2 years ago, but still have not seen any tangible program to help older members. Several of my friends who are about my age mentioned the high cost of SPE meetings when I saw them at SPE ATCE Denver 2008.
Is financial help for lower meeting fees coming for the older members and, if so, when?
Thanks,
Tom
6 January 2009
I agree with Dr. Tom Sifferman request for reduced registration fee for senior retired SPE members. Other societies do it.
JJ Azar, Professor Emeritus, SPE Distinguished Member
Member: National Academy of Engineering
6 January 2009
Dear Mr. Roodhart,
Thank you for opening this contemporary channel of communication and Good luck on your new assignment with SPE. I know that we have a few things to talk to you about over this new year.
To start with, recently I have heard from a few of my colleagues with SPE membership with the same concerns raised by Dr. Tom Sifferman. I think this escalating costs of registering in SPE ATCE or other Regional meetings/workshops etc may become cost prohibitive for retirees as years go by, unless SPE BOD come with some win/win relief programs(??). On this issue, we can at least check with other similar professional organizations such as AIME, AICHE etc and see if we can get some ideas to keep retired members in the KLAN and contributing.
Hemanta Mukherjee, SPE Distinguished Member
Consultant, iPoint LLC
6 January 2009
Dear Mr. Roodhart:
Thank you for your willingness to serve the society in such a big way. I hope you enjoy traveling and listening.
Tom Sifferman’s comment struck a chord with me. I am approaching 50 years as an SPE member and have been well served by the society. Since retiring, I have to look harder at the cost of travel and registration fees than before.
Adam T. (Ted) Bourgoyne
7 January 2009
Dear Mr. Roodhart:
I too support Tom Sifferman’s comments and suggest that SPE should eliminate the fees for senior members attending at least one SPE convention or SPE technical meeting a year. This should benefit many members by talking with or listening to these people. I am 76 years old and a “senior member and life” for SPE.
Derry Sparlin
9 January 2009
Dear Tom and others
I must admit I feel a lot of sympathy for your concerns and not only because I will be in the same situation a few years from now! Indeed we do a lot for the young, as they are important, they are the future, but we should not forget the wise. Problem is where do we draw the line how old does one has to be to pay a reduced fee for a conference, is it for all conferences, or just the Annual Meeting, is it for workshops, forums or conferences only. Some conferences are already free, like Offshore Europe, some are expensive, because they are organised in an expensive venue and hve no exhibition to support. We will discuss this at the next board meeting, and in the mean time I would love to get suggestions from all of you, about what would be prefered.
Leo Roodhart
2009 SPE President
19 January 2009
15 Dear Jay
I like this. Shale gas could be a Forum topic. I will pass this on the the Forum Implementation committee. Forums look at the future, while Conferences look back. Here we need to map out the future.
Thanks
Leo Roodhart
2009 SPE President
19 January 2009
Leo,
Thanks for your comment #22 to me and others. You raise many very good points. I appreciate you starting this blog to communicate with members.
I am just one member, but let me address some of your issues. Hopeful other members– young, old, and in between — will also respond.
1- Currently SPE gets a major part of its income from meeting registration fees (67% in 2008) while other societies such as ASME (Mechanical Engineers) do NOT (3% from conferences in 2006 with 55% from codes & standards, 14% from publications, and 12% from member dues). In fact, SPE meeting fees seem to subsidized SPE publications and spe.org too.
2- This new, revised registration fee process for old members might be done in phases with reduced (possibly free) meeting fee registration for old (to be determined later) members who are authors, on the program committee, and /or session chairs. Many meetings have reduced registration fees of those involved already, but they are still very expensive (almost $500 sometimes for less than three days). OTC, ACS, and SPE (the plastics one) often provide authors and others with free registrations NOW.
3- As the first step, I would suggest age 65 for old members. We might move it down to 62 or 60 later. I believe SPE records have the date of birth for many members already so this would not be hard to do.
4- I think SPE ATCE (formally Fall Meeting in my early days) is our premier SPE meeting and I have attended all except the one on Washington DC and the canceled d one in New Orleans since the early 1970’s. I was also been on many of their program committees but my employers at the time, not me, paid the meeting registration fees and other expenses for me. Currently exhibitor passes get you into the exhibit area so that is in place already. However, attendance at the technical sessions is not allowed with the exhibitor passes. How about allowing old members to also attend technical sessions on the exhibitor passes?
5- Other SPE conferences are my main concern now. As a program committee member, you spend time rating abstracts, putting sessions together, writing to the authors to update and remind them of deadlines, etc., reviewing slides, possibly helping with exhibit or sponsorship sales, attending the meeting as a session chair, and then also needing to pay a large registration fee. As a consultant, those are lost (volunteered) hours of income plus more importantly money paid for registration. Some say that these conferences provide opportunities for consultants to get more work. It has NOT happened for me. When I am on a program committee, I am too busy to network as much. I have NEVER gotten a consulting job when I was a session chair, but have at other meetings when I am not so involved in the program and have more time to network. If you are NOT on the program committee, the fees are higher still. One of the conference program committees on which I was and am a member, had NO attendees over age 65 respond to their last post-meeting survey. I realize there were some over age 65 there, but probably VERY few (maybe 1 or 2), since those over age 65 are usually not employed by companies that will pay their registration fees and other expenses.
6- I agree some of the meetings such as workshops and forums are very expensive and I do so think lowering registration fees for these is feasible now.
THANKS,
Tom Sifferman, P.E.
24 January 2009
Dear Mr. Roodhart,
Thank you for this blog, first of all!
Then I would like to congratulate you with the President position!
Maybe it’s rather late congratulation. But late is better, than never, isn’t it?
I am the member of the KNTU SPE SC, Almaty, Kazakhstan.
And we would like to invite you at the annual forum and conference, which will take place at our University. You could get aqcuainted with our staff, work that we all do here, give some advices-they are the most valuable thing for us, advices from the wise, as you wrote before. We appreciate everything SPE does for the youngs’ development, and that’s why we invite you!
Here is my email sanjarmukanov@rambler.ru. If you are interested, we will be glad to receive from you!
THANKS A LOT!
Sanzhar Mukanov
KNTU SPE SC
12 February 2009
Dear Mr. Roodhart,
President of SPE
first of all
Thank you for this window to contact you
Its good thing when you will be in touch with all members and the better from that when you replay to members I hope this will be a forward step in the SPE system ,im glad to be a member in the SPE, im senior engineer working in NOC in IRAQ im now studying master in ISE& Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh in oil and gas exploration & production
I would like to keep in touch with you and all the engineers here so as we can make a good data base for the oil industry & its facilities all around the world
Alaa abdullah aldrwah
aldrwah@yahoo.com
alaa.abdullah@pet.hw.ac.uk
9 March 2009
Dear Mr. Roodhart,
President of SPE
I would like to inform you that unfortunately for unknown and perhaps political reason,6 student among 150 students,from Iran has not been granted visa from Bahrain where the regional contest will taken place .president
We reserved this negative answer for Visa when there was no time to consider any alternative such as making a video conference option, some of the student were in airport.
We seriously would also to take and action either providing a the contest in another country such as Dubai or postponing this contest for these eligible student or any other solotion that you may have for solving this problem and making these student calm .this kind of behavior would affect SPE credit and cause serious problem for our self by these students ,who were hardly working to attend this contest .
It is important that Iranian student could archive great successes in last two three contests.
Please try your best to solve this problem.
Regards
Mrs.M.Ahmadiani
SPE Program Chairperson
Tel:88874501-6
Fax:88874500-6(Ext:2291)& 88661307
14 March 2009
A REPLAY RELATED TO No 27
I think the companies of oil industry must be far away from political and the situation in there country I m very sorry to hear some times that there is some engineers from Iraq or Iran or Syria they couldn’t take a visa for a western country
Our work is around the global earth so please I recommend the SPE
To put some rules with the governments in both west & east sides to make the movements of the students and the engineers and the people who work in this part much easy and reasonable
18 March 2009
thanks
i forget to put my name in No 28
the ex note
Alaa Abdullah
IRAQ
18 March 2009
Dear Alaa Abdullah and Mrs.M.Ahmadiani,
SPE is a non-political organization and, therefore, cannot attempt to have any influence on governmental policies of any country. SPE is not able to control the outcome of visa applications.
SPE’s Middle East office organizes the Student Paper Contest for the region. They specifically began, a few years ago, doing sub-regional contests in a number of locations to assist with the visa issue. Students have had more luck obtaining visas for the Regional Contest after having won the Sub-Regional Contest. First and second place sub-regional winners are invited to attend the Regional Contest, which is held each year in conjunction with a major SPE meeting, so the location of the meeting dictates the location of the Student Paper Contest.
Leo Roodhart
2009 SPE President
19 May 2009