SPE Annual Conference Emphasized People and Technology for Meeting Worldwide Energy Demand
14 November 2007
Contact:
Dana Otillio
+1.972.952.9471
email dotillio@spe.org
The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) 2007 Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) was held this week in Anaheim,California, and brought together 8,264 oil and gas E&P professionals from around the world. Under the conference theme of "Innovate: A Golden Opportunity for People and Technology,"ATCE 2007 featured technical sessions with more than 380 papers on innovative technologies, case studies and best practices. More than 400 exhibiting companies featured the latest products and services in the E&P industry.
“ATCE 2007 was a great success,” said Abdul Jaleel AlKhalifa, 2007 SPE president. “SPE membership is expanding, technology is being developed, and best practices are being shared. SPE is offering a global platform for knowledge dissemination and networking affiliation, thanks to meetings such as ATCE.”
Opening Session
Monday morning’s Opening General Session, “Help Wanted: Meeting the Oil and Gas Industry’s Staffing Challenges,” provided several innovative approaches to attracting, recruiting and retaining top technical talent in the industry. Tactics included extensive on-the-job training programs, mentoring opportunities, flexible work hours and talent management aligned with business strategy. Panelists of this session were Joe Bryant, chairman and CEO of Cobalt International Energy; Robert McEwen, managing director of McEwen Capital; Lawrence Pope, vice president of Human Resources and Operational Excellence for Halliburton; Giovanni Paccaloni, retired vice president of Eni and 2005 SPE president; Patrick O’Bryan, wells director with BP America; and moderator Tony Smith, Vice President Operations—Northern US and Alaska for Smith Services.
Reaching out
Also on Monday, Thamir Abbas Ghadhban, chairman of the advisory commission for Iraq’s prime minister, presented a positive picture of the recovery and future prospects of the Iraqi oil and gas industry. Oil production declines occurring in the wake of the US-led invasion have largely been reversed, Ghadhban indicated. He said that progress is also being made on the necessary legal reforms to reconstitute the Iraqi oil industry.Social responsibility was the focus of “AIME Presents: Societal Changes and Issues” where Abdul Jaleel AlKhalifa introduced a new organization called Industry’s Humanitarian Support Alliance NGO (IHSAN). The mission of IHSAN is to engage the E&P industry worldwide in helping provide drinking water, sanitation and related education to disadvantaged communities.
Business Model
Tuesday featured a motivational workshop and keynote luncheon for young professionals. During the workshop, young professionals divided into several groups to discuss motivation and retention in the industry. The top two reasons cited as motivation at work were an interesting job and challenging work. Other special panel sessions included “Women in the Industry,” “Relationships: Reserves, Price, Supply and Demand,” “Advances and Applications in Reservoir Engineering and the Role of Reservoir Engineers,” and “Drilling Automation: Where Are The Game Changers?”
On the final day, SPE and the National Energy Education Development (NEED)Project presented a teachers workshop to facilitate energy education in grades K12. The workshop provided Anaheimarea teachers with lessons and activities that they can immediately start using in their classrooms. This workshop is one component of SPE’s new energy education program, Energy4me. Energy4me is a public outreach program and web resource (energy4me.org) designed to help students and adults become more educated energy consumers.
Continuing Traditions
ATCE’s time-honored events included the Annual Reception and Banquet, which honored distinguished SPE members, and the President’s Luncheon, which offered the “State of the Society” address from 2007 SPE President Abdul Jaleel AlKhalifa, who passed the presidential gavel to 2008 SPE President William (Bill) Cobb. The 2008 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition will be held 2124 September 2008 in Denver, Colorado, USA. For more information, please visit www.spe.org/atce.
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About SPE
About SPE The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is a not-for-profit professional association whose members are engaged in energy resources development and production. SPE serves more than 73,000 members from 110 countries worldwide. SPE is a key resource for technical knowledge related to the oil and gas exploration and production industry and provides services through its publications, conferences, workshops, forums, and website at www.spe.org.
