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Sections/Groups/Networks

2007 Section Best Practices

Increasing Membership and Development

  • Aberdeen Section has approached membership with a more strategic perspective and implemented a plan to create more SPE Champions in organizations where the section desires an increased membership. Specific targeting of disciplines not well represented in the Aberdeen section began in 2007.
  • Brazil Section began a “Luncheon with the Industry” sponsored by local corporate leaders such as Petrobras, Schlumberger and Devon and plan to expand to more then three for the coming year.
  • Canadian Section has a dedicated page on its website for volunteer activities and volunteer sign up with a dedicated Volunteer Coordinator on our Board who follows up with any people who sign up as volunteers on-line, or who contact the section via e-mail, telephone or in-person at section events.  Announcements also are made at their monthly luncheons regarding volunteer opportunities. In addition, they frequently send out emails to the membership with a list of volunteer opportunities. Another important way of involving members is through the Board of Directors portfolio activities. Each Board member is encouraged to engage other volunteers to assist them in carrying out the activities of their particular portfolio. Also, as SPE members who were section directors in other sections move to Calgary, they are sought out to see if they would like to get involved with the Canadian Section.  Committee chairs and members also are regularly contacting members to see if they are interested in getting involved. The section holds a volunteer appreciation event each year to show its appreciation for the dedication and work of its volunteers and encourage them to continue with their volunteerism to the Section.
  • Canadian Section continued with its major membership appreciation and member recruitment annual Stampede Breakfast event in 2006. This fun event is completely free to all members. In addition, any new members signed up at this event receive a free entry into the breakfast event. The July 2006 breakfast had approximately 200 members and prospective new members attend. It was hosted jointly with the GPAC (Gas Processing Association Canada) as a means of sharing costs and reaching out to other segments of our industry to attract new members and raise awareness for SPE.  In 2007, the co-hosting of the event is expanding to also include the Petroleum Society of CIM and the Canadian Heavy Oil Association for even more cross-industry exposure.
  • Gulf Coast Section’s Membership Committee focused its efforts on three goals during 2006-07:
    • Support Base Membership Growth
      • New Graduates
      • Existing Workforce (Petrotechs, Emerging Leaders Program)
      • Industry Transfers
    • Continue Pacesetting Efforts to Develop “Young” Membership
      • Emerging Leaders Program
      • Inclusion of Young Members in Study Groups/Committees
      • Succession Planning
    • Encourage and Support Volunteerism 
      • Engage SPE-GCS Members to Volunteer
      • Find a place for everyone!  
  •  London Section held a subsidised seminar that aimed to bring women together to talk about the challenges and rewards of working in the industry and how it could be improved. The day consisted of speakers in the morning (Energy Institute, a lawyer to compare industries, Schlumberger’s diversity manager and a female drilling engineer).  After lunch there was a training session on soft skills, followed by a panel session, including a duel careers couple and open discussion.
  • London Section leaders held a brainstorming session at the start of the 2006-07 season and that paid off significantly as they now have the highest membership for over seven years.  Initiatives include sending London companies’ posters and an SPE memory stick with an introductory power-point presentation.  London officers also started email chase up of unpaid members and encourage all board members to promote membership within their company.  More than one company now lists SPE involvement in their employees’ goals and objectives and they are eager to promote this practice.  Inviting young people to be active on the London Section board has also given energy to the board meetings, reduced formality and made the seminar topics more current.
  • Permian Basin Section recruited 3 new members at the Barnett Shale Symposium held in November of 2006.  “First Steps in the Oil Business” workshop was also used as a recruiting tool; tuition free for attendees applying to join SPE.  The workshop recruited 9 new members. Other section seminars and workshops also offer discounted tuition/fees to SPE members.
  • Saudi Arabia Section has achieved their highest membership record in its history with over 1300 members as of May 2007. One major contributor to this growth is their utilization of the bulk payment campaign process for Saudi Aramco company members. The section membership committee carried out these campaigns from major company E&P groups of personnel to ensure that all existing members remain active members but also targeted new professionals in the industry to join in a simple manner. As a result, the majority of new members this year joined and had their dues paid as part of these bulk payments.

Community/Public Outreach

  • Abu Dhabi Section has arranged a visit for one of the Abu Dhabi centers that take care of special needs kids. The purpose is to show that our society belongs to this community and to show that they care. SPE members donated some money and gifts for this purpose. A check for the donated money was delivered to the one of the centers.
  • Argentine Section broke new ground with their government by promoting and arguing in favor of research in the area of new gas production technologies, mainly coalbed methane and gas hydrates, and got the Secretariat of Energy and the National Agency for the Advance of Science and Technology to contact the University of Río Gallegos in a successful effort to obtain the designation of three research associates from the National Research Agency (CONICET) to study those subjects within the University.
  • Gulf Coast Section’s Community Services Coordinating Committee (CSCC): The SPE-GCS CSCC 2006/2007 approved expense budget was $35,500. To summarize, following is a list of programs that are currently coordinated by this committee:
    • Scholarship Program (including the SPE-GCS, Houston SPE Auxiliary, SPEI Gus Archie Scholarship Budget and Community in Schools Houston).
    • Student Internship Program for Scholarship Winners
    • High School Petroleum Engineering Recruiting Fairs
    • SPE Foundation Contributions
    • Magic Suitcase Coordination
    • Science and Engineering Fair Houston (SEFH) – details below
    • Communities in Schools Houston (CISH) donation and job workshop
    • ATCE Student tours
    • OTC Student Tours (In 2007, Community Services committee secured over 100 volunteers to coordinate registration at OTC)
    • SPE Student Chapter Support (with Texas A&M and Rice/University of Houston Student Chapters)
    • Earth Science Week and Engineering Week festivities
    • Environmental Institute of Houston (EIH), earth science education project - details below
    • Annual Sponsorship of Junior Achievement Golf Tournament
  • Java Indonesia Section, in collaboration with Jakarta International School (JIS) has sponsored $4,000 to Foundation for Excellence in Education (FEE) to train local teachers of local high schools to be more professional, and helped, in collaboration with UPN Student Chapter, the victims of tsunami that took place in Yogyakarta on 26 May 2006. The Section also actively collaborate with Oil Companies and Government Agencies in improving HSE aspects including Forest Management.
  • London Section developed a basic course that introduces the Oil & Gas Industry to newcomers, professionals such as banker and consultants as well as support staff. Highly popular annual event, which is given by Industry Professionals and Imperial College lecturers. The program ranged all the way from Petroleum Geology, Geophysics, Petrophysics, Reservoir Engineering, Production Technology, Drilling and Completions, Surface Facilities, Production Engineering and finishes with Petroleum Economics.
  • Netherlands Section hosted a Charity Quiz to raise funds for Clini Clowns, a Dutch charity providing support to ill children (mostly in hospitals) by providing entertainment, with the aim of having a medical as well as morale-boosting effect. The event raised 1,000 euro’s and this was matched on the night with a further 1,000 euro’s (making 2,000 in total) by IRO, the association of oil field contractors in The Netherlands.
  • Oklahoma City Section helped raise money for the Oilfield Christian Fellowship.  The money was used to help the OKC Rescue Mission.  They helped raise $20,000.00 that was used to feed people in need over the Thanksgiving holiday. 

Energy Education

  • Aberdeen Section sponsors an annual program for Maths-In-The-Pipeline, a Math Challenge Event where 8 teams of five 15-16 year olds experience a series of challenges that face engineers day to day in the oil industry.
  • Aberdeen Section sponsored Techfest, a major regional school science event that engages hundreds of 5-12 year olds in a vast array of fun learning activities including demonstrations, exhibitions, lectures, and other events designed to promote science and technology to the family.
  • Alaska Section contributed to the success of Engineers Week in a number of ways in addition to an annual monetary contribution.  Section members organized a tour for high school juniors and seniors from 8 local high schools.  The tour consisted of visiting the H2Oasis Indoor Waterpark and touring the Engineering Department at University of Alaska Anchorage.  While at UAA, approximately 100 high school students heard from local engineers representing different engineering disciplines.  SPE members shared their experiences and insights about the many opportunities available in the petroleum industry.
  • Alaska Section sponsors the local EngineeringExplorers group, which is an Anchorage-based high school club, led by section members Alex Yancey and Micaela Weeks. This club is open to any high school student in the Anchorage region and currently has about 40 members.  The Engineering Explorers meet twice a month throughout the school year to learn about a wide spectrum of engineering disciplines including mechanical, chemical, structural, electrical, petroleum, mechanical, and aerospace. Each meeting has an engineering discipline as a theme.  The meetings begin with an engineering professional giving a brief presentation, which is then followed by spending the bulk of the time on a challenging activity related to that session’s theme.  The students are divided into small groups where they must use inductive reasoning, work effectively in teams, and demonstrate problem solving skills to complete the challenge successfully.  Some of the more interesting activities included building mouse-trap racecars, gingerbread structures (pictured below), and robots.
  • Denver Section sponsored numerous energy related activities at elementary, secondary and senior high schools.  Some examples are science fairs, Magic Suitcase presentations, the Energy Hog, Safe Living, etc.  This sponsorship was primarily cash donations and membership volunteers.  No attendance records were kept but for the entire year it is estimated that over 1,000 students were reached through the local SPE Section’s efforts.  The Board allocated up to $5,000 for the 2006-07 year in support of these types of activities.
  • Evangeline Section sponsored 33 science grants ($500 each for $16,500 total) to Lafayette Parish Schools, (elementary, secondary, and senior high schools) and work with these teachers to support the sciences in the area.  They also sponsor ULL and LSU by giving grants that will allow them to attend ATCE and student paper contests. Furthermore the section dispatches members to various events such as ULL Engineering Day, and Career Days for the high school students to showcase the petroleum industry’s significance and contribution to the world and humanity.
  • German Section has conducted many initiatives this past year to encourage petroleum engineering careers and public image of the industry, including presentations to pupils in last course before universities; presentations to professional consultants of the German Federal Labour Agency; and attending “Professional Starter Days” where companies and small business show their activities and offers for professional education to pupils between 14 and 18 years of age.
  • Permian Basin Section continued its “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” program in 2007 where 10 female oil industry engineers, and 1 college recruiters presented personal experiences, encouragement, and requirements for pursuing an engineering career to female high school students. There were 89 10th, 11th, & 12th grade female students from 4 local high schools who participated.  Twelve colleges and universities with engineering or technology programs contributed resources to the event.  The Section spent $1,871.92 in advertisements, promotional give-a-ways, and lunch for the attendees.
  • San Joaquin Valley Section helped organize Community Energy Night (CEN) a joint project where SPE collaborates with about 10 other organizations to arrange an evening aimed at raising awareness about energy industry. The event also includes an essay and poster competition amongst students at different grade levels. The theme of the essays for this year was “Energy for America from America” where as the poster theme was around energy conservation. The winning students, their parents and teachers were invited to CEN and were presented with awards. They had good participation from different industries and media people (about 300 in all) who listened to a talk by Dave Kilpatrick, a local entrepreneur and expert, on the energy industry.

Promoting Petroleum Engineering/Supporting Students

  • Aberdeen Section has developed a solution to students not being able to afford coming to Continuing Education events by enlisting organizing volunteers to work in conjunction with their event organizers, Hulse Rodger & Co.  A group of students now attend CE events for free as organizers and participate in the presentations at times when they are not required to perform any event management duties.  This is proving very successful and offers numerous professional and personal development opportunities for young students.
  • Aberdeen Section has developed a strategy to take the section national across Scotland, catering to engineering schools throughout the country.  Leadership there has recognized that many of the oilfield entrants in this region are coming from international postings and plan to direct their local stock of educated engineering minds to pursue careers in our industry.  Aberdeen Section has successfully launched an initiative with Strathclyde University, the country’s best traditional engineering university, using a proven working model that has been running for years with Heriot Watt Petroleum School.
  • Aberdeen Section sponsors the Annual North Britain Student Research Forum with the PESGB and AFES. The event allows geo-engineering university students to present and discuss their work.
  • Abu Dhabi Section sponsors an annual activity to award all the children of their SPE members. Students according to their grade and level of achievements are awarded some monetary and other gifts as an award(total number of students attended this year activity reached up to 86 students).
  • Azerbaijan section held their second student symposium in April 2007.  54 students from the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy and Khazar University participated in a two-day event designed to give them a chance to work real world technical challenges and enhance their teamwork skills.  Key elements of the symposium were:
    • Students applied for the opportunity to participate.
    • 54 students were selected from a candidate pool of nearly 100.
    • Selection criteria included active participation in the student SPE chapter.
    • Industry sponsorship from Statoil and BP provided an offsite venue and the support of technical professional and HR coaches.
    • Every participant was encouraged to try different team styles and different team roles during the event.
    • The students were given short presentations on specific technical areas and then given a challenging ‘real life’ decision to make in the technical area covered.
    • Creativity was in abundance and the most memorable presentation came from a multi-national team that did a skit to get their technical points across.
    • Brazil Section implemented a Technical Books Donation Program for universities within Brazil that had active student chapters. An intense effort was begun to attract many company sponsors to purchase and print SPE publications. All universities with Petroleum Engineering courses and with student chapters (5) established were among the recipients of about 65 titles.
  • Canadian Section doubled each individual scholarship to $2000 CDN and its total scholarship expenditure to $50,000 CDN.  Twenty five scholarships were handed out to the SPE student members, representing a total of approximately 12.5 % of the Section’s total budgeted expenditures for 2006/07.  This year, the funds for scholarships came out of the Section’s general revenues, as well as dedicated donations to scholarships from the year.  No monies were moved out of the investment account for this purpose.  A medium term goal began to accumulate enough capital in the Section’s investment account to establish a self-sustaining scholarship endowment fund that will provide $50,000 CDN in annual scholarships.  In the shorter term, establishing $25,000 /CDN in self-sustaining scholarships with the balance coming from available general revenues was planned.
  • Caracas Section organized and had three student chapters participate in III SPE Student Chapter Seminar as described hereinto: UCV: 3 presentations with 4 authors; USB: 4 presentations with 4 authors. The third SPE Student Chapters Seminar was held this year in Maracaibo, Venezuela, making it a national event.  
  • Denver Section had another record-breaking scholarship year.  In 2006-07, the section gave almost $50,000 in total scholarship support.  This is significantly up from the $4,500 the section awarded in 2002.  They have a very active scholarship committee that spent considerable time determining proper distribution of scholarship monies.  This year scholarships were awarded to over 45 students at four different universities. The University of Wyoming was added to the list of schools this year as they recently resurrected their Petroleum Engineering program.  Scholarships are limited to petroleum engineering majors that have completed at least one year of college.
  • Evangeline Section sponsors ULL students who participate in the Gulf Coast Technical Paper Contest.  The section also provides judges for the SPE Regional Paper Contest. $10,000 was donated to the student chapter as the Host chapter at the SPE ATCE in San Antonio, TX.  After the Petro-Bowl competition, the student chapters all visited Sea World San Antonio for dinner and camaraderie.
  • Gulf Coast Section organized an inspirational evening to honor the multi-faceted technical and leadership achievements of several generations of superstars in the energy industry, which was celebrated by more than 350 attendees.  The keynote speaker was Jack Williams, Vice President of Engineering, ExxonMobil Production Company.  The audience included: 1) SPE-GCS scholarship winners (high school seniors who will be engineering majors) and their parents; 2) SPE Scholarship renewals (petroleum engineering majors who are current college students) and their parents; 3) SPE award winners from the Science Engineering Fair of Houston in the Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, Earth & Space Science and Environmental Science (who are middle school and high school students) and their parents; 4) SPE scholarship winners for the Communities in School Houston program, a program for “at risk” high school seniors, and their parents; 5) SPE-GCS Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) members (SPE members with less than 10 years industry experience);  5) SPE Legion of Honor members (50 continuous years of SPE membership); 6) SPE Auxiliary members (SPE-GCS spouses’ organization); 7) Various winners of SPE section and regional awards who were recognized for volunteerism; and, 8) SPE members and their spouses.
  • Gulf Coast Section’s Student Chapter Support liaisons assisted with planning and funding monthly student chapter programs whenever possible, including arranging for topical speakers at chapter meetings and making arrangements for section volunteers to participate in other functions. The section placed a link to the student chapter sites on their website under Community Services.  The student members volunteered in varying capacities at recruiting fairs, Earth Science Week and other section community services events.
  • Gulf Coast Section’s Magic Suitcase Program enables and encourages SPE members to speak to groups of students and adults about the oil business, thereby increasing public understanding of the science and engineering involved in our industry. Currently there are seven suitcases in use throughout Houston. This year’s level of section support included: 1) Direct financial contribution of $2,000 to support refresh/upgrade to the Magic Suitcases, including purchase of “advanced” demonstration resources (i.e., 2D subsurface simulation sandbox; porosity/permeability demonstration). 2) New demonstration materials from industry donors including: rock sample kits (BP), fossil sample kits (BP), oil products kits (BP), ‘Energy for the World’ DVDs (BP), rotary sidewall coring tool (Schlumberger), coiled tubing sample (BP), pre-pack sand control screen sample (BP), wire wrap sand control screen sample (BP), proppant samples (BP, Halliburton), ‘Slime’ kit (Halliburton), gravel pack screen samples (Halliburton), assorted videos (BP, ChevronTexaco, API, DHV Downhole Video).
  • Gulf Coast Section, trying to induce a larger turnout and a better opportunity for participating universities to persuade potential students to enter into an academic career of petroleum engineering, held their tenth annual SPE-GCS Petroleum Engineering Recruiting Fairs during the week of November 13-17, 2006. The section conducted four fairs encouraging students to consider petroleum engineering as a career opportunity.  Universities recruiting in the fairs included Louisiana State University, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University, University of Houston, University of Missouri-Rolla, University of Texas, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Tulsa, and Pennsylvania State University.
  • Los Angles Basin is a major contributor to an introduction to the oil industry for high school students and teachers.  The program is held at the University of Southern California in late June.  It is coordinated and taught by section members.  The program is called COMET (California Oil Mentoring and Entrepreneurial Training) and has been given annually since 1997.
  • Oklahoma City Section helps sponsor the Annual Engineering Fair held at OKC Omniplex offers high school students the chance to meet local engineers and learn from some basic petroleum based games and displays.   750 students attend.  Also, some section members donate time to the OERB  (Oklahoma Energy Resource Board). These volunteers are called Petro-Pros and they visit grade schools to teach basic petroleum facts and safety.
  • Oslo Section began their Student Chapter Project in January 2007 by doing research on UiO (University of Oslo) web-site and finding contact persons within the technical department of UiO.  Officers came in contact with two students who where invited to an Oslo Section monthly meeting where the section paid dinner for the students. This culminated with a visit to UiO, where the section presented itself to the students and paid for a social arrangement with pizza and drinks after the presentations.  The Chairman of the Bergen Student Chapter (UiB – University of Bergen) was invited to Oslo and gave a presentation of their student chapter activities in Bergen and why the students in Oslo should become student SPE members and establish a Student Chapter.
  • Permian Basin Section gave a presentation to the Desk & Derrick Club of Midland, TX on the history and activities of the SPE in general and its functions in the Permian Basin in particular during “Career Day” where approximately 250 4th, 5th, & 6th graders listened to 6 oil industry engineers and workers and viewed a well servicing unit at the local math/science magnet elementary school. Also, during “Earth Science Week”, seven members presented to approx. 260 4th graders on earth science and oil industry careers.
  • Western Australian Section’s monthly luncheons hosted by the section allowed students to participate in a forum where the industry’s most recent challenges and issues were discussed. Students were also given the opportunity in these luncheons to network with the professional peers. The students attending the monthly luncheons were of a tertiary education level.

Innovative Technology Transfer

  • Abu Dhabi Section held a Well Design & Advanced Completion Technology workshop that involved the operating and service oil companies in Abu Dhabi. The program involved presentation of the latest technology in the area followed with panel discussion of the current problems and possible solutions to these problems and challenges with the way forward.
  • Argentine Petroleum Section helped organize Fifth Latin American & Caribbean Gas & Electricity Congress (V LACGEC), 300 plus participants (joint sponsorship); Fifth Annual Meeting of the Interest Group on Duct and Network Modeling & Operation (V GIMOR), 80 plus participants and the Tenth Latin American & Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference (X LACPEC), which had around 750 participants.
  • Brazil Section sponsored “Brazil Onshore” technical conference in November 2006 with 100 participants (600 delegates + 400 visitors), and included representatives from 13 countries. The program included 12 technical sessions, 48 presentations, 3 panel discussions and an extra program on “doing Business with Petrobras” Also participating were 60 exhibitors, 80 student members and 10 corporate sponsors.
  • Denver Section supports four study groups; Production/Completion/Environmental, Drilling, Reservoir/Formation Evaluation, and Computer Applications.  All the study groups charge to attend and there is no cost associated with holding the meetings. The groups are lunch-n-learn format and are “bring your own” brown-bag lunch.  The Production Study Group continues to be the strongest interest study group with a strong average attendance per meeting with a total of nine meetings held this past year. 
  • Denver Section scheduled twelve continuing education courses this year and generated over $32,500 in gross revenue.  In the Fall of 2006 and throughout the year, their Continuing Education Chairman solicited ideas for short courses that would be of interest to our membership.  The 2006-07 course offering was developed using the SPE International Education Service’s list of short courses and locally available short courses.  Publicity was handled through SPE newsletters and website.  Students were able to conveniently register and pay either on-line via our website or using regular mail.
  • Denver Section sponsored their second and again a very successful ATW in Breckenridge, Colorado December 5-6, 2006.  The ATW titled Tight Gas Completions: Technologies Applications and Best Practices had 165 SPE members in attendance with a strong showing from Rocky Mountain operators.
  • Denver Section sponsored the Rocky Mountain Oil & Gas Technology Symposium April 14-18, 2007.  The event was extremely successful with over 650 attendees.  Originally targeting 450 attendees, the exhibits were sold out within a couple days, corporate sponsorship exceeded plan and the number of attendees was 200 more than planned.  The technical component of the symposium was outstanding and many positive comments were received.
  • Eastern Kentucky Section holds its “Annual Construction” meeting where oil & gas companies discuss their respective drilling programs for the fiscal year. This meeting began in 1977 and had over 140 attendees this past year. It has become so successful that the concept has spread to similar meetings at other SPE sections in West Virginia and Ohio.
  • Gulf Coast Section’s ongoing meetings include the following area and study group meetings: General Meeting, Digital Energy Study Group, Career Management Study Group, Northside Study Group, Drilling Study Group, Westside Study Group, Reservoir Engineering Study Group, Projects, Facilities and Construction Study Group, Completions and Production Study Group, Permian Basin Study Group, Petro-Tech Study Group, International Study Group, Emerging Leaders Program and Business Development Study Group.  With a few exceptions, all of the section’s regularly scheduled meetings are luncheon meetings, complete with a good meal, announcements of interest and a guest speaker.  The guest speakers are usually awarded a souvenir for the occasion (of nominal value, less than $25).  A member committee administers each meeting and is responsible for the conduct of all of their meetings.  Luncheon meetings are held to a strict schedule beginning with fellowship at 11 a.m. and concluding promptly at 1 p.m. Due to the large number of regularly scheduled meetings within the section, management of program topics and schedules is coordinated by a section officer in charge of “Programs”.  Although the section is non-profit, each group is encouraged to make a nominal profit on their meetings to account for incidental expenses, contribute to section scholarship and other community service programs and build up the section cash reserve. The profit target during this program year was “break even” for Luncheons/Meetings, and 20% for Events/Conferences.
  • Gulf Coast Section Digital Energy Study Group hosted the latest in their series of Technology Showcases, a unique approach to disseminating vital information about technology developments to our Gulf Coast Section members.   Eighty-six (86) people attended to hear the results of a study conducted by Upstream CIO and Advertas LLC on integrating field and business operations data.  Eight vendors also presented the latest technology and practices in integration software.  The demonstrations included case studies of applications in the oil and gas industry.  Each 45-minute presentation was given twice during the program in one of four rooms.  This format gave attendees the flexibility to see more presentations and focus on the topics that interested them most.
  • Gulf Coast Section organized the first video podcast meeting on “The Seizure of Yukos:  What It Means About the Rule of Law in Russia [New in 2007], April 25, 2007.  The dinner was hosted jointly with the Houston World Affairs Council.  The topic was so popular that it sold out within days of being announced, making it an ideal choice for our first Podcast.  One hundred (100) were in attendance and that number plus many more are anticipated to download the Podcast.
  • London Section organized a new seminar in the Continuing Education 2006/7 schedule focused specifically on all aspects of the environment and its impact on the Oil and Gas Industry. The session featured: Going forward in a changing environment; A panel of speakers headed up by Jeremy Leggett; CEO of Solar Energy, former Greenpeace campaigner, award winning scientist and author; Representations for BP and Shell and The value of “different thinking” opportunistic business opportunities for those who embrace such causes.
  • Permian Basin Section held its largest ever CO2 Recovery Conference with 365 participants from 10 countries, 26 States and 196 different companies, laboratories and government agencies in attendance; funds raised for the section scholarship fund.  This year they received a total of $46,958.                                
  • Saudi Arabian Section holds an annual technical symposium and invites petroleum experts and professors from academia to participate and share their knowledge with members free of charge.
  • Shekou Section has “invented” a formula that could be called: “Low Cost…no… Frills Workshop”, that has been, successful, because they have been able to offer one full day workshop with an excellent lunch and also have coffee-breaks included for the cost of 25-30 USD. These workshops included the most critical technical issues in South China Sea: Water Production and Water Shut off Technologies, and the Extended Reach Drilling. In these two workshops (one attended by 44 people and the other by 90 coming also from overseas) they reached two main targets: to encourage the presentation by local Engineers, and also as an incentive to the attendance of Nationals.

Website Related Items

  • Aberdeen and London Sections jointly maintain a website which features their meetings pages and where to register online, as well as job vacancy postings and the ability to download information on recent meetings and seminars. A limited amount of industry-specific advertising is sold to cover the costs of site maintenance, and all profits are returned to London and Aberdeen, split evenly, to finance other section activities. The new look and image of this site has gathered great feedback and overall positive response from industry.
  • Aberdeen Section recently added board position to their corporate e-mail signatures that was enabled with a hyperlink to the online SPE-UK event website. Many of the board members added this link to the email signature with the goal to increase web traffic on their site and expose as many people as possible to Aberdeen section events during the work week, thus reaching out to a broader audience.
  • Canadian Section no longer distributes a paper newsletter, but communicates primarily through their website which was again re-vamped for improved ease of use by website administrators, directors and users, including an improved calendar of events on the home page. An increased SPE presence also was built into the webpage headers. The new look allows visitors to better identify activities offered by the section, SPE and the industry as a whole. Other SPE sections, industry organization or company have the ability to post notices, announcements and even technical articles on their website using the on-line forms that are moderated by their website committee to ensure they are relevant to their members before they are posted live on the website. The websites new functionalities assist in better informing the large number of members and broad geography of the section.
  • Denver Section’s web site is also used to communicate meetings, events, short courses, and section news.  Web site activity continues to increase as improvements have been made to keep the site updated.  All information sent to the newsletter is also sent to the web master for inclusion on the web site. Many of their members now use the web page to sign up for their general meetings and continuing education courses.
  • Gulf Coast Section website added several new features to better serve its membership.  Additional efforts were made to enhance the capabilities of the site at a minimal cost. Here are a few highlights:
    • Connections. Stay connected with other users on the site. Add colleagues as your friend to keep in touch.
    • Content Monitoring. Along with Connections, Content Monitoring allows members to see the latest content a user has added to the site.
    • News Rivers. Get the information you want. Third Screen users are now able to access the latest content on the site in text form.
    • Site Totals. The Hits/Visits/Page Views are continuing an upward trend.
    • RSS Update.  RSS (Really Simple Syndication) use continues to grow.
    • Tendenci Dashboard. The Tendenci Dashboard has been updated.
    • WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) Editor – It has been consolidated to make it easier to add changes to content areas.
  • Permian Basin Section has two primary tools of communication to section membership.  The best is their website. Through the website they can archive meeting notes, send out emails to the section, track RSVP’s, members can prepay for section meetings and other events.  There is a very usable calendar for anyone to add industry events to (approval necessary for posting), disseminate technology through advertising and electronic presentations, post notices and online registrations for many industry events.  The current and archived copies of the section’s newsletter can also be viewed and downloaded. 

Newsletter/Communications

  • Aberdeen and London Sections share a joint magazine titled SPE Review, which includes details of upcoming events as well as reports on technical meeting presentations. Once a quarter, these sections also mail the publication to all SPE Europe members as an added member benefit. Regular monthly circulation is more than 4,500.
  • Gulf Coast Section publishes ten (10) 32-page newsletter issues and one (1) 28-page summer newsletter. Advertising revenues were $257,675 and total expenses were approximately $186,141 (final accounting not completed) with monthly circulation of approximately 12,012. Printing and distribution cost per issue is $1.41 and revenue per issue is $1.95, leaving a positive cash flow of $0.54 per issue less incidental expenses, which vary slightly from year to year.
  • Great Yarmouth Section produces 280 copies of their Bulletin, which is 16 pages long in full color with the cost carrying all layout and artwork including advertisements, news editing, local stories and events and all local on-site photography. All their costs of producing the Bulletin have been met with an advertising surplus to be carried forward to the next year.
  • New Delhi Section published section newsletters at least every month this past year. Coinciding with the SPE 50th anniversary, the section began publishing milestones in SPE history worldwide and within India, including facts about the growth of SPE in India since the first section establishment in Ahmedabad in 1986.

Intersociety Cooperation

  • Aberdeen Section has Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) in place with Energy Institute, Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain (PESGB) and Aberdeen Formation Evaluation Society (AFES). These MOUs reduced delegate fees for each other’s events (i.e. at member rates), advertisement of each other’s events on each society’s web pages and promotes co-organization of events and sharing of technologies/ideas.
  • Abu Dhabi Section has some joint meetings with the other professional societies in Abu Dhabi such as the Emirates Society of Geoscientists and the Society of Petrophysists and Well Log Analysists. The section is an active participant in the technical activities of these societies such as the Middle East Tropical SPWLA Conference. Moreover, the section tries coordinate with SPE Oman section on jointgeological field trips.
  • Alaska Petroleum Section sends notices of its luncheon meetings to other professional societies such as the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), and the American Association of Drilling Engineers (AADE), as well as publicizes activities for other professional societies, upon request, in its monthly newsletter to its members.
  • Canadian Section is involved with discussions with the Petroleum Society of CIM and the SPE on the formation of a new, singular petroleum industry society for Canada under the SPE banner. The Petroleum Society of CIM received a mandate from its membership to pursue succession discussions with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy & Petroleum, with discussions on the formation of a new “SPE Canada” with the Canadian Section of SPE to follow. 
  • Delta Section actively participates in Joint Industry meetings and forums. Every 6 months the joint industry group meets to focus on the prevailing issues. The groups which participate are API, SGS, NOGS, AADE, etc. Delta Section also pilots the program called ONE VOICE whereby under one umbrella people from different professional societies get a chance to not only get together but also do work for community like sponsoring jointly New Orleans Science fairs for school
  • Denver Section helped sponsored the Annual Denver Prospect Fair and Technofest.  This event is in its 8th year and is sponsored by other societies such as the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, Denver Association of Petroleum Landmen, and the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States.  The section set up a booth at the event and handed out applications for SPE membership.  Several hundred petroleum industry members attended this one-day event.  Denver SPE split profits from the event as a co-sponsor which totaled over $5,000.
  • Denver Section SPE provided monetary support and volunteers to the IPAMS (Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States) booth at the 2007 National Western Stock Show in Denver.  The IPAMS booth at this yearly event contacted thousands of citizens and landowners who otherwise have little to no contact or understanding of the petroleum industry.  The booth provided information on the petroleum industry with the goal of fostering an understanding of the industry and demonstrating compatibility with different land uses.  IPAMS was very appreciative to the SPE for providing help for this event.
  • Denver SPE sponsored quarterly Multi-Society Downtown Networking Socials during the 2006-07 season.  These events are hosted with other Denver professional societies in an effort to support and liaise with industry employers.  These events have proven to be very popular and Denver SPE has already pre-paid their portion of the 2007-08 program.  Over 400 industry professionals attend this event in downtown Denver every quarter.
  • London section organized a joint seminar on the Southern Gas Basin with the Geological Society.  The profits were split evenly between organizations and the event is going to be continued next year (on a different region).  This is the first time that a joint event such as this has taken place.  The Geological Society of London is the UK national society for Geoscience. It is a professional body and registered charity that promotes the Geosciences and the professional interests of UK Geoscientists. It has over 9,000 members and is the largest national Geoscience society in Europe and exists to provide the working geoscientist with lifelong continuity, offering scientific and professional advice and support at all stages. The SPE London Section hosts all its meetings and seminars at the prestigious premises of the Geological Society at Piccadilly in Central London and does so at very favourable rates thanks to being offered these facilities at “fellow earth scientists” rates.
  • Oslo Section invites AAPG Oslo members to its monthly meetings. New this season is that Oslo arranged a Christmas party in conjunction with the December meeting together with AAPG Oslo Section. They had traditional Norwegian Christmas food, wine lottery and entertainment by music students from University of Oslo (opera and piano). Their goal is to strengthen cooperation with AAPG by having Christmas parties and monthly meetings together also in the future as there are a lot of geologists and reservoir engineers working in the Oslo area and that networking and cooperation between these disciplines are important for the oil industry.
  • San Joaquin Valley Section was involved with several other professional societies in organizing the community energy night event in April 2007. SPE collaborated with American Petroleum Institute (API), Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Pacific Section (AAPG), Conservation Committee of California Oil & Gas Producers (CCCOGP) and several other organizations to invite over 400 formal and informal leaders from different walks of life to raise awareness about energy industry in general and petroleum industry in particular.
  • Saudi Arabia Section has a strong relationship with Dharhan Geological Society and the SPE Bahrain Section. They invite and attend each other’s technical meetings and other events. Typically, the section holds two joint dinner meetings during the year one with each of these other groups.
  • Shekou Section established a relationship with CPS (Chinese Petroleum Society) in China that is the major National Organization of Engineers currently active in this country. This section has also started a cooperation with AAPG. Getting in touch with them in US, they found out that AAPG has a very limited organization in China and particularly in South China Sea and on this basis last April, the Shekou Section hosted one AAPG Distinguished Lecturer from Shell Houston.
  • Swiss Section is maintaining close relationships with Universities: UNIGE in Geneva and EPFL in Lausanne. Technical meetings are held at university.  Board members attended lectures at EPFL.  Contacts with ETH Zurich have been established this year.  The Swiss Section has regular contacts with GPC (Geneva Petroleum Club).  Board members are also members of GPC, and ASP-VSP (Swiss Association of Petroleum Geologists).  ASP-VSP attended several section technical meetings.  They have members of both organizations. Montreux Energy Forum: A seat is permanently offered to the Swiss Section. Also, the Swiss Section is always invited to UNECE (United Nations European Commission on energy) events.
  • Trinidad & Tobago Section closely partners with the Geological society of Trinidad & Tobago to conduct School’s Outreach and Career Guidance Programme (Ongoing), Sports and Family Day (ongoing) and Annual Playing Cards Tournament. This year T&T Section also developed alliances with Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad & Tobago, (APETT), American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), Project Management Institute (PMI), and Trinidad South Camber of Commerce. Shared information on upcoming conferences and other technical meetings with societies and vice-versa.
  • Western Australian Section has recently confirmed a joint venture with the Institute of Engineers, Australia to form an Oil & Gas Interest Group. This will give other IEAust members a chance to improve their knowledge of the petroleum industry and its impact on the community. The sections also have an agreement with the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (PESA) to jointly advertise all of their Young Petroleum Professional (YPP) functions.

Young Professional and Other Miscellaneous Points of Interest

  • Aberdeen Section Young Professionals (YP) Committee organizes multiple social events throughout the year to engage the participation of active and otherwise inactive members of the industry community.  The committee has arranged 8 social events over the course of this year with at least 50 attendees at each event.  The YP group also kicked off the year with a barbecue attracting more than 70 delegates and are closing the year with a “so long for the summer” barbeque following the same model.
  • Alaska Petroleum Section had their most successful year to date for scholarship fundraising through a BBQ event and increased their net proceeds 25% from the previous year to the highest amount ever, $17,077.07.  This was largely due to the support and sponsorship of industry in the form of cash and prizes valued at $13,840.  100% of the net proceeds are fed into our scholarship account, which is utilized to support local college students pursuing degrees in earth and environmental sciences. Highlights included:
    • Sold over 1000 for first time - 1263 tickets sold!
    • Brought in several new contributors ($4100)
    • 99 raffle prizes… up from 64 last year (55% increase!)
    • Direct cash donations up 32% from last year! 
  • Argentine Petroleum Section successfully organized a special event at the X LACPEC for young professionals. It was the first time that group of professionals had a special program in the country. About 70 people attended the meeting that lasted all afternoon and evening of the first day of the Conference. At the meeting, among other things, they attended presentations by SPE President Al-Khalifa, and a former Argentine Secretary of Energy and also enjoyed a social function that evening sponsored by Oxy with pizza and beer.
  • Canadian Section YP consists of a Board of Directors, with one member reporting directly to the Canadian Section BOD.  The YP organizes monthly technical luncheons, alternating with soft skills seminars, specifically targeted at professionals 35 and under with less than 10 years experience in the industry.  The group has also organized several social events including a Christmas Mixer.  The YP was represented at the University of Calgary APEGGA (Association of Professional Engineers Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta) Mixer where they had a promotional booth set up.  The YP group also has representation in the planning committee for the upcoming Young Professionals Workshop in Kananaskis in June 2007.  The YP group has also created its own website, newsletter and sponsorship program.  Below is a list of all YP events from 2006/2007.
    • Pre-Summer Mixer (June 2006)
    • Christmas Mixer (Dec 8/06)
    • “Production Logging” Technical Presentation (Dec/06)
    • “Assertive Communication” by Gail Byrnes, Soft Skills Seminar (Jan 31/07)
    • “Modern Production Decline Analysis” by David Anderson, Technical Presentation (Feb 28/07)
    • “Leadership Skills” by Gord Aker, Soft Skills Seminar (Mar 27/07)
    • “A Model Study of Two Pools in Ecuador – What We Can Learn from Simulation, Kelly Edwards (Apr 25/07)
  • Delta Section holds regular socials hosted by the Young Professionals Program that are open to all members and non-members.  Some of these events are at social events already widely attended by our target audience, such as YLC’s Wednesday Concerts at the Park in downtown New Orleans. They offer a tent for shade, snacks and refreshments, and of course SPE membership application forms.  A concerted effort is made to involve volunteers in the planning of Delta Section events and to collect their feedback and incorporate that back into their programs.  At select events, board members are distributed across the tables and “express your interest here” sign-up sheets are placed on the tables.  Board members describe the opportunities available and benefits of active participation in section activities and encourage members to commit to a volunteer position.  Young Professional Program application forms are also sent out annually to find new young leaders to manage that program and to serve as volunteers supporting the main section board activities.
  • Denver Section Young Professionals is becoming more active every year.  They currently hold monthly lunch & learn’s with speakers from the local industry.  Typically, they have 12-15 attendees at the lunches.  In February 2007, the YP held their 2nd Annual Ski Train trip to Winter Park that attracted over 55 skiers.  In April, the YP organized a bowling tournament supporting the “Futures In Energy” program in the Denver Metropolitan area and was a sold out event with over 60 attendees.  The YP continues to grow in Denver through technical lunches and social activities.  Additionally, word of mouth both in the Student Chapter arena and amongst management of local companies now more familiar of the YP group has increased awareness and involvement.
  • Evangeline Section sponsors ULL students who participate in the Gulf Coast Technical Paper Contest.  The section also provides judges for the SPE Regional Paper Contest. $10,000 was donated to the student chapter as the Host chapter at the SPE ATCE in San Antonio, TX.  After the Petro-Bowl competition, the student chapters all visited Sea World San Antonio for dinner and camaraderie.
  • Gulf Coast Section organized its 3nd Annual Emerging Engineers Conference (EEC), April 3-4, 2007.  ExxonMobil Production, Houston, Texas was attended by 95 young engineering professionals.  The conference boasted 13 speakers from 9 different companies and academia with the keynote speakers including Michael Economides, Professor at the University of Houston, Lisa Stewart, CEO of Sheridan Production Partners, and John Wenzierl, Managing Director of Natural Gas Partners.  This two-day event provided a forum for young energy professionals to explore topics that will shape and develop their careers.  The focus ranged from managerial and technical skills to networking with other industry professionals.  The conference offered attendees seminars, panel discussions, and poster presentations focused on the following themes: Managing Skills, Technical Skills, Emerging Technology, and Professional Visibility within SPE.
  • London YP group repeated its visits to Imperial College in 2006/7 as part of the Ambassador Lecture Program. Several YP members talked of their experiences to the Masters students and answered questions on topics such as interview techniques, technical roles, and women in the workforce. Recognizing the large proportion of international students, the YP group also made time available to discuss migration, Visas and work permits so that students could remain in the UK after graduation. In 2007, the Ambassador program is being extended to include London Southbank University.
  • Netherlands Section has a well-established YP section, which originated in annual YP workshops starting in 2001. The high level of activity resulted in a high level of participation of Young SPE Netherlands members in international YP programs (e.g., workshops/magazine/online Professional Networks/Ambassador Lecture Program). SPE Netherlands YP’s arrange a separate technical program aimed specifically at younger members of the industry and students but oldies are welcome to attend as well.
  • Netherlands Section’s 2007 Black Tie Dinner was held in a splendid location, the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) in the center of The Hague. More than 20 students were among those present helping to generate a fantastic atmosphere.  The dinner tables in this glorious church were a truly delightful sight.  Gert-Jan Kramer, chairman of IRO, chairman of Delft University and a board member of TNO and other notable companies gave a short keynote address.  There was a brief SPE recognition awards ceremony as well as musical entertainment during dinner and for dancing afterwards was provided by The Delft Student Big Band.
  • Saudi Arabia Section held it first ever Young Professionals Technical Symposium gathering regional and international young professionals to Dhahran to share views and concerns with a wide range of experts to be better prepared for the challenges ahead. Sessions included technical presentations, poster sessions, lectures by internationally renowned speakers, short courses, workshops and panel discussions. The theme of this program was entitled “Leading the Future: an Era of Opportunities.”
  • Saudi Arabia Section with corporate sponsorship from Saudi Aramco sponsored a social trip for SPE members and their families to visit Shabah drilling facilities in the Empty Quarter region of that kingdom. More than 100 members, their families and special guests, including the Saudi Ambassador to Bahrain, toured this mega-facility in the middle of nowhere. Many commented how exciting this trip was to include their families and explain how drilling and projects included in their jobs work.

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