Since the arrival of the big crew change young professionals (YPs) are increasingly making important contributions to the industry. We see such star performers in our professional and social interactions: among our coworkers, our alumni groups, friend’s friends, and employees. To turn the spotlight on YPs' contributions to the industry, the TWA Editorial Committee launched a new concept under the TWA banner last year: "TWA Energy Influencers: Young Professionals Who ENERGIZE Our Industry.” The TWA Energy Influencers 2020 was a selection of 14 outstanding young professionals in the oil and gas industry whose work positively influences and inspires others. Continuing on the success of the 2020 recognition list, nominations for the TWA Energy Influencers 2021 list is now open.

Michael has recently defended his PhD thesis at Louisiana State University (LSU). His research is on fluid-driven fracture initiation and orientation during drilling, completions, and loss of well control events. A native of Cyprus, Michael joined the Cyprus National Guard for 2 years of military service after completing secondary school at the American Academy of Larnaca. In 2010, he enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin, receiving his bachelor’s degree in 2013 and master’s degree in 2016, both in petroleum engineering. At the 2019 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Calgary, he captained LSU’s PetroBowl Championship winning team, and placed second in the PhD division of the International Student Paper Contest.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is serving companies across a broad array of industries. It's not about replacing human workers with machine counterparts but rather helping businesses operate more effectively in their fields and expand to new horizons and capabilities. Scott Matteson spoke with AJ Abdallat, chief executive officer and founder of Beyond Limits, an enterprise AI solution provider, to see how AI has been fulfilling its promise in the business realm. Scott Matteson: How is AI playing a role in operational efficiency in the oil and gas, energy, manufacturing, and healthcare fields? AJ Abdallat: AI is playing a critical role in operational efficiency across the energy value chain to optimize resource production, democratize domain expert knowledge, and increase value while reducing environmental risk.

We enter the new year together as an industry and as SPE members, but also as individuals who have traveled on varying roads and experienced personal detours. While this also can be said of years past, 2020 brought with it unanticipated upheavals within the oil and gas industry, global societies, and our personal and professional lives (and livelihoods). Outlooks for the coming year depend in large part on your own worldview: Are you generally an optimist or a pessimist? An optimist believes that problems are temporary and will get better. A pessimist is convinced that the problem is here to stay and can only get worse.

US petroleum engineering programs stayed on trend this school year with another significant drop at a time when very little else went as expected. The number of petroleum engineering graduates earning a BS for the school year ending in 2021 is expected to drop by 25% from last year, according to the annual survey of petroleum engineering enrollment done by Lloyd Heinze, a petroleum engineering professor at Texas Tech University. It is the lowest number of graduates since 2009, when the US shale boom was just taking off, and is at a bit more than a third of the peak graduation rate hit in 2016. Based on undergraduate enrollment, this slide may be nearing its bottom in 2022, when only 626 petroleum engineering graduates are expected, Heinze said. But this past year has been a reminder that extremely unlikely events do happen. No one predicted the tidal wave of troubles and changes triggered by COVID-19.

The oil and gas industry has a major role to play in the ever-changing energy landscape by combining expertise, people, and technology in shaping its future. Many current and prospective petroleum engineers are facing the difficult decision of pursuing a career in the industry, mainly due to the dearth of opportunities in the current market scenario and the increasingly negative perception of the industry amid rising environmental concerns. Although the opportunities to pursue a career in petroleum engineering may seem bleak, the industry has always been cyclical in nature. It is therefore in the best interests of those who wish to rejoin, remain in, or enter the industry to position themselves to take advantage of the opportunities that will eventually arrive.

The SPE Uganda section was established in 2011, mainly to satisfy the need for technical knowledge and information among the professionals in the nascent oil and gas industry. Currently the chapter comprises 1,156 members (1,011 student members and 145 professional members) and is growing steadily. The commitment of the section to deliver reliable industry and technical information through professional local and international technical lectures and Distinguished Lectures is evidenced by its nomination to receive the 2020 SPE Presidential Award for Outstanding Section. We deliver monthly technical lectures for our professional membership. These lectures cover Uganda oil industry issues of interest that include field development; commercial; subsurface and surface technology; and environment, health and safety (EHS) aspects.

In recognition of his drive, support, and empowerment of young professional (YP) members across SPE, the SPE Board of Directors renamed the Young Member Outstanding Service award in honor of Giovanni Paccaloni. Beginning with the 2021 presentations and in the future, the international award will be known as the “Giovanni Paccaloni Young Professional Service Award.” The equivalent regional award is renamed the Regional Young Professional Outstanding Service Award, and recipients of the regional award will continue as candidates for the international award. The award is intended to encourage interests among SPE YP members that are broader than the profession, primarily recognizing excellence and leadership in service to the public and the community, as well as service to the SPE, the profession of petroleum engineering, or the petroleum industry. Giovanni Paccaloni was the 2005 SPE President, an Honorary Member of SPE, a towering mentor, and a beloved inspirational figure for YPs around the world.

Summary

Previous studies showed that different parameters influence the plugging of completion tools. These parameters include rock mineralogy, reservoir-fluid properties, and type of completion tools. Although different methods have been used for unplugging these tools, there is still debate regarding the performance of these methods on damage removal. In this study, we assessed the performance of high-power shock waves generated from an electrohydraulic-stimulation (EHS) tool on cleaning completion tools plugged during oil production. These devices were extracted from different wells in Canada, Europe, and the US. First, we quantified the extent of cleaning for the plugged slotted liners using the EHS tool at the laboratory scale. Next, we analyzed the mineral composition of the plugging materials removed after the treatment by conducting scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS), colorimetric, and dry-combustion analyses. Finally, we reviewed the pulsing-stimulation-treatment results applied to several field case studies. The results of unplugging slotted liners at the laboratory scale showed that up to 28.5% of the plugged slots are cleaned after 120 pulses of shock waves. The mineral-characterization results showed that the main plugging materials are calcite, silicates, and iron-based components (corrosion products). The cleaning performance (CP) of the EHS tool increases by increasing the number of pulses and the output energy (OE) applied to the tool. The CP parameter is high at (i) high concentrations of carbonates, barium (Ba)-based components, and organic matter, and (ii) low concentrations of corrosion products and sulfates. The results of field case studies showed that the cleaning of the EHS tool is not limited to the sand-control devices and it can clean other tools that are less accessible for other techniques, such as subsurface safety valves. This paper provides a better understanding of the performance of shock waves on damage removal from plugged completion tools. The results could open new insight into the applications of shock waves for cleaning the completion tools.

To state the obvious, it’s been a turbulent 2020 for the oil and gas industry. We’ve come up against continued weakness in commodity pricing, reductions in capex and opex by virtually all operating companies, and frequent demonization by the popular media. In addition, the outbreak of the coronavirus effectively brought the global economy to its knees. Though it seems grim, I can say with confidence that the industry will overcome these challenges, as it always does. What we do—our critical mission of providing the world with abundant, low-cost energy—is here to stay.