As global professional technical groups, SPE technical section members benefit from a number of programs available to participate in. Provided are a few examples of these activities. Work with geographic section officers in proposing discussion topics and inviting subject matter experts to speak at a section meeting. Serve as mentors to share industry insights and career advice with young professionals or students. Serve as resource for SPE staff (identify speakers, program committee members).

Project managers expect that teamwork may provide extra performance gains that exceed the sum of its members’ single contributions. But is it always true? The author narrates an incident from his work experience to explain the importance of communication in technical work. If your role allows, having the option to work remotely can improve personal performance, productivity, and motivation. Can hard engineering skills alone help one address the career challenges faced?

Oil prices seem to be on the rebound, employment statistics look promising, and the petroleum industry is slowly starting to flourish again. However, there has been a fundamental shift in the workforce since the beginning of the most recent downturn. Do Industry Young Professionals Risk Missing Out on the Opportunity To Understand Geomechanics and Its Value? Early identification of geomechanics-related problems is required to optimally drill, complete, stimulate, and produce from reservoirs. Academic institutes, the oil industry, and contribution from professional societies play a key role in recognizing geomechanics as an important discipline.

For technical innovation and skill progression for individuals and institutions, continual learning and exposure to new ideas is vital. SPE Certification provides an endorsement of an engineer’s technical skills and capabilities by a global organization that extends to anywhere you may travel or work—a highly desirable benefit given the global nature of oil and gas operations. For those who are in a job transition, networking enhances job search leads because it involves meeting new people and becoming reacquainted with industry colleagues. The Pay-It-Forward Networking Program offers industry tours, training, and panels to enable networking. This article features some of the SPE mentors who are currently accepting mentees, and they share their reasons for participating in the program.

SPE Connect is intended for members to collectively invest, contribute, and build on a body of knowledge for the benefit of the industry as a whole.

Statoil’s integrated operations center on the Norwegian continental shelf is one of several initiatives operators and service companies have set in motion to improve condition monitoring and maximize production on their assets. Industry CEOs examine the role of global trade with the UK Minister for Energy and Industry.

Moving their directional drillers into their Houston real-time remote operations centers has improved drilling efficiency for two of the top shale producers. This paper presents an interdisciplinary approach to the description of tectonic dislocations made on the basis of interpretation of seismic data, petrophysical analysis of well-logging data in horizontal wells, and inversion of a multifrequency propagation tool. This work presents a systematic geosteering work flow that automatically integrates a priori information and real-time measurements to update geomodels with uncertainties and uses the latest model predictions in a decision-support system (DSS). The use of intelligent software is on the rise in the industry and it is changing how engineers approach problems. A series of articles explores the potential benefits and limitations of this emerging area of data science.

The move to combine forces comes amid the fastest contraction in drilling activity the US shale sector has ever seen while Gyrodata will retain its international business. Directional drilling and measurement-while-drilling technology has become so democratized in the Texas shale sector that no provider holds more than 8% of the market share. Leaders from two large US onshore rig contractors said their expectations that the rig-count slide would hit a second-quarter bottom were off and are now refraining from making new predictions as to when it will end. Moving their directional drillers into their Houston real-time remote operations centers has improved drilling efficiency for two of the top shale producers. What Happens to Directional Drillers When Computers Are Directing Drillers?

Will Blockchain Become the New Operational Backbone in Energy? Energy companies are looking to distributed ledger technology—otherwise known as blockchain—to help navigate the complex transactional systems that make up their operations. What is blockchain, and what makes it valuable to our industry? Statoil’s integrated operations center on the Norwegian continental shelf is one of several initiatives operators and service companies have set in motion to improve condition monitoring and maximize production on their assets. The company’s 31 licenses highlight a record-high total awarded during the latest APA round, which is aimed at developing mature areas of the NCS.

Thank you for attending the SPE Workshop. High rate water injectors with sustained injectivity, in unconsolidated and loosely consolidated sand reservoirs, are critical for the economic success of many projects around the globe. The objective of this workshop was to discuss and share the latest: understanding on impairment and containment mechanisms; injector conformance and performance results in the field; well completion design selection, considerations, and deployment lessons learned; well surveillance and operating best practices; and advances from the industry and academia for injectors in upstream and environmental applications. Accelerate understanding to sustain high injection, deliver fluid conformance, and maintain fluid containment for both upstream and environmental injectors.