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2025 SPE International Award Recipients Announced

Join us in congratulating the International Award recipients.

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SPE announces the members elected as this year's International Award recipients, who will be recognized during the Annual Awards Banquet at the 2025 Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) in Houston in October.

International Awards recognize individuals who make significant technical and professional contributions to the petroleum engineering profession and to the worldwide oil and gas industry.

The biographies of the awardees will be published in the October issue of JPT.

SPE/AIME Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal for Technical Leadership
Eric van Oort, The University of Texas at Austin  

SPE Cedric K. Ferguson Award Medal
Abdelmalek Abes, University of North Dakota
Andreas Michael, University of North Dakota

SPE/AIME Charles F. Rand Memorial Gold Medal
Ibrahim Al-arnaout, Saudi Aramco

SPE Completions Optimization and Technology Award
Joseph Frantz Jr., Frantz & Associates

SPE Data Science and Engineering Analytics Award
Pushpesh Sharma, AspenTech

SPE/AIME DeGolyer Distinguished Service Medal
Tao Yang, Equinor ASA

SPE Distinguished Achievement Award for Petroleum Engineering Faculty
Caili Dai, China University of Petroleum (East China)  

SPE Distinguished Member Award
Ibrahim Al-arnaout, Saudi Aramco
Emad Al-Shalabi, Khalifa University of Science and Technology
Thomas Knode, vPSI Group LLC
Carolyn Koh, Colorado School of Mines
Hamid Emami Meybodi, Pennsylvania State University
Kozo Sato, The University of Tokyo and INPEX Corporation
Siamack Shirazi, University of Tulsa
Diane Wood

SPE Distinguished Service Award
Luis Ayala, The Pennsylvania State University

SPE Drilling Engineering Award
Junichi Sugiura, Sanvean Technologies

SPE/AIME Honorary Member Award
Russell Johns, Pennsylvania State University
John Killough, Texas A&M University

SPE Formation Evaluation Award
Susan Herron

SPE Giovanni Paccaloni Young Professional Service Award
Mohamad Alklih, ADNOC Onshore
Natan Battisti, Harbour Energy
Ebifagha Bebenimibo, Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.
Walter Egbueze, Chevron Phillips
Sodiq Kehinde, NNPC E&P Ltd. (NEPL)
Miral Tawfik, Chevron Technology Center

SPE Health, Safety, and Environment Award
Timi Oriaku, NNPC E&P Ltd. (NEPL)

SPE John Franklin Carll Award for Distinguished Professionals
Tadeusz Patzek, King Abdullah University of Science & Technology

SPE Lester C. Uren Award for Technical Excellence
Ali Yousef, Saudi Aramco PE&D

SPE Management Award
J. Eric Bickel, The University of Texas at Austin

SPE Production and Operations Award
Baojun Bai, Missouri University of Science & Technology

SPE Projects, Facilities, and Construction Award
Anh Tuan Do, TechnipFMC

SPE Public Service Award
Diane Wood

SPE Reservoir Description and Dynamics Award
Subhash Ayirala, Saudi Aramco PE&D

SPE Sustainability and Stewardship in the Oil and Gas Industry Award
Ray (Zhenhua) Rui, China University of Petroleum Beijing