SPE is preparing to welcome about 4,000 industry colleagues from around the world to Houston for the 101st Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE). The conference will be held 20–22 October at the George R. Brown Convention Center as the event makes its return to the city known as the energy capital of the world.
As we begin a new century of knowledge sharing at ATCE, we’re also highlighting a new theme that plays on our own acronym: Solutions. People. Energy. Adopted as SPE’s tagline in March, it boils down in a single breath what this organization is all about.
Solutions speaks not only to technology, but to the act of spreading awareness around it. SPE meetings like ATCE and our other programs such as JPT and OnePetro exist to expose you to the theoretical, the emerging, and the proven.
It’s common to hear industry veterans say the upstream sector moves too slowly in adopting new technologies. But in my experience covering and working in this space, one of the least discussed yet biggest hurdles is a lack of exposure, not a lack of innovation.
While it is likely true that historically speaking, most new technologies died on the vine because they didn’t create enough value, plenty of others withered simply because the right people never knew they existed.
ATCE is very much a celebration of the idea that SPE and its gatherings are designed to connect people to ideas they otherwise would have missed. That brings us to the second part of the new tagline.
People are, fittingly, at the center of both the theme and the overall mission. Beyond sharing knowledge, SPE exists to help its members move forward through both the boom years and the downturns that have earned labels such as “lower for longer” and “the era of capital discipline.”
We are now also in what some see as the late stage of an era of consolidation for both international oil companies and independents. For some it might remind of the late 1990s and early 2000s when Exxon and Mobil became ExxonMobil, BP took over Amoco, and Chevron acquired Texaco.
Over the past several years, we’ve seen the US shale space, in particular, undergo wave after wave of consolidation. The biggest deals saw Occidental Petroleum absorb Anadarko Petroleum, ExxonMobil acquiring Pioneer Natural Resources, and most recently Chevron closed its deal for Hess Corp.
While inevitable market forces may be driving these consolidations, we still believe there is plenty of room for growth in how we share ideas and support colleagues in this industry. ATCE is one of the places where that can happen, and that’s why we’re inviting all SPE members to join us on the exhibition floor this year at no cost.
For SPE members who will be in Houston next month but are not able to attend the technical program, we encourage you to take this opportunity to still be part of the gathering by registering for a complimentary pass to the exhibition hall.
While on the floor, you’ll find dozens of technology developers, SPE Tech Talks, Knowledge Sharing ePosters, and a Members-Only Lounge where you can rub shoulders with peers.
For students and early-stage career professionals, SPE has also brought back the ATCE Future Talent Zone that was made possible again this year thanks to the support of Chevron and ExxonMobil. The special area on the exhibition floor will host a dozen events that will highlight the work of our industry’s next generation of leaders and innovators. It will also offer all participants a chance to take part in the annual PetroBowl Championship that pits SPE student chapters against each other in a battle of wits.
We also invite you to visit the SPE Pavillion located right in the center of the exhibition floor. There you will have the chance to meet with SPE leadership and JPT editors as well as have your professional headshot taken for free.
The last word in our new tagline, Energy, is the result of what your innovations and hard work bring to the table. In fact, the word that is of a Greek and French blended origin, once meant “being at work.” Your mental and physical efforts to lift hydrocarbons from eons-old formations translates into, as we all know, the lifeblood of the world’s economy and its rising standard of living.
But we also all know that many once-prolific basins are struggling, and the world’s explorers must find new areas to access or new ways to squeeze the most out of old fields.
At ATCE, the question of how to meet global energy demand in the years to come will be addressed head-on by a plenary session led by a global cast of CEOs from Devon Energy, YPF, Weatherford, and OMV Petrom.
The technical program will offer more detailed glimpses of what’s ahead in automation, production strategies, and low-carbon technologies.
Sessions on drilling automation will present papers on new autonomous systems for slide drilling and hole cleaning, while enhanced oil recovery sessions will present new approaches to boost recovery in sandstone and carbonate reservoirs. Another session on artificial intelligence (AI) applications in wells and for subsurface characterization will explore physics-informed tools for more accurate reservoir models.
This year’s ATCE will also feature 12 special sessions and five strategic panels. The special sessions give attendees a chance to hear directly from experts and engage with them on topics ranging from mature field strategies to recovering lithium from produced water and the growing use of AI across disciplines.
The strategic panels include expert-led talks on emerging technologies in the US oil and gas sector, while another will address the nuances of moving from announcing a carbon-management strategy to implementing one.
I’ll also be moderating a special session on Wednesday, 22 October, titled Drilling Engineer of the Future. A trio of leading drilling experts and I will try to identify the biggest changes taking place in the human resources and talent side of drilling. Please consider this your personal invitation, and if you have not registered yet there’s still time. Just click here.
But whether you plan to attend ATCE or not, you should still visit the SPE events calendar and find an opportunity to connect and share ideas with your peers sometime in the near future.
It’s also worth reminding both those who are joining us in Houston and those who cannot attend ATCE that SPE membership comes with a number of benefits that include discounted conference registration, 10 free OnePetro paper downloads each year, and dozens of additional downloadable papers handpicked by our JPT Editorial Review Board.
In closing, I want to thank every SPE member who plays a part in making ATCE and our other events the industry’s premier forums for advancing petroleum engineering. I hope to see many of you in Houston soon.
