John P. de Wardt

John de Wardt, SPE, is founder and president of De Wardt and Company, based in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. He provides management consulting services to upstream oil and gas and geothermal companies and previously held management and engineering positions with Halliburton, drilling contractor Forasol/Foramer, and Shell International.

De Wardt’s work experience spans more than 80 companies across 37 countries, significantly enhancing operational performance in wells, services, and manufacturing. He pioneered the application of Lean Drilling in 1995, which uses lean manufacturing principles in drilling, completion, and oilfield manufacturing.

De Wardt has published 35 SPE papers on drilling business models, drilling systems automation, well delivery process, drilling and completion performance, borehole position uncertainty. He holds a BS in mechanical engineering degree from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK, is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and a Distinguished Member of SPE.