JPT April 2026 Issue
On the Cover
Cédric Rouatbi and Hassan Fawaz discuss Baker Hughes' TRU-Steer ultimate RSS and accompanying PermaFORCE-TRU PDC drill bit at Baker Hughes’ Annual Meeting 2026 in Florence, Italy. Source: Baker Hughes.
Monthly Features
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Improved bit and bottomhole-assembly technologies and designs have helped turn what used to be record-breaking drilling runs into routine expectations. -
Findings from two new SPE papers argue that the tight-rock sector needs to rethink longstanding assumptions about how hydraulic fractures form underground. -
Ian Phillips is the nominee for 2028 SPE President. He and six others make up the new slate of nominees recommended for positions open on the SPE International Board of Directors. -
The newest recipient of the title SPE Legend of Hydraulic Fracturing talks about his career, the evolution of fracture stimulation, the development of increasingly useful simulators, and the future of the oil and gas industry. The honor was given at the 2026 SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference and Exhibition.
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What makes SPE membership truly worthwhile? Technical resources, professional development, global networking, and industry recognition—SPE membership offers more than meets the eye. In this month’s column, discover how SPE benefits members at every career stage—and why investing in your membership (or your team’s) pays off long-term.
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The chair of the SPE Georgetown Section outlines how balanced, apolitical dialogue can support development amid rapid energy expansion.
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Examples demonstrate how an Integrated Operations Center as a Service (IOCaaS) model, powered by artificial intelligence, reduced costs by 5% and increased production by 6% in Canada.
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Two examples from ONGC show how supervised AI-driven automation scaled well modeling across hundreds of offshore wells, saving more than 1,000 engineering hours.
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Data centers could add up to 6 Bcf/D of US gas demand by 2030, creating a new opportunity for producers and reshaping how oil companies think about electricity supply.
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Updates about global exploration and production activities and developments.
People
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This section lists with regret SPE members who recently passed away.
SPE Technical Paper Downloads
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SPE technical papers synopsized in each monthly issue of JPT are available for download for SPE members for 2 months.
Natural Gas Processing and Handling
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The global oil and gas industry is reimagining natural gas processing and handling in response to environmental pressures, economic realities, and technological opportunities. The predominant narrative is one of transition.
Completions
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Clear value creation can be seen in drilling activities through advancements in autonomous drilling, robotic technologies, and physics-based AI. The end-to-end completions cycle is now seeing a similar trend.
Heavy Oil
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Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) technology continues to advance rapidly, driven by improvements in numerical simulation, inflow-control technologies, fiber-optic monitoring, and real-time production optimization.
History Matching and Forecasting
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The three featured papers illustrate how emerging computational methods—ranging from gradient-based optimization to data-driven proxies—are reshaping reservoir characterization, uncertainty assessment, and real-time decision support across diverse subsurface applications.