JULY 2026 • VOL. 78, NO. 7
View the issue page for July 2026 JPT here
Features
Energizing Tomorrow: Member Engagement Practices
This month’s column shares practical ideas gathered from professional sections and student chapters worldwide, including fresh approaches to communication and meeting formats as well as creative ways of building community and recognition. These real‑world examples highlight the diversity of SPE and offer plenty of “food for thought” for leaders looking to strengthen engagement and deliver more value to their members.
Comments: The Continued Rise of the Vaca Muerta
Output is rising fast in the South American shale play, putting Argentina on a course to soon reach 1 million B/D.
Guest Editorial: Why Next-Generation Geothermal Systems and High-Temperature Drilling Are Essential to Global Deployment
This guest editorial addresses the need for high-temperature directional drilling technologies as the number of rigs used to develop next-generation geothermal wells is set to rise in the coming years.
Brazil’s Equatorial Margin Exploration Effort Gains Urgency Amid Decline Concerns
Ultradeepwater prospects along the northern coast of Brazil could help offset decline in legacy basins, though permitting hurdles remain a wild card.
HP/HT Comes of Age: How the Oil and Gas Industry Is Deploying 20,000-psi Systems
As equipment advances to handle extreme pressures and temperatures, new Gulf opportunities are emerging—alongside increasing operator demands for standardized, scalable, faster, and more affordable solutions.
The War for Wind: Industry Steels Itself Against Resistance
The US federal government is working to stymie offshore wind power, but proponents aren’t going quietly. Armed with data, they are taking on a sea of misinformation and hostility to defend the burgeoning resource in the US, while the rest of the world moves ahead briskly
Case Study: Water-Matching of Fracturing Water Predictably Boosts Early-Time Unconventional Production
This case study presents a procedure in which the operator compared production from wells with adjusted wettability to a control group, finding that the adjustments resulted in significant improvements in production and reductions in produced water.
Case Study: Edge Computing and IIoT Enable Autonomous Artificial Lift and Well Optimization Across Multi-Basin Deployments
This case study describes how edge computing and industrial internet of things platforms were deployed to automate and optimize production operations across four distinct basins.
2026–2027 SPE Distinguished Lecturers
Speakers from various disciplines and professions focus on industry trends, challenges, technology applications, and advances. Scheduled DL events are in-person meetings only.
Global Exploration and Production Updates: FIDs, Discoveries, and New Frontiers
This monthly snapshot of global E&P activity highlights ongoing developments worldwide.
OGRC Advancing Global Consistency in Reserves Reporting Through PRMS Training
Bridging the gap between foundational guidance and real-world application, SPE’s Oil and Gas Reserves Committee is advancing PRMS education with a new, peer-reviewed training initiative. This article highlights the evolution of the PRMS knowledge base and introduces the PRMS Training Master Slides—a modular, instructor-led framework designed to improve consistency, clarity, and practical understanding across global reserves and resources practice.
People
This section lists with regret SPE members who recently passed away.
Technology Focus Synopses
Reservoir Simulation
Harshil Saradva, Senior Reservoir Engineer, Sharjah National Oil Corporation
Digital Twin and Simulation Studies Driven by Digital Transformation
Proxy Models Accelerated Using Physics-Based Reduced-Order Model
Fast, Scalable Graph Neural Networks Used for Subsurface in Porous-Media Simulations
Wellbore Tubulars
Aman Srivastava, Product Owner, Halliburton Landmark
In-Pipe Inspection Technologies Enable High-Resolution Downhole Data Acquisition
GRE-Lined Tubulars in Caspian Wells Prove Integrity, ESG Benefits
2-Year Review of Project To Repurpose Steel Tubulars To Create Marine Havens
Unconventional and Tight Reservoirs
Larissa Walker, Senior Energy Leader, Shell/QGC
Integrated Approach Enhances Forecasting, Reserves Estimation in Tight Gas Fields
Post-Stack Inversion Predicts Tight Sand Reservoir Porosity
Acid-Fracture Conductivity Evaluated for Austin Chalk Formation
Decarbonization
Guoxiang “Gavin” Liu, General Engineer, National Energy Technology Laboratory, US Department of Energy
Study Assesses Integrity, Corrosion Risks of CO2 Injection in Oil-Recovery Operations
Predictive Analytics Reduce Exploration Risks for High-Potential Geologic Hydrogen Discoveries
Direct Lithium Extraction Provides Pathway for Energy Transition and Resource Recovery
SPE Technical Papers Available for Download — June–July 2026
The complete SPE technical papers—synopsized in each monthly issue of JPT—are available for download for SPE members for 2 months.