SPE News

In Memoriam: Simon Chipperfield

Director of EnergyNow, Advisor for Energy Development Corporation, and active SPE member, died February 18.

Burning candle
prospective56/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Simon Chipperfield, SPE, age 50, died in a plane crash in the Philippines while working on a geothermal project on 18 February 2023.

He was a recognized technical expert in the fields of diagnostic testing of hydraulically fractured wells, well performance in tight gas reservoirs, and reserves and forecasting for conventional and unconventional reservoirs.

Chipperfield was the director of EnergyNow and served as an advisor for Energy Development Corporation, specializing in subsurface geothermal resources, subsurface well services, and drilling groups. He began his career in 1995 as a senior completions and drilling engineer for Santos Ltd. in Adelaide, South Australia. He later worked as a senior production technologist for Shell in Houston before returning to Santos Ltd. in 2005, where he would remain until 2021.

His former colleague at Santos, Carl Greenstreet, recalls their long friendship: “Simon was so much more than a talented leader and commensurate professional; he had this amazing ability to effectively lead teams to create immense value where others saw little opportunity.”

2021 SPE President, Tom Blasingame, remembers his relationship with Simon throughout their 24-year friendship. “Simon had a unique enthusiasm for his work, and he was always looking ‘outside the box’ for ideas and concepts.

“Although I was supposed to be the ‘mentor’ and Simon the ‘mentee,’ he often reversed those roles with the extraordinarily challenging reservoir engineering tasks he faced, as well as his unique insights on the types of problems he had solved.

“SPE has lost a member who committed himself to the most rigorous technical pursuits, but one who also always took the time to learn, to teach, and to contribute selflessly to SPE missions.”

An SPE member since 1999, he received the 2007 SPE Cedric K. Ferguson Medal, 2022 Regional Completions Optimization and Technology Award, and 2013 Regional Reservoir Description and Dynamics Award. Chipperfield authored eight technical papers.

He was an active member who generously contributed his expertise and knowledge to SPE. He served on more than 25 program committees during his 23 years of service—primarily in the areas of tight and ultratight (unconventional) reservoir characterization and well performance.

He was the program chairperson for the South Australia Section Officers. He also served on the Business and Leadership Committee, Cedric K. Ferguson Medal Committee, 2022 ATCE Reservoir Engineering Committee, Distinguished Achievement Award for Petroleum Engineering Faculty Committee, Characterizing Unconventional Reservoirs Workshop Committee, and The Future of Stimulation Steering Committee.

Simon receiving the 2007 Cedric K. Ferguson Medal at ATCE from former SPE President Abdul Jaleel Al-Khalifa.
Simon receiving the 2007 Cedric K. Ferguson Medal at ATCE from former SPE President Abdul Jaleel Al-Khalifa.

He was also involved with the 2021 Asia Pacific Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, SPE/AAPG/SEG Asia Pacific Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, 2016 SPE Asia Pacific Hydraulic Fracturing Conference, 2014 Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition, 2009 SPE Latin America & Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference, SPE Unconventional Resources Conference & Exhibition, 2011 Canadian Unconventional Resources and International Petroleum Conference (CURIPC) Geoscience and Reservoir Characterization Committee, and 2010 CURIPC Reservoir Characterization Committee.

Additionally, Chipperfield served on a number of workshop committees including 2016 Cracking the Unconventional Code, 2013 Flowback Workshop, 2013 Hydraulic Fracture Flowback, 2013 Institutionalizing Smart/Digital Fields Capability, 2013 Hydraulic Fracturing Mechanics Considerations, Tapping Potential of Global Tight Gas Resources, ATW Field Development and Best Practices for Unconventional Reservoirs, and ATW Life of Field Surveillance in Unconventional Gas Reservoirs.

He served as secretary of the South Australian Section Officers (2002–2003) and was involved with the JPT Editorial Committee from 2006 to 2020. He was also Fellow of the (South Australia) Governors Leadership Foundation (2011) and a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers Australia (2021).

Chipperfield held a BEng (1st Class Honors) from the University of New South Wales (1995) and was an MBA student at the Australian Institute of Business at the time of his death.

He is survived by his wife Jo and their three sons, Henry, Edward, and Miles, his parents Colin and Linda, and brother James and family.