2021 SPE President Tom Blasingame has been selected to represent SPE at the National Petroleum Council (NPC) for the 2022–2023 term. The NPS is an oil and natural gas advisory committee to the US Secretary of Energy. Blasingame will represent the views of SPE while serving as a member of the council. He will contribute his experience and knowledge on studies that address environmental concerns and contribute to the energy and economic security of the nation.
Blasingame is a professor of petroleum engineering at Texas A&M University. He has graduated 73 MS and 16 PhD students since 1991 and authored more than 170 technical articles. Active in SPE since the early 1990s, he has chaired 20 conferences, 11 workshops, three forums, and two SPE summits. He served on the SPE International Board of Directors as the technical director for reservoir from 2015 to 2018. He also served as a Distinguished Lecturer, was named a Distinguished Member, and received SPE’s highest honor, SPE Honorary Member. Other SPE honors include the Distinguished Service Award, Lester C. Uren Award, Distinguished Achievement Award for Petroleum Engineering Faculty, Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal, DeGolyer Distinguished Service Medal, and the SPE Gulf Coast Distinguished Achievement Award for Petroleum Engineering Faculty. Blasingame holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University.
2020 SPE President Shauna Noonan established the Shauna Noonan Petroleum Engineering Endowed Scholarship—Honoring Women in the Petroleum Engineering Industry in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University (TAMU). Distributions from this endowment will be used to provide one or more scholarships to full-time students in good standing who are pursuing an undergraduate degree at TAMU. The scholarship is designated for those involved in the Society of Women Engineers at TAMU and intends to not only alleviate the financial burden students may endure but also promote champions of gender diversity in the petroleum industry.
Noonan is an Oxy Fellow and senior director international and Gulf of Mexico supply chain management at Occidental Petroleum. She was previously senior director international and director of artificial lift engineering at the same company. Before joining Oxy in late 2015, she worked worldwide on artificial lift projects and technology development at ConocoPhillips and Chevron for more than 22 years. She has authored or coauthored more than 25 technical publications on artificial lift and is a frequent speaker at industry events. Noonan is an avid SPE volunteer and held many roles since first serving as a student section officer. She served on the SPE International Board of Directors as the technical director for production and operations from 2012 to 2015. She has driven the development of industry standards and recommended practices for artificial lift systems while serving as chair for ISO and API committees and has received industry awards for her contributions to the discipline. Noonan holds a BS degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Alberta.