Board of Directors Officers: Jennifer Miskimins, 2026 SPE President; C. Susan Howes, 2027 SPE President; Olivier Houzé, 2025 SPE President; and Simon Seaton, SPE CEO/EVP
The global energy landscape is evolving at a pace unprecedented in modern history. As the world demands energy that is secure, affordable, and sustainable, the subsurface disciplines stand at the center of this transformation. From traditional oil and gas developments to frontiers in geothermal, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and critical minerals, the skills of subsurface engineers and scientists have never been more essential or more dynamic.
To ensure the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) remains the world’s preeminent technical home for subsurface professionals, the SPE Board of Directors is in the process of developing an updated strategic plan. The Society’s most recent strategic plan was developed in 2022 and published in 2023. As with most organizations, strategic plans are updated every 3–5 years to ensure they remain aligned with evolving membership needs.
Earlier this year, SPE conducted surveys requesting feedback from geographic and technical section officers, young professionals, and key industry supporters, the results of which helped inform the Board’s work on this latest plan.
Please note that this updated strategic plan remains in draft form and has not yet been finalized or formally approved by the SPE Board of Directors. We anticipate approval of the updated strategic plan at the Board’s October 2026 meeting, prior to the SPE Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition (ATCE) in Houston.
This early preview is an invitation to provide feedback on the current draft of the strategic plan. A strategic plan should reflect the lived experience, expertise, and aspirations of our global membership. The Board recognizes that no strategic plan can address every priority of every member, particularly given our finite resources. However, we do want to ensure the strategic plan represents the overarching needs of the majority of our members. Therefore, below is an overview of the draft vision, mission, and core goals, along with the rationale behind these proposed directions and how you can help shape the final roadmap.
Reframing Our Purpose: An Updated Vision and Mission
To navigate an expanding energy ecosystem, SPE’s draft vision and mission statements seek to outline the boundaries of SPE’s contributions to subsurface energy needs while reinforcing our foundational commitment to technical rigor. They are built on the technologies outlined in Fig. 1, which is used to define our technical expertise focus areas. They also reflect survey feedback calling for the vision and mission statements to be more succinct and better aligned with one another.
Table 1—Draft Vision and Mission Statements
In Table 1, the draft vision explicitly recognizes that the aspiration of meeting global energy demand is not an "either/or" proposition—it requires a diverse energy mix delivered safely, securely, and sustainably. The draft mission broadens our technical umbrella. While oil and gas remain the cornerstone of our industry and our Society, the core physics, geomechanics, reservoir modeling, drilling engineering, and surface facility needs used in traditional hydrocarbons are directly transferable to other subsurface energy components such as geothermal, carbon sequestration, underground storage, mineral extraction, and other areas.
By explicitly naming these adjacent domains, SPE ensures that members who diversify their careers remain fully integrated in our community, while positioning the Society as the definitive interdisciplinary hub for all subsurface resources.
Using the updated vision and mission statements as launching points, the draft strategic plan then goes on to outline three key goals and focus areas for the next 3–5 years.
Draft Goal 1: Solutions—Premier Source of Technical Excellence
Technical authority is and has always been SPE’s foundation and remains central to upholding the highest standards. As technologies advance and regulatory frameworks shift, delivering trusted, high-caliber technical knowledge in a timely manner is paramount to the Society’s mission.
Strategic Objectives
- Strengthen SPE’s impact through local and regional technical engagement. SPE’s true strength lies in its sections, both regional and technical, and student chapters. Recognizing that technical challenges vary significantly by geography, we are committed to empowering local and regional opportunities to lead relevant technical dialogues. Additionally, facilitating the interaction of the regional and technical sections will be beneficial to all members.
- Identify and respond to emerging technical trends and industry needs through stakeholder engagement. By maintaining active feedback loops with operating companies, service providers, academia, research institutions, and regulators, SPE will proactively anticipate technology shifts rather than merely react to them.
- Deliver technical knowledge that is timely, agile, valuable, and accessible across diverse member segments. The traditional cadence of journal publishing and annual conferences must be augmented by modern, rapidly deployed technical content. Whether through concise technical briefs, digital repository enhancements, or on-demand learning modules, knowledge must reach members when and where they need it.
Draft Goal 2: People—Develop the Workforce of the Future
An organization is only as strong as its community. The energy industry faces a complex talent landscape, including retaining seasoned expertise, supporting mid-career professionals navigating industry shifts, and attracting a new generation to subsurface careers.
Strategic Objectives
- Enable professional growth across every career stage with specific value propositions. A young professional navigating their first job needs different tools than a mid-career engineer transitioning into a new area or a veteran technical fellow leading a research and development team. SPE aims to design tailored career pathways, certifications, and mentorship networks for each distinct career milestone.
- Build the current and future workforce by strengthening relationships with industry and academia. Rebuilding the student pipeline requires systemic collaboration. SPE will work closely with universities to facilitate future subsurface educational pathways, while partnering with employers to ensure their SPE members have opportunities to develop practical and updated skills.
- Create a sense of belonging and community through shared experiences and opportunities. Technical societies thrive on human connection. By fostering inclusive environments, supporting international exchange, and celebrating diverse perspectives across our global sections, SPE aims to remain a welcoming professional home where every member feels valued.
Draft Goal 3: Energy—Fuel Our Future
To deliver on our technical- and human-focused missions, SPE must maintain long-term financial health, operational agility, and organizational resilience. The global pandemic exposed issues with SPE’s historic financial model, and this goal seeks to strengthen the Society’s resilience to similar future impacts, while exploring new revenue models. In addition, the "Energy" goal focuses on optimizing our business model to maximize the value delivered directly to members.
Strategic Objectives
- Optimize the global events portfolio. Conferences, workshops, and symposiums are vital for networking and technical exchange. SPE will streamline and enhance its global calendar to reduce event redundancy, increase multidisciplinary collaboration, and ensure maximum impact for attendees and exhibitors alike.
- Explore innovative membership structures. As workforce demographics and employment models evolve, rigid membership models may no longer fit every professional. We will evaluate flexible tiers, payment options, and regional adjustments to make membership more accessible.
- Pursue innovative publishing and AI-related models. The way SPE members access and consume information has fundamentally changed. By integrating generative AI search tools and other opportunities, SPE will transform how members search, synthesize, and apply subsurface literature.
- Develop new revenue streams by expanding market product scope. Diversifying our financial foundation through new educational offerings, specialized technical services, and adjacent sector partnerships will help ensure SPE remains resilient through commodity price cycles.
- Review investments and business operations to maximize value for members. Every operational dollar must directly serve the member experience. A thorough review of organizational processes and technological infrastructure will ensure lean, modern, and transparent governance.
Table 2 shows how the overall strategic framework of the three draft goals fit together.
Table 2—Draft Strategic Framework
Your Feedback
A strategy is only as effective as its execution, and execution depends on alignment with the real-world needs of our members. The draft components outlined above represent a vision for SPE that ideally captures both its core oil and gas and expanded technical areas, while becoming more agile and strengthening its commitment to supporting members throughout their professional journeys.
However, we need your perspective and feedback. You can provide your thoughts on the draft plan directly with the Board by emailing president@spe.org or by commenting on the SPE Connect discussion page, https://connect.spe.org/president.
SPE has thrived for decades because its members are passionate about and deeply invested in the Society. Thank you for taking the time to review this draft and help guide the next chapter of our Society.