As 2025 SPE President, Olivier Houzé, noted in his August 2025 JPT President’s column, the overall finances of SPE are experiencing a combination of headwinds perhaps never seen in the history of the Society. The industry downturn in 2015, the global pandemic in 2020, and another downturn in 2025 have each brought disruptions that were challenging to foresee and plan for in budgeting and financial management.
Over this 10-year timeframe, the SPE Board of Directors has taken numerous steps to modify various operational practices and provide a balanced budget without compromising the benefits that SPE members receive and have come to expect from their SPE membership. These steps included closing the London office, staff redundancies and hiring freezes, closing SPE’s book business, creating a new revenue model with multimedia programs, and shifting publications from print to digital.
While the steps taken would likely have been sufficient to restore stability after the 2015 downturn and COVID-19 pandemic, the current 2025 downturn undermined those efforts. While there has been a bounce-back in event attendance and other sponsorships post-pandemic, this uptick has stalled before reaching pre-pandemic performance, and the current oil price volatility and various geopolitical uncertainties have continued to significantly degrade SPE’s revenue streams.
As shown in President Houzé’s column in August, SPE averaged an annual net operating loss of approximately USD 4.0 million over the past three budget cycles, with 12-month expenses averaging USD 48 million and revenues averaging USD 44 million. Obviously, this is not sustainable, and we cannot continue to hope that things get better. As we all know, hope is not a financial strategy, and the SPE Board of Directors’ foremost responsibility is to provide a balanced annual budget while also laying the groundwork for a sustainable future of the Society.
Therefore, during the July 2025 SPE Board of Directors meeting held virtually over four days, multiple steps were evaluated to balance the FY26B budget, which runs from October 2025 to September 2026, while also setting the stage for this new reality that SPE finds itself in regarding membership numbers and revenue intake. Additional virtual meetings were held by the three major Board committees in August and September to fully delineate steps forward. We fully realize that some solutions will impact some members more than others. However, all decisions were guided by 2024 Member Value Survey data to minimize impact on what members value most, while strengthening SPE’s long-term financial position.
To be as transparent as possible, we share with you the following steps that were approved by the SPE Board of Directors during the July Board meeting and a follow-up virtual Board meeting held on Thursday, 18 September, to finalize and approve the FY26B budget. These decisions and their impacts will be a journey rather than a one-time change and will take two budget cycles to fully realize the outcomes.
- Over the next several months, there will be an approximate 10% reduction in staffing costs implemented across SPE’s global personnel. We are sensitive to the impact this will have on individuals and some potential member benefits; however, rightsizing our operational footprint as well as program and event expenses will lead SPE to a future that has more capacity for exploring new ideas and program options. Associated with the staff reduction, SPE will undertake a reorganization of its operations to better streamline its internal processes and office facilities, including whether to maintain a formal presence in Dallas after the sale of its Richardson, Texas, building.
- The SPE instructor-led Training Program will be sunset. This program has resulted in financial losses for the last several years despite various attempts to make it profitable. The industry has other training providers, many of them long-time supporters of SPE, that can provide this service to members more effectively. SPE will continue to provide instructor-led training for the PRMS, as well as virtual and online training and learning opportunities. In addition, SPE conferences, symposiums, and workshops will continue to support the professional growth and career development of our members.
- The HSE Now, Data Science and Digital Engineering, and Oil and Gas Facilities online publications will be sunset as standalone publications, and these topics will continue to be covered in JPT. Given the now fully online presence of JPT, this approach results in significant annual savings without sacrificing members’ interest areas.
- Membership dues for Country Group 1 will be raised by USD 10 in 2026. While we recognize this follows a similar increase in 2024, dues had remained unchanged for the 10 years prior and had not kept pace with inflationary costs. For many years, surpluses from SPE events helped subsidize membership dues, but this is no longer sustainable. As part of our review, we compared dues with similar US-based technical societies, which shows that SPE remains in the second quartile (lower-mid range) even after the 2026 change. Country Groups 2, 3, and 4 dues were increased in 2025 and will not experience a second increase at this time. Even with this increase, attending only one conference or workshop still offsets the cost of membership by the difference in registration fees.
- An in-depth review of all SPE events worldwide is currently underway to evaluate their financial viability. Over the past several years, some events have operated at a loss and were financially supported by other profitable events. Additionally, there is evidence that the supply outweighs the demand for some SPE events, and they are unfortunately competing for attendees and corporate supporters. Outcomes from this review will include recommending consolidation of some events, offering others in alternating years, or resting the event until market conditions improve.
- The Virtual Career Pathway Fair and eMentoring programs will be sunset, with resources refocused on other programs where young professionals are already showing the greatest engagement. Data shows that young professionals are engaging much more with SPE’s broader offerings, including JPT, Events, OnePetro, SPE Journal, Technical Sections, and volunteering opportunities. By strengthening SPE’s finances and investing in what members will need in the future, such as GenAI research tools, SPE can continue to provide the resources, connections, and support that drive professional growth and career success.
- The SPE Regional Awards Program will be decoupled from the International Awards Program to reduce staff cost and allow more flexibility to administer these awards in a way that provides the most value to each region. Regional award recipients remain welcome to be nominated for international awards but as separate submissions.
- The International PetroBowl final at ATCE will not take place in 2026. This decision only impacts the international final; the regional PetroBowl competitions are not impacted by this decision. While the International PetroBowl is a favorite event for many of us, travel costs, visa challenges, and other barriers have limited participation for many teams; meanwhile, the regional contests remain highly successful, and their winners will continue to be recognized and celebrated. We can reassess in the future if circumstances improve; however, we also acknowledge that other SPE student competitions like Drillbotics may help fill this void.
- SPE will suspend the 2026 section rebates for at least six months while SPE staff and the Membership and Engagement Committee develop a new, more sustainable model for this important program.
- The Board is also reviewing its own costs and operational processes, ensuring they align with the adjustments being asked of staff and members. An approximate 10% reduction in Board costs have been identified and presented, including an updated travel policy.
We, as SPE Officers, and the Board of Directors, are not taking the above steps lightly. However, we must provide a fiscally strong organization for generations to come. We have based these decisions on the member services SPE should provide, their impact on member value, and whether they generate sufficient revenue to support their operating expenses. Net income is always reinvested back into serving the membership, and we cannot do so while operating at a loss. While SPE maintains healthy reserves, these funds are not intended to remedy ongoing operational losses. Most recently, they have been used for unexpected emergencies such as the recent pandemic, without which, SPE would have faced far greater challenges. Reserves have also been used in the past to fund specific programs, and we will evaluate this approach moving forward. Nothing is off the table as we deal with these significant budgetary challenges.
This is not the first time that SPE has experienced such a critical point in its history. The following quote is from a 1923 AIME report, shortly after the organization created a petroleum division from which SPE later emerged:
"There are frequent and urgent calls that we take on new activity. Many of these are important and our members are interested, but further expansion with our limited means is impractical. We have not satisfied all members in respect to our activities, indeed a great many members feel that their special interests have been slighted…The only way in which these criticisms may be met is through more vigorous solicitation and through expanded publications, the cost of which the average member is unwilling to meet."
As noted in these prophetic words written by our founders, SPE cannot be all things to all people. While we each may see some impacts of the above decisions, and hopefully some will not at all, at its core, we hope you believe as we do that SPE membership is extremely beneficial to our professional lives as well as future generations.
Looking ahead, Jennifer Miskimins will undertake a new Strategic Plan during her 2026 presidency. Under her leadership, we will define where SPE should go next, including where to invest to meet our members’ evolving needs and strengthen our community. We ask you to join us in setting SPE on a course to be healthy and viable for years to come.
We invite you to share your questions, thoughts, and ideas with us on SPE Connect in the General Discussion community.