R&D/innovation
Findings from two new SPE papers argue that the tight-rock sector needs to rethink longstanding assumptions about how hydraulic fractures form underground.
The newest recipient of the title SPE Legend of Hydraulic Fracturing talks about his career, the evolution of fracture stimulation, the development of increasingly useful simulators, and the future of the oil and gas industry. The honor was given at the 2026 SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference and Exhibition.
SLB's and Baker Hughes' partnerships with NVIDIA and Google Cloud, respectively, will develop advanced AI-enabled power optimization and sustainability solutions for the global data center sector.
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Contrary to popular imagination, which favors John Wayne stereotypes heroically rescuing the oil industry with wrench and hammer, the oilfield is a place of exquisite engineering, the match of anything on Earth, a marvel of innovation at the biggest and smallest scales. -
Technology transfer in the oil business is too often discussed from a lens of bringing in outside innovations. But what happens when innovation escapes the industry’s orbit and finds a new home?
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JPT asked several active SPE members about the appeal of petroleum engineering, the significance of the work they do, and what the future may hold. Here are some of their answers.
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Unconventional development has made it clear to Erdal Ozkan that conventional theory overlooks a lot of potentially productive rock. He talks about looking for ways to do better as part of JPT’s tech director report.
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Producers in Texas have claimed an economic victory with their transition to local sands that they once avoided using in horizontal wells due to their low-quality.
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Slow uptake of innovation and new technology is an oft-repeated criticism of the oil and gas industry.
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When it came to decide where to collect a critical sample of fractured rock, a new method for turning microseismic data into a heat map designed to display the most intense fracturing activity was considered.
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Fracturing two or more wells at the same time creates connections. While fracturing fluids reach out further, those ties create a stronger link, though not forever.
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By measuring which tests best predicted the fractures observed at the Hydraulic Fracturing Test Site, Laredo Petroleum developed a method it hopes will improve fracture modeling in other places.
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A close look at hundreds of feet of fractured core samples suggest that new fracture models are needed to simulate complicated reality.
