SPE News
Three experts were recognized with the Pioneer Award at the 2026 SPE Improved Oil Recovery Conference in Tulsa for their technological contributions to improved oil recovery.
JPT is recruiting reviewers to help select high‑impact SPE conference papers for publication. If you have technical expertise and a passion for sharing knowledge, this leadership role could be for you.
SPE has restructured its global events organization to better align with evolving business priorities and regional needs, strengthening regional leadership with the appointments of Michelle Tan and Michael Ryan as vice presidents for the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, respectively.
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SPE welcomes 86 members into the Legion of Honor, which observes 50 years of consecutive membership in the Society. Each honoree becomes dues-exempt and receives a commemorative plaque marking the milestone. The honorees are listed below under their respective sections. -
Several SPE sections have received recognition for outstanding contributions to the association. Nine SPE sections have been awarded the 2019 SPE Presidential Award for Outstanding Section, the highest honor a section can receive. These sections form the highest-ranked 5% of SPE’s 203 sections around the world. Formerly known as the President’s Award for Section Excel…
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The latest edition of Journal Citation Reports® 2019 was recently released, and according to the report, SPE’s peer-reviewed journals have significantly improved their impact factors. This is the first time that all of SPE's journals had an impact factor greater than 1.
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DeAnn Craig, the first woman to hold the position of SPE President and who also held the top role at Phillips Petroleum Resources Canada, died 13 August. She was 68.
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Steve Holditch, who served as SPE President in 2002 and was a fixture of the Texas A&M University Department of Petroleum Engineering, died 9 August. He was 72.
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Juan V. Roger, SPE Distinguished Member and the first SPE South America and Caribbean Regional Director, died 5 August in Caracas, Venezuela. He was 88.
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Curtis G. Blount, SPE, senior fellow engineer-advisor for global wells technology at ConocoPhillips and former SPE Distinguished Lecturer, died 12 May in Katy, Texas. He made significant technical contributions to coiled tubing and well intervention research and applied technology development for more than 25 years. Blount began his career at Dresser Atlas in 1977. He…
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Tom Blasingame is the nominee for 2021 SPE President. He and four others make up the slate of nominees recommended for positions open on the SPE Board of Directors.
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Dennis Hahn, SPE, former chair of the SPE Canada Board, the SPE Calgary Section, and director of the SPE Canadian Educational Foundation, who was active with SPE at both the section and international levels, died 2 March in Bolivia, where he was teaching a completions course. Hahn, a completions manager at Repsol based in Calgary, was an expert in high-pressure/high-t…
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Sam Gibbs, the inventor of the wave equation method used in the rod pumping diagnostic and predictive software, and an SPE Legend of Artificial Lift, died 17 February. Gibbs earned his BS in mechanical engineering at Texas A&M University in 1954 and worked for Shell Oil Company briefly before being drafted into the US Army. Upon returning, he took a leave of absence f…
