SPE News
Each year during its Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE), SPE honors members whose outstanding contributions to the Society and the petroleum industry merit special distinction. Recipients will be recognized at the Annual Awards Banquet on 22 October.
After years of market shocks, technological breakthroughs, and rising uncertainty, ATCE 2026 will provide new insights on how industry leaders and technical experts are preparing for the next era of the upstream business.
Get more from ATCE 2026 with a strategic plan for learning, networking, technology scouting, and career growth. Susan Howes shares how to maximize the value of SPE's premier annual event.
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Featuring speakers from various disciplines and professions, the program emphasizes current trends, challenges, and technology applications in the industry. The following speakers and subject areas will be presented in this year's program. -
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Jerry Hubbard, SPE, died at his home in Houston, Texas, on 1 January 2015. He was 63 years old. Most recently, Hubbard served as president and CEO of Energistics, an international energy standards organization. During his tenure, the number of active corporate members increased from 60 to more than 125 at the organization. Hubbard was instrumental in the development a…
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ZARA KHATIB, SPE, died on 30 September at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. She was 61 years old. At the time of her death, Khatib was working as managing director and chief technology officer at Smart Energy Engineering Consultancy, based in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi.
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T. Don Stacy, SPE, died on 3 October 2014 in Houston, Texas. He was 80 years old. Stacy served as SPE president in 1983 and as vice president of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) in 1985. Several significant events occurred during Stacy’s tenure as SPE president. In 1983, ground was broken in Richardson, Texas, for SPE’s n…
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Members who made outstanding contributions to SPE and the petroleum industry will receive special distinction at SPE's annual conference.
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James Lee Rike, SPE, of Tickfaw, Louisiana, died on 3 August 2014. He was 87. An SPE member since 1949, Rike played a key role in the development of new completion concepts, directional perforators, sand control using plastics, coiled tubing rigs, concentric tubing workover/completion operations, and advanced offshore completion practices. He authored patents and pape…
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Robert A. Wattenbarger, SPE, died on 9 May 2014. He was 78. An active SPE member for 53 years, he was the recipient of the SPE Reservoir Description and Dynamics Award in 2012 and was inducted into the SPE Legion of Honor in 2000. Wattenbarger started his career in 1959, working with Mobil Oil in Colombia. He went on to work for Oil Recovery Corporation and Sinclair O…
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As of 3 April 2014, the SPE Board of Directors approved the nomination of A. Daniel Hill, head of the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University, as its first SPE Director for Academia.
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MICHAEL J. ECONOMIDES, SPE, died 1 December 2013. He was 64. At the time of his death he worked in several capacities, including professor at the Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston; worldwide petroleum consultant; and editor-in-chief of two energy-related publications.
