We are ramping up for a member vote on the AAPG-SPE merger, which will begin in late February. I wanted to take the opportunity to address SPE young professionals and students and discuss why I believe this merger is a positive step towards your future.
SPE young professionals and students face different challenges and have different opportunities than my generation faced early in our careers. We are an industry that is at the crossroads of different trajectories for the world’s energy future, and in some of the scenarios, losing relevancy. We must be the organization that supports our young professionals in pursuing all opportunities the energy industry has to offer today and tomorrow. The world needs to have more people accessing energy, especially in developing economies. The International Energy Agency estimates that nearly a billion people cannot use electricity today and nearly 3 billion cannot use modern energy sources for cooking.
As was confirmed at the COP26 in Glasgow last year with the Glasgow Climate Pact, the world is moving to a more sustainable energy system. For the sake of sustainability (and meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals) and to leave an enduring legacy to the upcoming generations, we need to change the way we produce and use energy.
SPE has served our members well for over 70 years – we have evolved to meet the needs of our members as their needs have changed. We know that the sustainable energy transition will have a dramatic impact on our industry and our members, while, at the same time, we also know that the oil and gas we produce will continue to meet the needs of the world for decades to come. SPE is considering the change our industry is going through and we are recognizing we are in an era with both opportunities and uncertainties.
This is the driving force behind the potential merger with AAPG and creation of a new organization that can both serve the members’ current needs and also help young members navigate the challenges they will face in the future. We could have opted for the status quo with two separate organizations, but we are choosing to be ahead of the curve, not behind it.
Have no doubt, we will never stop being the organization that meets the needs of petroleum engineers everywhere; no matter what we do, we will never lose sight of our foundation. AAPG and SPE have been working together in different initiatives for more than 4 decades, including the Offshore Technology Conference, the International Petroleum Technology Conference, the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTeC), and the Petroleum Reserves Management System (PRMS). To accomplish our goals for the future, we will be stronger by bringing all petroleum professionals together. We will have a stronger voice as a unified force of engineers and geoscientists working together. It is up to us to define our future and I believe we must, and will, embrace the challenges of the energy transition to support all petroleum professionals. We believe this is the kind of organization young professionals and students want to join.
AAPG and SPE both recognize that oil and natural gas will continue to be essential to meet the world’s energy needs, and the combined membership will contribute substantially to assuring reliable and affordable future energy supplies. The knowledge, skills, and abilities of the new organization would enable its members to accelerate the uptake of new technologies such as digitization and will also be essential to emerging areas such as CCUS, hydrogen energy, energy efficiency, and novel geothermal solutions. The continued collaboration and growth will enable expertise across the entire value chain of energy. Integrating, collaborating, and working together to solve problems and be part of the world’s sustainability challenges, with new opportunities for our members.
What Is in It for You?
The merger would reflect the interdisciplinary approach that the industry has moved toward, facilitated by modern software that allows enhanced communication across all subsurface-related practitioners and open new opportunities for education, community, and knowledge resources that are best positioned to be successful for decades to come. A combined organization would be the professional community of choice for a generation of professionals and students who are committed to driving long-term change across the energy sector.
As stated in the potential new organization’s mission and vision, the new organization would connect a global community of geoscientists, engineers, and other energy professionals to advance and share the knowledge, technology, and experiences needed to achieve a safe and sustainable energy future. The vision would reflect the need of the industry and desire of young professionals and students to help deliver safe, reliable, and affordable energy for everyone.
We envision better conferences, workshops, and events by combining resources (SMEs, publications, venues) so members can access more content in a single conference and ultimately make such events less costly to the members. More comprehensive events will provide better interaction, networking, and create better synergy within given technical areas, and provide more rapid prototyping and development of technical solutions.
The merger will also provide better publications and publication resources. Combining our content offerings will significantly improve the integration of technology in energy resources. Combining and expanding the SPE OnePetro and AAPG Datapages resources will provide the preeminent global technical resource. The merger will allow the new organization to continue to provide the engineering and geoscience resources we require, but it will also provide for diversification and integration of our missions as we begin the energy transition. The merger will increase synergies, especially for those who are already members of both organizations. They will benefit from a single membership with lower dues. Other benefits include a single member-management system with a lower cost and reduced overall staff costs, although the financial aspects are not the main reason for the merger.
I encourage you to keep up with the latest developments on the merger by visiting www.aapg-spe-merger.org, and we would like to hear you feedback there as well. The merger will go to a vote of all paid professional members in late February. The decision regarding the merger of the two organizations and shaping the combined organization for a new world of opportunities will essentially be guided by your vote!
