Welcome to a new year with the SPE Oklahoma City Section! I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and were able to spend some quality time with your families. Before I get into the body of my monthly notes, I want to provide a friendly reminder to everyone that SPE registration renewals were last month, so if you forgot, now is the time – don’t let your membership lapse – SPE Renewals.
We have an exciting year planned for the section, with numerous technical and social activities for our members to participate in. The pistol league has kicked off with the first shoot being hosted the second week of January and clay shoots begin the first week of February. Signups are still available for both leagues, so if you are interested, just reach out to one of the section officers. As part of our community outreach and support program this year we will be hosting the 13th annual SPE Mardi Gras Gala on March 1st at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club. The event will include a plated dinner, music, a silent auction and a casino floor. Proceeds from the auction and casino will go to support Willow Springs Boys Ranch, an organization aimed at providing support for at-risk youths. This is one of our section’s most anticipated events, and it will sell out, so be sure to get your tickets early. We are currently in the process of planning our third spirits tasting, which will be featuring Scotch whiskeys, and are hoping to have this ready sometime in late March. If you have not attended one of these in past, you have been missing out. It is a great learning experience as we have experts discuss details about how the spirits are made, the various flavoring techniques, as well as reasons for the choices in food pairings. Find registration links and more about our events at SPE OKC.
Another of our highly anticipated events planned for this year is our biennial Oklahoma City Oil and Gas Symposium (formerly known as the Production and Operations Symposium) being held on April 8th – 12th. The theme for this year’s symposium is “Developing the Future” and our technical program will include topical sessions covering data driven solutions to formation evaluation, development of unconventional resources, enhanced oil recovery, and fracturing materials and operations. Our panel discussion this year will focus on the topic of the STACK/SCOOP developments and will involve panelists from several operators in the plays. In addition to the content provided at the technical sessions, the symposium will feature an exhibition from numerous companies who will be highlighting their newest technologies and products aimed at providing solutions to the many issues that arise in oil and gas operations. Subsequent to the main exhibition and sessions, there are also several short courses being offered to provide opportunities for technical development. For more details about the symposium, short courses, or if you would like to sponsor exhibition space, please visit OKC Oil and Gas Symposium.
I want to take a little time to talk about SPE awards and the importance of nominations to those that receive them and to the health of a Section. SPE awards are a tangible way to recognize individuals for their technical contributions, professional excellence, service to colleagues, public service, industry leadership and career achievements. They are broken into several categories including international and regional, technical and professional and the requirements for each category are different. Any member can nominate another member and we all work with or know someone who is deserving of an award, whether it be regional or international and through this nomination process we can show appreciation for our colleague’s accomplishments. I am issuing a challenge to our section, by the deadline of March 1st, I would like us to have completed nominations for all the regional categories. For more information, or to nominate someone, please go to SPE Awards, or contact Natalie Boggs or myself.
Hope you all have a great month!
Tyler Conner