As we enter the summer months, we have some exciting events and changes coming to the SPE Oklahoma City Section. This will be my final month as Chairman of the Section, and while it is a bittersweet feeling, we have an outstanding incoming Executive Committee and there will be no shortage of great events to participate moving forward.
I want to extend a sincere thank you to my committee members of the past year. The numerous successes the Section has enjoyed these last 12 months are entirely due to their hard work and dedication. Some of the high lights of the year include having hosted one of our most profitable and well attended Oil and Gas Symposiums, the trialing of a new mini-URTeC later this month, a highly successful SPE Mardi Gras in which we raised nearly $12K for our long time community partners, Willow Springs Boys Ranch, the addition two new study group topics, and the addition of our spirits tasting socials. Beyond these few, we have hosted over 50 events over the course of the year and I am very proud of the Section’s officers and volunteers.
Our monthly luncheon will feature Distinguished Lecturer Mark Van Domelen of Downhole Chemical Solutions. He will be presenting on “Developing the Next Generation of Completion Engineers” which will discuss a case study of an advanced engineering training program implemented at a major service company and how it helped build a talent base of engineers capable of deploying new technology and functioning within a multidisciplinary work environment. Signups are available on our website.
This year, our local Section has partnered with several other societies, including AAPG and SEG, to plan and host a one day mini-URTeC here in OKC. The idea behind this is to provide an opportunity to those who may not have the time to attend the full conference in July, as well as a platform to share technical content specific to those basins most pertinent to Oklahoma operators. The technical program will contain sessions concerning reservoir characterization, completions optimization, production enhancement and a panel discussion on induced seismicity. Our keynote speaker will be George King, who will speak to the topic of “Damage and Causes of Fracture Driven Interactions (Frac Hits): Recognition, Longevity, and Control. This event will be hosted on June 26th at the Sheraton in downtown OKC, registration is now open.
Our Study Group this month will be hosted on June 27th at Twin Hills and will feature Matt Young from Flowco Production Solutions, who will be speaking to the use of high pressure gas lift systems in the Permian Basin and a comparison to traditional gas lift systems.
Last month we shared the 2019-2020 Executive Committee slate with the section membership. As a reminder, any member in good standing can be nominated for a committee role by contacting me before our June Luncheon. Barring any member nominations, the section will vote on the slate on Thursday the 21st. Additionally, if you would like to volunteer with the board this year, reach out to one of our officers, we always have room for you to help out.
Recently, we concluded our spring Dress for Success and it was, for lack of a better word, a great success. We had a great outpouring of support from the section membership and managed to deliver several car loads of clothing, so thank you to all those that donated.
The next SPE Cares event is a work day with Habitat for Humanity on June 22nd. These events are a great opportunity to give back to our local community and have a notable impact on how the public views our industry.
As this will be my last newsletter as Oklahoma City Chairman, I want to again thank my committee for all their dedication this year, we have accomplished some great things and I feel confident that these will continue under the incoming leadership. It has been a great honor to work with so many outstanding volunteers, and I could not have asked for a better group. Subsequent to the vote later in the month, our Chair Elect Shahd Tarar will be taking the reins, so I hope you will all join me in welcoming her and providing her with support over the coming year.
Have a great month and I look forward to seeing you at our events!