Joseph Fu Newsletters 2022-2023

May 2023

Dear Section Members, 

 

It is my honor and privilege to present to you the 2023-2024 SPE Dallas Board of Directors:

 

2023-2024 SPE Dallas Board of Directors
Position	Name	Professional Affiliation
Chairman	Alex Shih	Pioneer Natural Resources
Chairman Elect	Anjali Jha	DistributionNOW
Immediate Past Chairman	Joseph Fu	Pioneer Natural Resources
First Vice Chair, Programs	Tara Sharma	RedOaks Energy Advisors
Second Vice Chair, Education	Tiffany Li	Pioneer Natural Resources
Third Vice Chair, Membership	Jamie Heinecke	Denbury
Elected Director 1, Sports/Social	PJ Edsall	PetroTX Operating
Elected Director 2, Community Relations	Pragnya Patel	Denbury
Elected Director 3, Technology/Communications	Serhii Kryvenko	Pioneer Natural Resources
Secretary	Sercan Gul	Pioneer Natural Resources
Treasurer	Madeleine McBee	Denbury
Treasurer Elect	Orhan Pashayev	Denbury
Professional Networking Chair	Christian Zuvich	Denbury
Director at Large – Advertising	Garrett Johnson	Denbury
Director at Large – Awards	David Hamilton	Denbury
Director at Large – Sports/Social	Alejandro Martinez	Pioneer Natural Resources
Director at Large – Volunteer Events and Speaker Bureau	Randy Klein	Thru Tubing Solutions
Director at Large – Digital Engagement	Lindsey Kuehner	Pioneer Natural Resources
Scholarship Chairperson	Ana Trevino	DeGolyer and MacNaughton
Information Chairperson	Cal Lundberg	Pioneer Natural Resources

 

The Board thanks the incoming members for volunteering to serve in leadership positions for the Dallas Section. 

 

I would like to thank the outgoing Board members for their service, and I’d like to specially acknowledge Mr. Danny Bell for his contributions to the Dallas Section. Danny is stepping down from the Board after over 20 years of service. He has worked on all available Board positions and mentored countless volunteers over the years, including myself. Danny, your many years of service to the Dallas Section is a true testimony of your dedication to the organization, we truly appreciate and value your contributions.

 

I hope to see you at our upcoming events. Please feel free to contact me with comments, concerns, or questions.

 

Sincerely,

 

Joseph Fu

Joseph.Fu@pxd.com

February 2023

Section members, 

 

I hope you are having a great week and were safe and warm through the ice storm.

 

Today, I would like to acknowledge two of our section members for their contributions to the SPE community.

 

Please join me in congratulating Oscar Gabaldon, Drilling Technologies Development Manager with Blade Energy Partners, as our 2023 Engineer of the Year. Oscar is recognized for expanding the technical knowledge base of the SPE community, specifically in the field of drilling engineering. He has published six technical papers with topics ranging from casing and cementing to drilling fluids and materials since 2020. Thank you, Oscar, for your contributions to SPE.

 

We are also proud to acknowledge Anjali Jha, Sales Executive with DistributionNOW, as this year’s Young Engineer of the Year. Anjali serves as the Programs Chair and has done a tremendous job bringing in a variety of topics to our technical program events. We are grateful to Anjali for her dedication and contributions to the section.

 

I encourage all of you to reach out to both Oscar and Anjali and personally congratulate them for their achievements and dedications to SPE.

 

Here are the bios of our Engineer of the Year and Young Engineer of the Year:

 

Oscar Gabaldon is the Drilling Technologies Development Manager at Blade Energy Partners. After leading Blade’s global Operations Group for eight years, Oscar is now tasked with linking the developments from the engineering group with the day-to-day operations, integrating operations into Blade’s R&D program, as well as overseeing Blade’s advanced training programs.

 

After earning an Agronomical Engineering degree from Universidad Central de Venezuela, Oscar started his career in the oil and gas industry over 25 years ago with M-I Drilling Fluids and then with Weatherford, mainly in Underbalanced and Managed Pressure Drilling projects. With Blade, Oscar has led research, development, planning, and implementation of non-conventional drilling technologies in cutting-edge projects in land and deep water with a focus on MPD and Well Design optimization and has recently been involved in geothermal and CCUS projects. Over the past 14 years, Oscar has taught more than 65 UBD and MPD design and operations classes, contributing to advancing the career development of over 800 O&G professionals.

 

Oscar has authored and co-authored multiple industry papers, recently with an emphasis on MPD, well control, and well design, and is a technical peer reviewer for journal publications for SPE. He has served continuously since 2009 in the IADC UBO&MPD Committee, including Chairing the Committee twice in the past. During this time, Oscar has contributed to shaping industry best practices, including API RP92U, API RP92M, and API RP92S, and currently leading the development of Riser Gas Handling Guidelines. Oscar holds two US patents for technology improvement designs for optimizing non-conventional drilling techniques in deep water.

 

Oscar lives in Frisco and is just about to celebrate his 24th wedding anniversary with his wife Dulce. They have two wonderful kids (well, no longer kids!), Joaquin (21) and Marcela (18), who enjoy family outdoor outings with a preference for beach trips and playing lots of board games. When he is not working, Oscar enjoys cooking and woodworking at home, and taking on ambitious (according to Dulce) construction projects.

  

Anjali Jha is a Sales Executive at DistributionNOW. She provides technical feedback to clients as they make product selections for the upstream market while maintaining customer relationships throughout the DFW area. Anjali started her career as a field engineer, where she was exposed to fracturing in south Texas. Her experience began in Texas, routed her through the Rockies, including the frozen Bakken, and finally moved to Dallas in 2020. While her experience has been in engineering, Anjali quickly found that the skills she learned while being in the field along with her outgoing personality were a perfect mesh for sales.

 

As a native of Denver, CO she graduated in 2012 with a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Colorado School of Mines. Anjali's family has always had a strong engineering background. Her dad, brother, several cousins are engineers, and she even married into an engineering family.

 

Anjali knew at a young age she wanted to be an engineer but more importantly, a leader in the community. Anjali was very active while at Mines with the local Girl Scout Troops, especially during Introduce the Troop to STEM Day, where the troop would perform science projects and see women in industry. She also volunteered with other minority organizations on campus to tutor inner-city students in math and science. Being a natural-born leader, Anjali completed her MBA from Texas A&M in 2020. At DistributionNOW, Anjali currently serves as the Co-Chair for the Women’s ERG and for the last year is the Dallas SPE Programs Chair.

 

Anjali married her longtime boyfriend, Jonathan, in 2020. Her best friend is her dog, Pepper, a Sheepadoodle. You'll always catch Anjali with a smile on her face and an inviting hello, unless you catch her coaching CrossFit, then she'll make you work hard but leave with a smile. Her activities include all things health and fitness, reading, CrossFit, Yoga, cheering on the Broncos, and international travel. 

 

September 2022

Dear section members,

Hope you had a great Labor Day weekend and are enjoying the cooler weather here in Dallas!

I want to provide you with the sign-up links to our upcoming events. Thanks to our volunteers, September will be another exciting month packed with speakers and activities.

September 21^st: Post Covid Trends in Well Performance with Thad Toups

            Link: Monthly Meeting - Post Covid Trends in Well Performance with Thad Toups (spe.org)

September 22^nd: Young Professionals’ Event - Bar Louie at the Shops at Park Lane – Sponsored by Techstar

            Link: September 2022 Young Professionals Event - Dallas Section (spe.org)

September 28^th: Application of Fractional Diffusion in Unconventional Reservoirs with Dr. Weichun Chu

            Link: Application of Fractional Diffusion in Unconventional Reservoirs (spe.org)

We are also bringing back one of our signature events since Covid, the Shoot for Your School Sporting Clay Tournament is back this year, make sure you register your team for this event, space is limited!

            Link: 16th Annual Sporting Clays Tournament (spe.org)

I hope to see you at our upcoming events. As always, please feel free to contact me with comments, concerns, or questions.

 

Sincerely,

Joseph Fu

Joseph.Fu@PXD.com

August 2022

July 2022

Dear Section Members,

It is my distinct honor to serve as the 2022-2023 chairman of the Society of Petroleum Engineers Dallas Section.

The volunteer SPE Dallas Board of Directors is here to serve you, all 1,069 members to ensure that you get the most out of your SPE membership. This year, as we move past the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, our officers are working hard to bring back more in-person meetings and social events. We thank you for your continued support.

Please allow me to introduce our section officers and their responsibilities, and feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or suggestions:

• Alex Shih – Vice Chair/Chairman Elect: monitors section activities and explores opportunities to increase member engagement
• Ana Trevino – Scholarships: manages scholarship application process and distributes funds to students
• Anjali Jha – Programs Chair: organizes speakers for monthly meetings
• Cal Lundberg – Information: communications via event notifications, reminders, and newsletters
• Colin Beasley – Advertising: maintains relationships with current sponsors and attracts new sponsors to the section
• Danny Bell – Community Relations: serves as point of contact for speaking opportunities and engagement in the community including Energy4Me
• David Hamilton – Awards: responsible for regional, national, and international award nominations
• Jamie Heinecke and Madeleine McBee – Treasurer: manage the financial affairs
• Lindsey Kuehner – Digital Engagement: manages LinkedIn page and engages with community through social media platforms
• Orhan Pashayev – Secretary: responsible for ensuring Board meeting arrangements and record keeping
• Patrick PJ Edsall and Clayton Conine – Sports & Social: plan annual Sporting Clays Tournament, Golf Tournament, and Casino Nights
• Pragnya Maruwada – Past Chairperson: assists with board position training, succession planning, and transition of officers and fills committee or sub-committee roles as needed
• Randy Klein – Volunteering Events: organizes community volunteering events such as Future City Competition
• Robert Martinez – Membership Chair: monitors membership trends, membership retention, and engagement
• Sercan Gul – Technology: responsible for SPE Dallas website, event postings, and content maintenance
• Sophie Yi – Education Chair: organizes speakers for monthly study group meetings and summer seminars
• Tara Sharma – Young Professionals Chair: engages with young professionals through various events

 

Finally, we have some exciting speakers and upcoming events, make sure to check out the SPE Dallas website and LinkedIn to register for the events:

7/20/2022 “The rapidly changing optics of the energy industry emissions” featuring Kevin Hendricks, Environmental Engineering Technical Lead of Denbury Resources.

7/21/2022 Young Professional Event at Katy Trail Ice House Sponsored by Pioneer Natural Resources.

I hope to see you at our upcoming events. Please feel free to contact me with comments, concerns, or questions.

Sincerely,

Joseph Fu

Joseph.Fu@PXD.com

Pragnya Maruwada Newsletters 2020-2021

June 2021
Section Members,

I hope everyone had a safe and restful Memorial Day and thank you to the men and women who served in the Armed Forces and made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Most of you have seen the news regarding the landmark ruling by a Dutch court last week ordering Royal Dutch Shell to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 45% before 2030. Analysts predict that with this ruling, similar lawsuits in other European countries could swing in the same direction creating a ripple effect of harsher restrictions on emissions. Interestingly, 3x the number of lawsuits seeking relief from climate change have been filed in U.S. courts compared to various other countries (Reuters). These lawsuits are targeting companies including BP Plc, ExxonMobil, and Chevron Corp and are seeking damages to pay for sea walls and other infrastructure to guard against extreme weather as a result of rising sea levels (Reuters). Our industry is actively investing in clean energy but the percentage increase in climate-friendly initiatives is small (up 4% compared to 1% from the previous year (Bloomberg). The figure below depicts the global investment in clean energy technologies from IEA and much of this shift has been driven by European companies.



It will be interesting to watch this figure change in the next few years as more pressure is applied on U.S. based companies to increase investment in clean energy (specifically in some of the smaller categories like low-carbon fuels and CCUS). Based on the information above, this energy transition will be slow but as most of us know, change is imminent.

As we brace for this change, our decisions will be key in maximizing our assets and deriving value. If you work unconventional assets, don’t miss Kyle Haustveit’s Distinguished Lecture series on “Making Decisions Using Completions Diagnostic Tools in Unconventional Reservoirs” which is being held virtually today (register here)! Our next monthly meeting will be on June 16th featuring Beth McDonald presenting “Leading Through Challenging Times” (register here). The YPs are hard at work planning the next in-person networking event for the last week of June so please keep an eye on the website to register once that event is posted. Finally, we are working to bring back all of our wonderful sports and social events that had to be postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19 so please keep an on website as we head into the fall months for our Annual Clay Shoot and other events!

Many of you have asked when we plan to return to in-person meetings and I assure you that we are working hard to make this a reality sooner than later. Unfortunately, many venues and campuses (including our beloved Brookhaven campus) are still closed and not offering rental space so we are actively working to find other solutions that are central to the Dallas area. I hope to see all of you at our in-person networking events (these are not only for the YPs!) and as soon as we can schedule in-person meetings, you will be the first to know.

As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out and I look forward to seeing all of you soon!

Pragnya.maruwada@denbury.com
(469) 682-6554

Sources:
https://energynow.com/2021/05/analysis-big-oil-may-get-more-climate-lawsuits-after-shell-ruling-lawyers-activists/?source=de&wtv=pragnya.maruwada@denbury.com
https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/eyes-us-climate-lawsuits-after-landmark-dutch-ruling-2021-05-26/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-02/big-oil-s-green-spending-boost-is-failing-to-curb-global-warming

March 2021
Section Members,

As we inch closer to resuming “normal” operations, I hope that all of you are as excited and eager to meet in person as I am! I’m sure most of you are aware but as of this past Monday, all Texans over the age of 16 are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Even if you are on the fence about getting vaccinated, I encourage you to lend a helping hand and reach out to your friends and family to ensure to that those who want to register for the vaccine have the means and ability to do so.

The board is actively working towards planning in-person meetings but while we wait for a few more pieces to come together, our volunteers are hard at work planning a plethora of virtual events in April. Our virtual study group meeting on April 1st will feature a presentation by Mark Murray on how the use of bottomhole pressure data can help gain a better understanding of the reservoir and can assist in optimizing completion designs (registration here). On April 7th, Jeremy Arendt with Montrose Lane will present the latest trends in energy technology venture capital (register here). Our final Distinguished Lecturer for the 2020-2021 season will be held on April 14th featuring Kyle Haustveit with Devon Energy. The presentation will focus on how to make decisions using completion diagnostic tools in unconventional reservoirs (register here). Finally, *drum roll please* the YPs are hosting their first in-person networking event in over a year! Details for the event and registration can be found here.

As we start to come to terms with what life will look like post-COVID, the world is bracing for change and SPE is no different. It is my honor and privilege to present to you the 2021-2022 SPE Dallas Board of Directors:

Our volunteers on the current Board of Directors have navigated through one of most challenging years imaginable so before some of them retire from their roles, I urge you to please reach out and thank them for their time and effort in helping this section.

As always, please feel free to call/email me with any feedback and I look forward to seeing all of you soon!

Pragnya.maruwada@denbury.com
(469) 682-6554

February 2021
Section Members,

I hope you and your families were safe and warm through the brutal winter storm that wreaked havoc 2 weeks ago. I can speak for myself and probably a few others that verifying the proximity to the nearest hospital, police station, or fire station will be top of the priority list when I move to my next house. In just a few short days, we will reach our 1-year mark since the COVID-19 pandemic started. During this time, we’ve seen Nymex prices range from -$37.63 per barrel to as high as $63.53 per barrel just a few days ago. Most of our members, regardless of age, have experienced the volatility of our industry firsthand but these recent swings have set new records.

As most of you are aware, the volunteers on the SPE Dallas Board of Directors have been hard at work bringing you virtual content to continue to disseminate technical information and provide networking opportunities throughout these tumultuous times. Today, I’d like to acknowledge two of those volunteers who have managed to not only balance their day jobs and personal lives but also take on multiple roles and responsibilities in our section over the last few years.

Please join me in congratulating Colin Beasley, Artificial Lift Specialist with Denbury Inc., as our 2021 Engineer of the Year. Colin has served in several roles over the last few years promoting a wide range of technical and social initiatives. He has held many leadership positions in SPE Dallas ranging from engaging our young professionals, to leading our technical program events, and serving as Section Chairperson. Thank you, Colin, for your past and present contributions to SPE Dallas.

We are also proud to recognize Joseph Fu, Senior Reservoir Engineer with Pioneer Natural Resources, as this year’s Young Engineer of the Year. Joseph was instrumental in establishing the section’s advertising campaign and actively promoted local oil and gas businesses. During the pandemic, his leadership as Programs Chairperson was key in pivoting all of our technical meetings to a virtual platform to bolster membership engagement utilizing a variety of speakers and industry leaders. We are grateful to Joseph for his hard work and contributions to the section.

In the past, we were able to celebrate the accomplishments of our awardees with a fancy banquet luncheon but due to COVID-19, the event had to be postponed to next year. In light of this, I encourage all of you to reach out to both Colin and Joseph and personally congratulate them for their volunteerism and dedication to SPE Dallas.


I would also like to take a moment to thank Ashish Ghotekar for volunteering to judge the Future City Competition which was held virtually this year. SPE Dallas provides sponsorship and judges for this great event every year and it’s always rewarding to engage with and challenge the youth to develop innovative solutions to complex problems.

Our next monthly meeting will be held virtually on March 10th featuring Peter Brewer who will present on patents and the energy industry (registration here). Our study group event will be confirmed and posted to the website soon so be sure to check back and keep an eye on the weekly event reminder emails to register. As the weather starts to warm up and more vaccines become readily available, we are actively evaluating resuming in-person networking and sports events so please be sure to register early once those events are posted.

In the spirit of volunteerism, I hope that you consider becoming more involved in the community and giving back in some form (whether it’s donating to local food banks, volunteering in your place of worship, working weekends at animal shelters, or even volunteering with SPE Dallas!) If you are interested in helping our section, please reach out to me or anyone else on the SPE Dallas Board of Directors. As always, I would love to hear your feedback on how things are going, what more we can do, and how to serve you better. Hang in there and stay safe!

Pragnya.maruwada@denbury.com
(469) 682-6554

January 2021
Section Members,

Happy New Year! I apologize for being a little late to the party but I hope everyone was able to spend quality time with their loved ones and recharge during the holidays. We are now done with 1/12th of 2021 and a few key headlines are trending in the right direction: WTI has held over $50/bbl, vaccine distribution is underway, and we are inching just a little closer to the end of this long, dark pandemic tunnel. On the other hand, Big Oil is once again in the spotlight as the new administration has rejoined the Paris Agreement and aims to hold companies accountable to net zero emissions standards.

Last month, Dwayne Purvis discussed the impact that COVID and climate change has had on our industry and job outlook. If you were able to attend this presentation (or have been generally following recent news), you might come to a similar conclusion: we are at the precipice of a significant step change in the industry. Our ability to diversify and adapt will likely define not only the rest of our careers but the trajectory for the next generation of petroleum engineers. It’s worth mentioning here that this step change will not happen overnight, but the lack of global investment in oil and gas exploration coupled with potentially volatile supply and demand markets post-COVID will make the next few years interesting.

Many assets changed hands in 2020 and M&A activity will be no stranger to 2021. Thankfully, Thad Toups will be sharing the best strategies and pitfalls to navigating a data room with a Tom Petty themed presentation so be sure to register here. This month also marks our first DL lecturer of the year featuring Junjing Zhang with ConocoPhillips who will discuss how to mitigate production degradation due to frac hits (register here). Our YP group is hard at work planning socially distanced in-person networking events so please keep an eye on the website to register.

For those of you who are not aware, SPE board member Robert Martinez has recently taken on an additional role with Texas Energy Council (TEC). TEC has undertaken a significant role in representing the industry as the Texas Board of Education reviews middle school and high school curriculums. Once set, these curriculums will not be reviewed again for the next 10 years so TEC is actively seeking volunteers to speak on behalf of the energy industry. If you are interested in volunteering, please send an email to dallasspe@gmail.com with 'TEC Volunteer' in the subject line.

This year’s Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) will be held from September 21-23rd in Dubai and the call for papers has now been extended to February 22nd. If you are interested in submitting an abstract, please visit the ATCE website for more information.

Finally, I urge you to renew your SPE membership! As we get closer to returning to some form of normalcy, I hope that you can utilize your membership to fill up your calendar with monthly meetings and study groups, networking events, conferences/workshops, and our sports and social events. I’m eagerly counting down the days until we can all sit in a room together and enjoy some BBQ but for now, I hope to see you at our upcoming virtual events. Please stay safe!

Pragnya.maruwada@denbury.com
(469) 682-6554

November 2020
Section Members,

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! As we get closer to wrapping up this year, I want to take a moment to express my genuine gratitude to the folks below who have put in countless hours and immeasurable effort to help our chapter persevere through this challenging year. 2020 has been rough but the dedication of our volunteers has allowed us to smoothly transition our events from in-person to virtual to continue to provide value to you. Please be sure to reach out and thank them for their hard work and continued commitment to this section.

• Alex Shih (Education Chairperson)has transformed our study group to meet virtually via Zoom and has brought in excellent speakers to cover important topics related to machine learning, methane emissions, and fracture driven interactions. While setting up study groups, he has also been simultaneously pursuing his MBA which I can say from personal experience isn’t an easy balancing act!
• Ana Trevino (Scholarship Chairperson)and her committee read through tons of scholarship applications this year and awarded over $30,000 to deserving students despite tough economic conditions. Her passion for helping students is infectious and I’m grateful to have her energy and enthusiasm on the board.
• Ashish Ghotekar (Treasurer) has done a phenomenal job managing our money and accounts this year. He makes sure that all reimbursements go through promptly and mails checks (yes, those still exist) for us for various expenses. He’s made sure we stay as fiscally flexible as possible during these uncertain times.
• Austin Caudill (YP Chairperson)recently stepped up to fill in for John Mark Glasscock who fearlessly led the YP’s through the initial few months of the pandemic. Austin brings a unique energy and creativity to the YP group and I’m looking forward to attending more virtual (and eventually in-person) networking events under his leadership.
• Clayton Conine and David Creach(Sports & Social Co-Chairs) and their committees have been navigating treacherous waters trying to gauge how to best reschedule all our annual events like the Golf Tournament, Casino Night, Sporting Clays, and Softball Tournament. They are itching for the return of normalcy so planning can get underway for these excellent events which I know we all miss dearly.
• Colin Beasley (Past Chairperson)started out as my fearless leader when the YP committee was restarted a few years back and he is still guiding force on the board. I value not only his guidance and perspective on the board but also our friendship outside of SPE.
• Danny Bell (Community Relations Chairperson) has served on the SPE Dallas board in almost every position and with that, he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. Having such a resource is helpful to bounce ideas off of when trying to impact change. I appreciate his encouragement and drive to continue to do more for the membership.
• David Hamilton (Awards Chairperson)is responsible for many of the regional, national, and international awards that have been given to Dallas Section members in years past. I’m thankful to have David on the board to continue to champion our section and it’s constituents for recognition of excellent technical work and public service.
• Holly Pankratz (Communications Chairperson) has undertaken website management and it’s safe to say this is no easy task! In the little spare time she has, she’s been working diligently to make our website more user friendly and organized. She also helped plan the membership event at the Dallas Petroleum Club earlier this year.
• Jamie Heinecke (Information Chairperson) has been critical in communicating with the section via email reminders for all upcoming virtual events. I’m grateful that we were able to convince another Denbury co-worker to join the board!
• Joseph Fu (Programs Chairperson) has been instrumental in providing excellent speakers for our general virtual monthly meetings. He booked some heavy hitters in the PE/finance sector and also coordinated our Distinguished Lecturer series and it’s new virtual format (all while also pursuing his MBA). I’m thankful for his continued dedication to providing the membership with unique and thought-provoking material.
• Kristi Bartlett (Social Media Chairperson) not only manages our LinkedIn page but continues to engage with universities and student chapters to scope out opportunities for the Dallas section to contribute(even though we don’t have any affiliated student chapters of our own). She was also instrumental in planning our latest virtual membership event featuring Alex Judd. Her energy and fearlessness to try new things carries over outside of SPE and I’m grateful for those qualities in our friendship.
• Madeleine McBee (Secretary) keeps me in line and takes meticulous notes of everything that I forget after our board meetings. She has taken ownership of managing our Google Drive with all the records of previous boards and does a great job of organizing the chaos.
• Orkhan Samandarli (Membership Chairperson) has provided important insights about our current membership and has come up with creative ways to engage both members and non-members through networking events. He organized our last membership networking event pre-COVID and more planning is underway to provide some great networking opportunities for next year. I’m thankful for his perspective and strategic planning to increase membership and engagement in our section.
• Randy Klein (Speakers Bureau Chairperson) has taken the role of managing our Speakers Bureau. With the pandemic, many in-person speaking opportunities have diminished but rest assured, we’re ready to engage the community with speakers from SPE both in-person and virtually as soon as the storm passes.
• Robert Martinez (Chairperson Elect) has served on the SPE Dallas board in several positions and is a great asset to the team. When I met Robert a few years ago, the first thing I noticed was his passion for SPE and that passion has not waned to date. I’m grateful for your candor and your eagerness to jump in and help (including representing SPE in the Texas Energy Council).
• Samir Barakat (Advertising Chairperson) has taken on a challenging role as advertising chairperson during an economic recession. Despite the odds, he managed to find more sponsors this year and generate revenue streams. I’m thankful for his efforts and continued dedication to the board.

There are many more volunteers who have contributed significant time and effort to making SPE Dallas what it is today and I’m extremely grateful for their efforts and unwavering dedication to this organization. I’d also like to thank our regional director Zach Evans as well the folks at SPEI(Erin O’Sullivan, Taylor Wright, and Zain Al Radeideh) for guiding us through such unprecedented times.

If you’ve gotten to the bottom of this very long newsletter, I want to thank YOU. I truly cherish being part of such a diverse, technical group and SPE has been integral to expanding my network. I’ve been able to build relationships with mentors, advisors, and friends both in a professional and personal setting. Thank you for your membership and for supporting SPE Dallas!

Pragnya.maruwada@denbury.com
(469) 682-6554

October 2020
Section Members,

I hope you were able to take advantage of discounted prices and attend SPE’s first virtual Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition which began on Tuesday Oct 27th. Every year, the conference signifies a change in SPE leadership and I’m sure all the Aggies are ecstatic that Professor Tom Blasingame has now assumed the highest-ranking volunteer position as the 2021 SPE President. His opening remarks highlighted a topic that has dominated recent headlines: energy transition. The theme of Blasingame’s tenure, “Survive, Revive, and Thrive,” resonates with almost every company in our industry today. How do we stay strong through a downturn caused by a once-in-a-century global pandemic, utilize our expertise and skills to revamp our portfolio and strategy, and succeed in a world that might look quite different from the one we are used to? Are we just bracing ourselves for change or are we embracing change?

In order to dive deeper into this topic, I first want to introduce the J Curve, also known as the Change Curve. There are many models of the J Curve (Kübler-Ross, Kotter, etc) but the Satir J Curve shown below is unique in that it depicts change from a business perspective (Webber, 2016). The x-axis shows the time needed to achieve value while the y-axis shows the cost incurred.

Every technological advancement has likely been on this curve at some point. When Apple went public in 1980, the company struggled with disappointing revenues for almost 2 decades. Even with the release of Macintosh and other products, they were never able to compete with Microsoft’s Windows operating system which was quickly becoming the industry standard. In 1997, Apple shifted their mindset to focus on user experience and how consumers interact with technology. With that change, products like the iPod and iPhone dominated (and continue to dominate) their respective markets (Beattie, 2020). This curve can also be applied to analogies in our industry. In 1997, almost every hydraulic fracturing guru criticized Nicholas Steinberger for experimenting with an extra-watery fracturing fluid in the Barnett shale (Zuckerman, 2013). Highly viscous gelled fluids have now become almost obsolete with slickwater taking over as a the new normal in hydraulic fracturing designs.

Many of the world’s largest oil and gas producers have taken a more active role in energy transition through investments in alternative energy and setting net-zero emission goals. The technology related to this energy transition may vary along the J Curve and is subject to varying opinions, but this topic is worthy of in-depth discussion. Luckily, Dr. David Allen with the University of Texas at Austin will be joining us on November 10th to present some field studies relating to methane emissions and climate impacts so be sure to register here.

In the spirit of embracing change, we are also offering section members a special treat on November 13th. Please join us as we host motivational speaker and creator of the Path for Growth podcast, Alex Judd, to discuss how to adapt, set intentional growth goals, and make yourself more marketable in a turbulent environment (register here).

Finally, I hope you will join me in a Halloween-inspired virtual mixology class on October 29th. I’m looking forward to learning some new recipes and networking with all of you so please be sure to register here!

Whether you are currently bracing for change or embracing change, I’d love to hear from you. Keep warm and stay safe!

Pragnya.maruwada@denbury.com
(469) 682-6554

Sources:
Beattie, A. (2020, October 12). How Did Apple Get So Big? From https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/042815/story-behind-apples-success.asp
Ewebber. (2016, August 24). Embracing Change or Bracing for Change. From https://emilywebber.co.uk/embracing-change-bracing-change/
Zuckerman, G. (2013, November 06). Breakthrough: The Accidental Discovery That Revolutionized American Energy. From https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/breakthrough-the-accidental-discovery-that-revolutionized-american-energy/281193/

September 2020
Section Members,

We finally have some cooler weather rolling in (which is cause for celebration considering how unbearably hot and humid our summer was)! Unfortunately, this weather is coupled with a lower demand in fuel and gasoline. As businesses and schools have slowly reopened over the last few months, we’ve seen an uptick in fuel consumption but have not fully recovered to pre-pandemic volumes. This phenomena parallels OPEC’s latest report forecasting the remainder of this year’s global energy demand to reduce by 9.5 million barrels a day averaging 10% less than last year (Ramkumar, 2020).


Although this outlook is relatively bleak in the short term, companies continue to innovate and harness the power of technology to find cost savings in tough market conditions. Through every downturn in the last few decades, our industry has continued to push the boundaries of science and engineering whether it’s through redesigning completion and drilling tools, optimizing hydraulic fracturing designs (anyone remember “Propageddon?”), or leveraging big data. Recent headlines indicate that companies are incorporating cloud services on a larger scale to access centralized data storage and machine learning algorithms in hopes of gaining operational efficiencies. For those of you who are not as familiar with machine learning or want to learn the basics, I highly encourage you to register here and attend the next virtual study group meeting (September 30th) featuring Ted Cross with Novi Labs.

As I mentioned in last month’s newsletter, the Distinguished Lecturer series is officially underway so please mark your calendars for October 21st and be sure to register for Henk Krijnen’s talk on “Using Scenario Planning for Decision Making in the Energy Industry.” If you’re looking for more content, SPE’s Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition is now virtual and will be held October 27th - 29th. Registration costs have significantly decreased compared to prior years and the full technical program can be found here (Note: early bird discounts end on October 22nd).

For my parting words this month, I would like to request a favor from you. If you haven’t already, please be sure to participate in the SPE Dallas LinkedIn polls. Since we haven’t interacted in person in a few months, I’d love to get your feedback and thoughts on how we can provide more for you (whether it’s through technical content, more virtual networking opportunities, virtual and/or socially distanced in-person events, etc). As always, please feel free to also reach out to me directly to share your thoughts. I hope you have a great rest of your week and stay safe!

Pragnya.maruwada@denbury.com
(469) 682-6554

Sources: Ramkumar, Amrith. “Cooling Demand Recovery Keeps Oil Stuck Around $40.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 29 Sept. 2020, www.wsj.com/articles/cooling-demand-recovery-keeps-oil-stuck-around-40-11601390058.

August 2020
Section Members,

As I write these chairperson newsletters, I initially always try to brainstorm a theme to focus my thoughts around. My mind likes to dive head first into the deep end of the pool so naturally, I first tried to jot down a vast list of the world’s problems and how we (and our industry) fit into the “big picture.” As it turns out, this path didn’t lead me anywhere close to surfacing for breath. As I delved deeper into my thoughts, I told myself that the theme might present itself if I started with a clean slate (which translated quite literally to cleaning my office). In the process, I found old textbooks, training materials from my former life as a frac engineer, and a 3-ft stack of JPT magazines (some of which still had their plastic covers). Over the years, I had the habit of quickly skimming and using sticky notes to bookmark articles I might enjoy but I never went back to re-read them in their entirety. I must have bookmarked these pages for a reason so why then did I not follow through and use the opportunity to learn something new? And there it was! My theme for this month: Make challenging yourself a priority.

Most of us would not have pursued a career in this industry if we didn’t enjoy a challenge. There are very few industries like ours that hinder on global politics and can endure as many commodity price swings as we have seen in recent years. With companies running lean, most of us wear multiple hats and juggle our daily responsibilities while simultaneously working on a variety of other projects. We are constantly challenged to manage our time, work more efficiently, and deliver quality products often without enough resources. But are we truly challenging ourselves to learn something unique from our own skill sets? Are we pushing ourselves to think differently to come up with more mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive solutions? Now is the time to develop these types of creative approaches which will require the time commitment to research, understand, and then apply the knowledge.

Thankfully, our hardworking volunteers are providing you with a variety of opportunities to make learning something new a priority. If using drilling data to understand fracture growth peaks your curiosity, be sure to register here for tomorrow’s virtual study group meeting. If entrepreneurship is more your calling, our next monthly meeting speaker will cover how to start an E&P company from scratch (registration is available here). I tend to gravitate towards anything that resembles a case study so if you’re like me, be sure to register here for a talk on understanding fracture driven interactions using case histories. Our virtual distinguished lecture series will begin in October so be sure to look out for that on our website. Speaking of the DL series, did you know that the Dallas section was one of 5 contest winners worldwide in submitting speaker evaluations last year? In fact, we were the only section in North America (results are posted here)! Thank you to all the folks who didn’t ignore my nagging and filled out their DL evaluation forms!

If the topics above aren’t your cup of tea, I encourage you to find a flavor that works for you. SPE globally has transitioned many conferences and symposiums to a virtual platform and all the upcoming events are listed here. I would have never thought to attend a conference outside of my geographical area but now, we have easy access to conferences in Lebanon, Russia, and even Norway (without having to spend a dime on flights!) This is a rare opportunity so I urge you to take the time to invest in yourself.

With that, please be safe and I welcome your comments or suggestions. I hope to see all of you at our upcoming events!

Pragnya.maruwada@denbury.com
(469) 682-6554

July 2020
Section Members,
We are more than half way done with 2020 and July was yet another interesting month – oil and gas companies continued to struggle to sustain cash flows at $40/bbl while others succumbed to the market pressures and filed for bankruptcy. On the flip side, we’ve also seen the first major acquisition since the start of the pandemic with Chevron’s announcement to acquire Noble Energy in an all-stock transaction. Analysts predict that this move may set off a wave of M&A activity for the industry to gain economies of scale and become more efficient. Others predict that this deal was a one-off and that many oil and gas companies will still be reluctant to sell in such depressed commodity prices. Only time will tell how much more our industry might change in size and what effect this might have on the development of unconventional, offshore, EOR, and renewable resources going forward. Like the industry, our section has also experienced changes related to size and growth. Many of our section members have now seen at last a few rounds of layoffs and/or furloughs. Although we can’t control market conditions and oil price fluctuations, we can control how we steer our career through the power of networking. I personally wasn’t proactive in building my network early on but as my career path meandered, I found that I was able learn more and excel by utilizing my network. In some cases, I also found that I could be helpful to others, thereby creating mutually beneficial relationships. Our YP group has done a phenomenal job transitioning our networking events to a virtual platform and I hope that you can join them in their next event which will cover tips on searching for a job during this pandemic.

In 2019, our section was able to contribute over $50,000 in scholarships to students who were pursuing a future in the oil and gas space. With the pandemic, many of our revenue generating social events like Casino Night, the golf tournament, and sporting clays tournament have been either cancelled or postponed to a later date. In light of these circumstances, we are actively pursuing plans to set up virtual fundraising events to raise money for scholarships. Some of us were fortunate enough to land jobs during an upturn in the industry but many of us have faced (and persevered) through the challenges of trying to find a job during a downturn. I hope that you can sympathize with the plight of these students and find ways to help set them up for future success. We will share more details on these fundraising events on our LinkedIn page so please be sure to follow us. Along with fundraising events, we are also actively looking for companies and sponsors who are interested in advertising with our section. Last year, advertising contributions resulted in over $4,000 towards our scholarship fund (which was a huge success considering that this concept was fairly new). Now more than ever, every little bit counts so if you are interested in advertising, please reach out to me or the advertising committee.

We are continuing to actively find speakers and line up topics for monthly meetings and educational events so please be on the lookout for event reminders. I hope that the Zoom meetings have been a fruitful effort but if you have other suggestions or general feedback, I’m all ears. This section is a large, diverse network with great resources and I hope that all of us can mutually benefit from each other. Please be safe and stay positive!

Pragnya.maruwada@denbury.com
(469) 682-6554

June 2020
Section Members,

I hope this finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. June was yet another strange month for us – commodity prices are on an upward trend, operators are slowly bringing back shut-in production, and the economy is re-opening through a phased approach to get millions of people back to work. And yet, the futures contracts look relatively flat, our industry continues to face layoffs and furloughs, and the COVID-19 pandemic is still surging on with cases increasing in some parts of the country that have already re-opened. If you tend to worry like me, the dichotomy of our new reality can be very overwhelming.

In times like these, I have found some solace in thinking about the positive changes that these last few months have brought:

Technology, technology, technology!

• Virtual meeting platforms have not only helped to connect family and friends (playing Jackbox TV games with Zoom has become one of my new favorites) but have also gained positive traction in the workforce. Although the current environment has slashed most in-person intern programs, the industry has found ways to continue to provide for our future petroleum engineers by offering virtual mentoring, various internal presentations by staff, and hands-on projects that can be completed remotely. These platforms have also helped re-establish networking opportunities in a time when handshakes are frowned upon. Conferences are also going virtual and the speaker line-ups are limitless! Speakers no longer need to make travel arrangements or take time away from work and hence can be more accessible to help industry professionals continue to disseminate technical information

More time for…everything!

• Reducing commute time to a mere 20 seconds was a game changer. I found that I had more energy to knock out to-do lists at work and at home, more time to check in with my family and friends, and more time to carve out space for myself to mentally re-prioritize and focus on the things that mattered. Not to mention, not paying tolls to sit in standstill traffic was a bonus to my overall mood and my pocket!

Noticing and appreciating “the little things”

• How radiant my flowers look when they bloom in the late afternoon
• Opening the windows and hearing the birds while catching up on emails
• Regulating your own temperature (offices and conference rooms can be freezing!)
• Having more time to make (and botch) “artisanal coffee”
• Cooking more fresh food

I hope that all of you have seen and experienced at least a handful of positive changes in your lives recently. I also hope that as we continue to utilize more virtual technology to bring you technical content, you feel that we are providing a worthy service to you. We will continue to evaluate future in-person events but for now, I highly encourage all of you to sign up for our upcoming virtual monthly and study group meetings (dates will be posted soon). For those who I have not met yet, I’d love to connect with you at our upcoming YP virtual networking events (dates also to be posted soon). If you have any suggestions, tips, questions, concerns, or would just like to reach out to share your tidbits of positive changes, please don’t hesitate to email or call me.

Pragnya.maruwada@denbury.com

(469) 682-6554

Colin Beasley Newsletters 2019-2021

April 2020
Section Members,

I hope everyone’s families are doing well through this whole weird time we’re living in: a virus that appears to transmit very easily in human populations, negative oil prices, and a potentially different world ahead of us compared to what we knew before. We’re living in a liminal time, the hazy in-between two times that we’ll remember forever, pre-quarantine and post-quarantine.

Liminality is the transformative space and time between two points. Other examples include Pearl Harbor and 9/11. You could also say religious rites, like baptism or bar and bat mitzvah, are liminal times in someone’s life. We are living through a very long transition, that many of us are sick of. Some enjoyed the beginnings of it, others have grown accustomed to it, and the large majority are hopeful to be able to sit in a crowded restaurant sooner than later. Whether you feel like opening the economy is the correct move or not, there’s a big chance you feel confined and miss your normal gatherings. I certainly do.

As the world changes, so does SPE. I’d like to present next year’s Board of Directors Slate for the Dallas Section:

 

Please thank all of them for their service and commitment to improving the section.

March 2020
Section Members,

February, 2020
Section Members,

December, 2019

As 2019 ends, I'd like to highlight some of the contributions from your fellow SPE volunteers for which I'm thankful. That way if you have an opportunity to see them, you’re able to thank them or congratulate them for the hard work.

• Kristi Bartlett fills the role of Student Chapter Liaison. If you’re wondering which student chapters we have in Dallas, so are we. Formerly SMU and UNT had student chapters, but with downturns they have slowly eroded. Kristi has been persistent in pursuing those chapters. In addition, she has been solely responsible for managing our LinkedIn page. I’m thankful she introduced me to my wife and has been a friend for the past decade.
• Danny Bell has served SPE in several chapters, various Board of Director roles, and brings an integral knowledge and insight to our organization. I’m thankful for his candor, gratitude, and encouragement on a continual basis. He’s also great at reminding me to post these on our website, making the newsletters more accessible to our members.
• Jacob Bennet is our money man. He makes sure all of us that incur expenses are reimbursed promptly, mails checks immediately (yes, we still must mail checks for various payments), and keeps watch on our finances. Ashish Ghotekar is currently observing all of this, and will fill Jacob’s role next year.
• Dina Blair sends almost all the emails you receive (including this one). She has been a dedicated servant to SPE Dallas and critical to our communication process. Last year she was recognized with a service award for her commitment to SPE.
• Rob Bruant is the reason I am here. He trusted Tyler Palmer, Will Saint and me to restart the YP group. He’s been encouraging and insightful and currently serves as the Vice Chairman.
• Joseph Fu has brought in new income in the form of advertisements. He quickly learned how to sell ad space resulting in $2,000 in scholarship contributions. This has not been an easy feat, and we’re fortunate he’s been able and willing to take on this challenge.
• John Mark Glasscock (YP Chairperson) and the YP group have hosted many dynamic events. I’m thankful they’ve carried on the tradition of Thanksgiving Dinner as well as finding new events that bring value to members, such as professional headshots and career development discussions.
• David Hamilton (Awards Chairperson) spoke about Ethics at a joint meeting with SPEE. We’re extremely thankful for his courage and that we have a cohort as ethical as David. He is also responsible for many of the regional, national, and international level awards that have been given to Dallas Section members.
• Randy Klein has taken on the role of working with the Speakers Bureau. This is a position that has increased in demand in 2019. Randy has ensured we’ve had representation at events for SPE Dallas.
• Holly Lortie (Secretary) has taken it upon herself to make sure every document we have is stored and archived in a fashion that will allow for smooth transitions. This is one of the biggest challenges we have and I’m thankful Holly had the initiative to find a solution.
• Robert Martinez (Past Chairperson) has always made SPE a priority, even while starting his own company and making several acquisitions. He was awarded “Engineer of the Year” this year as part of SPE Dallas’s Involvement with Texas Society of Professional Engineers “Engineer’s Week.” We’re fortunate to have his perspective and leadership in SPE Dallas.
• Pragnya Maruwada (Programs Chairperson) was given the “Young Engineer of the Year” “Engineer’s Week.” Pragnya became my coworker after she got involved with YP. We’re fortunate to have her at Denbury as well as on our SPE Dallas Board of Directors. Pragnya has also recently completed an MBA while working and being involved with SPE.
• Tyler Palmer (Education Chairperson, and my former roommate) has continued the legacy of bringing interesting talks to Study Group, while simultaneously pursuing an MBA. I’m thankful for his friendship, our bike rides around White Rock Lake and the perspective he brings to the table.
• John Tabor and David Creach and their committees have continued to put on excellent social events. Between the Golf Tournament, Casino Night, the Sporting Clays Tournament and the Softball Tournament (thank you, Brian Chacka) we were fortunate enough to award $50,000 in scholarships, and $10,000 to SPE Student Sections. Both men are extremely entertaining, kind and dedicated. I look forward to hearing what jokes they have at our monthly board meetings.
• Orkhan Samandarli (Membership Chairperson) has been patient enough to dig through membership data, glean important insights and develop a plan going forward. Holly Lortie and Orkhan will be working together to increase member engagement with future events coming up. I’m thankful for their skills and strategic thinking for increasing member engagement.
• Gary Schein has continually been an encouragement to me, especially when getting involved in the YP group. Gary currently serves us as the Community Relations Chair, which helps organize outreach events like the Future City contest and the DISD STEM Fair.
• Ana Trevino (Scholarship Chairperson) and her committee successfully dug through tons of scholarship applications to find those who were most deserving of scholarships. Ana also attended the annual Regional meeting at ATCE for us this year to get a feel for what the rest of the region is experiencing along with us.

There are many more volunteers that make Dallas SPE function. I’m extremely thankful for all of them and all the work they do. Putting events together truly takes an army, and ours is one of the best. Unfortunately, I can’t write something about all of them, or else I’d set a record for longest newsletter of all time. Lastly, I’d like to thank everyone who has proofread these newsletters for me and helped make them more concise, entertaining, and coherent.

November, 2019

Section Members,

September, 2019
Section Members,

August, 2019
Section Members,

 The last couple of months have been challenging and rewarding. I have found that as I put myself into challenging scenarios, I become more and more comfortable in them. For example, speaking in front of people typically has been a challenge for me, regardless of the size of the audience. Now, I have become much more comfortable doing so. Another scenario I am much more comfortable in is speaking to strangers.

                Strangers, by definition are people who I am not acquainted with. As I get to know them, they are no longer strangers. While this may seem overly simple and arbitrary, most of this world are still strangers to me. Most of the world wouldn’t help me in any way, merely because I am a stranger. Selfishly, I would prefer help should I need it. As I mentioned in my first newsletter, jobs seem to come from acquaintances more so than close friends. If that is true, then I could benefit greatly by speaking to strangers and developing more acquaintances for when the day comes that I seek employment. As utilitarian as this may seem, the truth is that we don’t overcome our weaknesses by leaving them guarded and unexposed. Speaking to strangers was a weakness of mine.

                Now, speaking to strangers is second nature. Every bashful Uber driver, cashier, and clerk dread the day I show up. They’ll be asked about their day, where they’re from, and what their thoughts are on some benign topic. I’ll admit I don’t talk to everyone, but I am much better than I was before. Speaking to strangers has given me the opportunity to write all of this to you. Speaking to strangers has given me the confidence to share this one, seemingly odd weakness of mine with all of you. As odd of a topic as this may be, I have a reason for writing about it.

                Dallas Section membership has dropped with the downturn, naturally. I think we all expect this, but clearly something is different since 2017, not 2016, is the lowest membership we’ve had.

The trend of students seems to be dropping off as well, but that’s also expected given oil prices over the last few years. Companies have either become more efficient and have not hired people back as they’ve grown, or we (SPE) are becoming less relevant to professionals. There has been some growth between 2017 and 2018, but we fully expect a pretty flat year for 2019. Layoffs, although still happening, seem to be less prevalent than years past. Whatever the cause, we have not been able to clearly identify it.

                About 30 of you responded to the survey we sent out last year, several of which I’m guessing were on the board of directors. I don’t know who the responders are, but thank you for your much-needed input. Ultimately, I think I’m guilty of not talking to those of you I don’t know. As much as I talk to strangers in innocuous situations, I haven’t done a very good job of talking to strangers in important situations. I’m going to make an intentional effort to do so in the coming events. If you feel nervous about that, find solace in your odds of 1/1600 in the section or 1/100 for some of the larger events.

                Had I attended all the July events and spoken to strangers, your odds of having a delightful conversation with me would have been as follows:

Event	Odds of Delightful Conversation
YP/Intern tour at the Weatherford Sucker Rod Plant on July 12	1/20*
Estimating Molecular Weight Compositions with Gas Chromatograph and Hydrocarbon Dew Point on July 17	1/47*
Study Group: Prescriptive Analytics for Completion Optimization in Unconventional Resources on July 24	1/51*

*assumes my conversation is “delightful”

                Since those opportunities are hypothetical, here are the upcoming events where we may have a chance to talk:

1. Networking event at British Beverage Company on August 15, graciously sponsored by Premier Pressure Pumping.
2. Private Equity Perspectives on Energy Landscapes on August 21 at Brookhaven College.
3. Dallas Federal Reserve Oil Market Outlook Through 2020 on August 28 at Brookhaven College.

July, 2019
Section Members,

 Happy Independence Day! Thank you all for being a part of SPE. Without members, this is all for naught. I appreciate all of you, and if you ever have an idea or something you would like to share with me, please feel free to contact me directly.

As time goes on, I have learned that everyone is a student and everyone is a teacher. Regardless of age, experience, IQ or background, there’s always something to learn and always someone to teach. I’ve noticed this recently with my mentor, who has had a very different career path than mine. Even with our differences, I have learned a lot about working with people, how to approach problems, and different resources that are available for me to use. Similarly, I have run into scenarios where I can share knowledge with someone much more experienced than me. I think this extremely important for our industry: there’s a large population older than 55 who have mastered the oilfield technologies young people have yet to learn, and similarly a large tech-savvy population under the age of 35. This can be seen in global SPE membership from a 2016 SPE membership review:

Figure 1 SPE Professional Membership in 2006 and 2016. Source:(Parshall, 2017)

                Both groups have an opportunity to be a student and teacher. The 55+ age group needs to pass down their knowledge to the younger people so that our institutional knowledge doesn’t disappear. The younger generation needs to keep the older generation up to date on advances in software and an ever-evolving tech space. Just like advocating for our industry, teaching and learning must be approached from a place of humility. Arrogance and pretentiousness only hinder the passing of knowledge. I know that I am guilty of assuming I know a specific topic, then I find out I know very little about it. My arrogance has definitely reduced my learning potential in many things, and I hope one day to remediate that.

                Based on the people I know; this will not be an issue. Some may retire later than anticipated, or come out of retirement to consult 10-20 hours per week. Given Dr. Roberto F. Aguilera’s outlook on oil prices over the next 20 years, I may find myself on the other end of this problem. By then I will hopefully have remembered lessons learned through our current predicament, remained a student and a teacher, and apply them to weather that storm.

 

 June was a very fun month for SPE events. The golf tournament, which is older than me, celebrated its 36^th birthday on June 3^rd. If you’ve never played in it, I will personally attest that you do not need any sort of golf skill to have a good time. Make sure you thank the golf committee; they spend a lot of time putting on an amazing event every year.

On June 19^th, our last Distinguished Lecturer of the season, Dr. Roberto F. Aguilera, came and gave a talk on the price performance of oil. Fascinating and eye-opening.

Also on June 19^th, the YP group hosted a networking event at Bishop Cidercade. What’s more fun than cider and arcade games? There were close to 40 attendees.

Lastly, the annual Summer Seminar, “Learning Through Success and Failures: A Collection of Completion Case Histories” was held on June 26^th. Please make sure to thank Pragnya, Tami, Danny and any other volunteers you came across. This is a big event for us and requires a lot of work.

If you ordered a shirt, please come to our meetings to pick up your shirt!

Please share photos! We are going to start posting more event photos on the website, so please email any you would like to share to dallas.spe.photos@gmail.com. Remember, they cannot be candid photographs (for privacy reasons).

 

References

Parshall, J. (2017, June 29). After Years, 'Big Crew Change' Has Passed, But Learning, Training Challenges Remain. Journal of Petroleum Technology, 69(7).

 

 
June, 2019
Section Members,

So far, 2019 has been another interesting year in the oil industry. We’ve seen oil prices climb over 40%, major acquisitions, and still, layoffs and early retirement packages. Many companies will come and go, especially in the Dallas market. Even with rising oil prices and general knowledge of how oil makes the world go ‘round, there are still those out there who see our industry as antiquated and soon to be obsolete.  

            We seem to be portrayed as selfish, greedy, money-grubbing fools who want nothing more than to earn a buck at the expense of the rest of the world. We are seen as the character from the Simpsons, Mr. Burns. My experience, much like many of yours, has been quite the opposite. Many of the people I work with genuinely care about my well-being. They are kind, pleasant, people who work diligently to provide for their families. Many people I know have been laid off, and their next employment opportunity seems to come from an acquaintance. We are all extremely fortunate to work in such a business, which is why I would encourage everyone to advocate for our industry. We have a lot to be proud of:

• Oil was the original Greenpeace. Prior to petroleum production, whales were the primary source of lamp fuel. As the less foul-smelling oil from sperm whales became more expensive due to stressed fisheries, petroleum swiftly became a viable product. Sperm whales still exist today.
• Oil has prevented entire forests from being completely harvested for fuel.
• The oil industry has operated in some of the harshest environments known to man. From the cold, high-pressure depths of the ocean, to operating in SAGD environments, we have developed technology to handle almost any environment in the world. Some of these environments are harsher than space.
• Taxes from production have funded schools, roads, and various public works. That revenue would not exist without our industry.
• We still a people-driven industry. People willing to stick their necks out are the ones that continue to drive technological advancements, which allow us to work in a plethora of environments.
• We provide safe, low-cost medical equipment to the world. Prior to plastics, vaccinations were given from reusable syringes. Plastics allow safe intubation, sterile blood transfer, and cool stickers for kids after their check-ups.

For all these reasons, I ask that when someone outside of the industry you know decides to bring up fracing, you approach them with an advocacy mindset. Be kind and calm, and remind them how they got to Hawaii for their honeymoon, what their iPhones are made of, and why Legos even exist. Never assume ill intent if it can be explained with ignorance.

 

Last Month

We had Luis Mendoza-Natividad discuss Decision Quality in Field Development Strategies in the general monthly meeting on May 15^th.

The Study Group featured Kevin Wutherich, who spoke about stage-specific diverter strategies using lateral heterogeneity.

If you were one of the lucky ones, you pre-ordered your t-shirt. Thanks for everyone that supported that effort.

My second favorite SPE event, Casino Night, was held on May 3^rd. I heard it was a lot of fun, as per usual.

 

Looking Forward:

My favorite SPE event, the Annual Golf Tournament, will be happening on the 3^rd. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone out there.

Our last Distinguished Lecturer of the season will be speaking about the Exceptional Price Performance of Oil, make sure to register. For more information on the Distinguished Lecturer Program, click here.

The YPs will have a networking event at Bishop Cidercade, that will be graciously sponsored by Schlumberger.

There will not be a Study Group meeting this month. Instead, we will be holding our annual Summer Seminar. This year we’ll be learning about completion case histories through successes and failures.

Make sure to follow us on LinkedIn, where all our events (and more) are posted: https://www.linkedin.com/company/spe-dallas/.

 Thanks to the early adopters of our advertising campaign, SPL and Axis Energy Services. For those that would still like to advertise, contact Joseph Fu: joseph.fu@pxd.com

 If you have any ideas, comments, concerns or would like someone to talk to, feel free to contact me. My email is colin.beasley@denbury.com.

Sincerely,

Colin Beasley

Better late than never they said; and this being the oilfield, I didn’t want to “hurry up and wait”.

It is a pleasure to introduce myself as this year’s SPE Chairman for the 2018-2019 term. Welcome to the June through August e-Newsletter and my first installment of the Chairman’s message for the SPE Dallas Section.  Although June 1st marks the beginning of a new year for the Section, your board has been working feverishly behind the scenes to bring you the best technical information, speakers and networking possible.

I’d like to thank Rob Bruant and the 2017-2018 Dallas Section board for their leadership and hard work over the last year. While we are excited to have several board members remain with us another year, we are thrilled to see several new faces on the board. This year the Section will continue to provide quality educational programs via our monthly section and study group meetings, our YP members will continue to grow and mentor the younger members of the section, our sports and social committees will provide quality programs to allow members to network as well as raise funds for scholarships, we will continue to provide significant scholarship and networking opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students in the region. We also will promote a positive image of our industry in our schools and community. One of the ways we can do that is to volunteer and there will be several opportunities to do so.

To recap the beginning of our year:

We started out the year with a bang on June 20 in Trevor Rees-Jones where led us on a “Walk down the Road of the Shale Revolution” along with some history on Chief Oil & Gas. It was one of highest attended meetings since I’ve been a part of SPE in Dallas.  

On June 4^th we had our annual golf tournament at Firewheel golf course followed by the annual summer conference “Emerging Technologies in Unconventional Development” on 27th of June at Brookhaven. These two events are very important to our section and help accomplish our goal of disseminating technical information to our members and raising money for scholarships. Special thanks to our board and committee members who volunteer their precious time to make these a success.

Our monthly meeting on July 18^th was Don Fry, a consulting geophysicist, who spoke to us about “New Concepts for Drilling and Completion.”  Last week we had Dr. Stephen Molina, the UT Dallas Energy Management Program Director, come speak to our study group about the U.S. Energy Independence. We are looking forward to working with UTD and meeting their Energy Management Program students at upcoming SPE monthly meetings.

Our Young Professionals group, the lifeblood of the organization has really come on strong and we are excited what the future holds for the section. Being a middle aged guy, it was fun being invited to share a few “Don’t do this / This didn’t work out to well for me / That was dumb” moments at the monthly YP networking event. If you are a young professional, I hope you make it out to get to know others in the same boat as you. If you are old like me, the YP’s can surely learn from our mistakes and I hope you consider sharing your experiences with them. We hope the rest of you will come out in support of the section and help us grow to our largest membership yet. 

Looking ahead:

On August 15th James Harden III will discuss “Oil Price and Valuation” at our section meeting. The talk will discuss what's moving oil prices and potential scenarios of oil prices. The cost of capital and public company equities' relationship to oil prices will also be discussed. On August 29^th, we will learn about “Improved Artificial Lift Design to Reduce Operational Costs and Risks” from Jeff Saponja (CEO, HEAL Systems) at the Study Group meeting.  Our YPs will also be hosting a networking event on Thursday, August 9^th from 6:30pm at Sherlock’s in Addison.

 

This coming year:

While the success of our section is certainly related to the hard work of the Section Board and Committee chairs, the biggest part of our success is dictated by you, the members of the section. One of my main priorities this year will to grow the section and bring more members to our meetings and events. We currently have over 1500 paid members in our section. After looking at our section data, something was very apparent to me. Over half of our membership is within retirement age in the next 5 years. That tells me if we don’t grow the section, (and fast) we stand to dwindle into sub 1000 members.

That should never happen in Dallas of all places. There was a show named after our city that created the oilman stereotype - but unlike those stars who had no clue how to pull a well or find the key to the v-door, our section membership is incredibly talented. It is my hope this year that everyone in the section will assess these talents and look for at least one opportunity to volunteer and help us achieve our outreach and growth goals. Take a look at the annual membership year over year.

As you can see, the downturn knocked us in the head pretty good. I need your help to turn this around. You can start by renewing and if you can read this chances are you already have. Please encourage your friends and engineers that aren’t getting this to come to a meeting and see what great technical info we put out and networking opportunities we provide.

Speaking of opportunities to help: Did you know we are the home team for ATCE this year? This year’s SPE Annual Technical Conference is right here in Dallas on September 24-26^th, 2018. We will be needing some help and as the home team I hope we can depend on many of you to show up in force. Please contact me or any of the section leadership for how to get involved, we can most certainly use the help.

As always, we are looking for suggestions on how to improve our section and advance our profession. If you have any ideas, don’t hesitate to contact me. My email is Robert.Martinez@TitanRockEP.com and my door is always open.

Sincerely,

Robert C. Martinez, P.E.

 

 

 

 

 

Dear All,

Hope everyone is having a great fall and coping with the erratic Dallas weather!

Below is a brief update on past, present, and future SPE-Dallas Section activities…

The Section had another accomplished month. A few notable Section-hosted events included the October 18th General Meeting presentation by Dwayne Purvis (Purvis Engineering) titled “The Myths & Misunderstandings of Reservoir Engineering” and the October 25th Study Group Meeting presentation by Topher Small (Pioneer Natural Resources) titled “Controlling Evaporation in Frac Ponds”. Additionally, during last month’s General Meeting, members had the opportunity to hear from Anil Kumar’s about his SPE Honorary Membership induction (SPE’s highest individual honor, limited to 0.1% of total SPE membership) and congratulate Dina Blair (Netherland, Sewell & Associates) for her SPE Section Service Award recognizing enduring contributions to Dallas Section activities. Furthermore, on October 5th, the Young Professionals (YP) hosted another Happy Hour, sponsored by BHGE, featuring a career advice discussion led by past SPE-Dallas Section Chairperson Steve Hudson (Wellbore Capital).

Another busy month now lies ahead. A preview of some of the Section’s events include: the joint SPE/SPEE ethics seminar on November 9th, the YP Thanksgiving dinner at Ellen’s (including a conversation on continuing education and networking with Russell Romoser of Comstock Resources), the November 15th General Meeting, a Study Group Meeting on November 29th, and the 13th Annual Sporting Clay Tournament on November 30th. Additional information and online registration for these and other Section events are available via the Dallas Section website.

As always, if there are any questions or desire for further involvement in Section activities, please do not hesitate to reach out to any of the Dallas Section Board members.

Also, if you have not paid your yearly SPE dues, here is your latest and greatest reminder!

Have a fantastic November and a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday!

Best regards,
Rob Bruant
robert.bruant@pxd.com

November 2016

The holiday season is fast upon us, where has the time gone?

This month our general section meeting is scheduled for November 10^th.  The Dallas SPE section is holding a joint meeting with the Dallas section of SPEE to cover our annual ethics topic. The speaker is Rick Valdes, a representative from the Texas Board of Professional Engineers. The December general section luncheon is scheduled for December 14^th with Dwayne Purvis presenting “Caveat Emptor in Acquisitions”.

The production study group luncheon on October 26^th presented Steve Kennedy, VP and Head of Energy Banking for Amegy Bank. His topic, heard by a 67 members, was “How Does the Current Energy Downturn Differ from the Major Downturn of the mid-80’s”. Their next meeting is Randy Freeborn, Energy Navigator, addressing “Two Vital Secrets for Building Reliable Type Wells” on November 30^th. They will not hold a December meeting due to the holidays and will return in January with the annual Paper Writing Seminar. Planning has started for the annual one day seminar in June.

Our social calendar for 2016 will conclude with the annual “Shoot for Your School” sporting clays event to be held the afternoon of December 1^st. Be on the lookout on the website and for email blasts for more details. This is always a great event which fills up fast!

I harp on this every month but membership is the life blood of SPE. Renewal notices have gone out. Our section is striving to retain members in the current environment. I cannot think of a better investment than maintaining membership in the SPE to stay current with our rapidly changing industry. Please remind your friends and colleagues that might have let their membership lapse that SPE has a program for members without a job to assist them with membership costs.

The board is considering a program of mentoring for our student chapters at SMU, UNT and UTD. This “Trailblazers” program has been beneficial to other sections and student chapters. While we are still in the investigative stage, if you might be interested in mentoring a college student please contact me at the email below and we will be back in touch as things develop.

Our Young Professionals group has lost its leader, Joseph Bowens, to a transfer out of town. We are searching for younger members to restart this vital link by joining a committee to develop programs and social events. Anyone interested in leading or helping on this effort should contact me.

I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming meetings or events.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can participate. 

Regards,
Steve Hudson

shudson@wellborecapital.com

 
October 2016

We had a good crowd for our September 14^th monthly luncheon with a presentation by 2016-17 Distinguished Lecturer Reidar B. Bratvold on “Creating Value from Uncertainty and Flexibility”. The production study group luncheon, with about 40 attendees, was held on September 28^th on “Water Management: Costs, Trends and Risks” presented by Michael Dunkel, VP of CH2M.

This month our general section meeting is scheduled for October 19^th.  We are honored to host 2016-17 Distinguished Lecturer Franks Blaskovich to discuss “Energy Policy: Is It Effective? Is It Fair?” The Dallas SPE section is holding a joint meeting with the Dallas section of SPEE on November 10^th to cover our annual ethics topic. The speaker will be a representative from the Texas Board of Professional Engineers.

The production study group luncheon is scheduled for October 26^th. Steve Kennedy, VP and Head of Energy Banking for Amegy Bank, will discuss “How Does the Current Energy Downturn Differ from the Major Downturn of the mid-80’s”. Future meetings include Jeff DaCunha of Pioneer addressing Gas Lift Optimization in November and the annual Paper Writing Seminar in January.

Our social calendar for 2016 will conclude with the annual “Shoot for Your School” sporting clays event to be held the afternoon of December 1^st. Be on the lookout on the website and for email blasts for more details. This is always a great event which fills up fast!

Membership renewal is fast approaching at year-end. Our section is striving to retain members in the current environment. I cannot think of a better investment than maintaining membership in the SPE to stay current with our rapidly changing industry. Please remind your friends and colleagues that might have let their membership lapse that SPE has a program for members without a job to assist them with membership costs.

I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming meetings or events.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can participate. 

Regards,
Steve Hudson

shudson@wellborecapital.com

September 2016

I hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable vacation this summer as it seems the pace of things always picks up after Labor Day. The same is true for the Dallas SPE section. In the coming months we have a number of good programs lined up, our social calendar continues with the Shoot for Your School event, our YP group will be posting some fall events, the student chapters are back in action after the summer break, and our community outreach through Brookhaven College is working the annual STEAM events. I believe the website and registration system issues have improved and I hope this becomes a minor issue going forward. An ongoing problem our section faces, like all of our industry at present, is declining membership. We have over 400 members who have not renewed for 2016. They have not moved to another section, just dropped out. Please encourage your colleagues to retain their membership. If you know of someone who is out of work, let them know that SPEI has a program for unemployed members to receive 2 years of free membership. On August 17th our monthly luncheon presentation was made by Dallas section board member Terry Palisch of Carbo Ceramics on the "Latest Advancements in Far-Field Proppant Detection". The 70 or so people in attendance heard an interesting presentation on Carbo Ceramic's latest data on the field trials of detecting actual proppant placement in fractures. The Dallas section had the honor of receiving more insight from Carbo Ceramics at our August 31st study group meeting with a topic of "Multifunction Proppants to Reduce LOE" presented by Jeff Hebert. This month our general section meeting is a week early (next Wednesday, the 14th) due to travel scheduling as we are honored to host 2016-17 Distinguished Lecturer Reidar B. Bratvold presenting "Creating Value from Uncertainty and Flexibility". The production study group luncheon is scheduled for September 28th on "Water Management: Costs, Trends and Risks"presented by Michael Dunkel, VP of CH2M. The Labor Day weekend earthquake in North Central Oklahoma and subsequent reaction by the OCC UIC division and the EPA make both of these topics very timely. I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming meetings or events. As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can participate. Regards, Steve Hudson shudson@wellborecapital.com

 

August 2016

Well it is the “dog days” of summer and it seems everyone is out of town including yours truly. If you can stand the heat it is a great time to enjoy our local attractions as traffic on the streets and in restaurants is light. Our July Board of Directors meeting was similarly low on new business, the Section social calendar is complete for the year (excluding Shoot for Your School in October), our student sections are out for the summer, our annual one-day seminar is complete and our program committees have great line-ups in place for the fall. The highlight of our monthly meeting was board approval of the scholarship committee recommendations for grants for the 2016-17 academic year. We approved scholarships totaling $31,500 (the Dallas Section’s expected net “profit” for this year from all of its activities). Twenty Three students from six colleges were awarded varying amounts based on need and merit.

I want to highlight two of our students, Jonathan Burwell, a junior at New Mexico Tech, and Minh Hoang, a junior at Texas Tech. Each was awarded $3,000 for the 2016-2017 Scholarship term. These two students we awarded the highest amount due to their outstanding applications, dedication, excellent grades and the effort and commitment that they were able to demonstrate to their career as future Petroleum Engineers.

The Dallas Section membership has suffered along with our industry over the last two years. Though we currently have approximately 1600 active members, we are missing over 400 members who did not renew this year for some reason. If you have colleagues or friends that may have dropped out please encourage them to consider re-instating their membership. You can also forward them this monthly email as they have been dropped by the system. Please encourage them to attend our events. SPEI offers those unemployed a free membership for a period of two years.

Well, last month I was a little optimistic when I stated that all of the bugs have been fixed in our website registration system, I did hedge my bet with the “I have my fingers crossed” comment. Again I ask for your patience. The “pop-up blocker” issue with PayPal had not showed its ugly head before. We have been told that once you enable pop-ups for PayPal with your browser that it will not be a problem again (as long as you don’t switch browsers or possibly delete cookies from your system).

On July 20^th our monthly luncheon presentation was made by 2015-16 Distinguished Lecturer Mary Van Domelen of Continental Resources. Her topic was “Bridging the Gap between Drilling and Completions, Challenges and Solutions in Horizontal Wells”. Attendance was about 100. Regional Director Michael Tunstall presented three region awards to: Pat Handren, Denbury – Mid-Continent Region Service Award; Rob Bruant, Pioneer – Mid-Continent Region Award in Health, Safety, Security, Environment and Social Responsibility; and Pioneer Natural Resources - the Mid-Continent Region Award for Distinguished Corporate Service.

The August monthly luncheon is scheduled for the 17^th. The topic is “Latest Advancements in Far-Field Proppant Detection”, presented by our Dallas section board member Terry Palisch of Carbo Ceramics. This should be a very interesting talk as it will cover Carbo’s development and field trials of a proppant that can be detected by subsequent cased-hole logging beyond the near wellbore effects. You should consider early registration as seats should be limited.

As I am writing this prior to leaving on vacation I wasn’t able to attend the July study group meeting on the 27^th, with a presentation by Dallas section board member David Hamilton on the topic of “SS-25: Sign of Things to Come?” I am sorry to have missed what I expect was an interesting review of the failure and remediation of wellbore integrity of the leaking gas storage well in California.

August 31^st is the date for the upcoming study group meeting with a topic of “Multifunction Proppants to Reduce LOE” presented by Jeff Hebert of Carbo Ceramics.

I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming meetings.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can participate. 

Regards,
Steve Hudson

shudson@wellborecapital.com

July 2016

Last month I addressed the primary mission of our section: the dissemination of technical knowledge to our members. This is the most noticeable of our functions as a Board and a large share of our efforts go into planning and staging monthly section meetings, study group meetings, annual seminars and young professional ‘lunch and learn’ events. Another group of volunteers plan and stage our social events to provide another avenue for participation and promotion of networking opportunities for our young and veteran members alike. More volunteers provide community outreach to various constituencies including STEM students, our college student chapters and the general public. The end result of all of these efforts raises money to support all of the above for the benefit of our members with the “profits” dedicated to our college scholarship program for petroleum engineering students, our future members and leaders.

Planning is underway for our annual scholarship awards. During the “good” years of the previous decade the Dallas Section was able to award approximately $100,000 per year in scholarship assistance to deserving candidates. Industry conditions during the last two years are finally affecting our fund raising significantly, however, I am pleased to share with you that our members and their companies have dug deep to allow us to continue this very worthy program at a meaningful level.

Our scholarship committee, headed by Anagabriela Trevino of DeGolyer and MacNaughton, are unsung heroes, toiling in the shadows. They have been hard at work for several months soliciting applications and reviewing the numerous candidates. Your directors will be reviewing the committee’s work over the summer to award our scholarships for the upcoming academic year. I hope to profile a couple of our winners in future newsletters so that you can see what a difference your efforts make.

The Dallas Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers 33rd Annual Golf Tournament was held on Monday, June 6th, at the Firewheel Golf Course in Garland. Even though the tournament was scaled back from 2 courses to one, we were oversold by 3 foursomes and were able to raise $6000 towards our scholarship program. Cuddos to Clayton Conine, David Creach, John Tabor and the entire golf committee for their efforts in a tough environment. Thanks also goes to the sponsors who will be listed on the website.

On June 15^th our monthly luncheon was a fine presentation by 2015-16 Distinguished Lecturer Robert Sutton entitled “Understanding Liquid Loading Will Improve Well Performance”. Attendance was about 120 including a student group from Quito, Ecuador.

June 22^nd was the date of our day-long seminar on Refrac’s led by the production study group’s Terry Palisch. A good crowd of approximately 130 was on hand to hear from 8 well received speakers. The seminar was the beneficiary of the gracious sponsorship of 8 companies listed here on our website. Thanks to them and our volunteers for raising close to $14,000 for our scholarships.

Numerous changes have been instituted to our use of the Brookhaven facilities. I want to apologize for the confusion at the check in last month for the monthly meeting. We are trying to work out the bugs given the constraints that Brookhaven has imposed. We appreciate your patience. Speaking of patience, it now appears that most of the bugs in our registration system have been solved. I have my fingers crossed. Also, please have patience with the PayPal system. You are not required to have a PayPal account and with diligence you can locate the credit card option hidden at the bottom of their menu.

The July monthly meeting will be held on the 20^th. The topic is “Bridging the Gap between Drilling and Completions, Challenges and Solutions in Horizontal Wells”. The speaker is 2015-16 Distinguished Lecturer Mary Van Domelen of Continental Resources.

I am pleased to announce that Michael Tunstall, Halliburton, our regional director at SPEI, will present the following awards at the meeting to:

            Pat Handren, Denbury – Mid-Continent Region Service Award

            Rob Bruant, Pioneer – Mid-Continent Region Award in Health, Safety, Security, Environment and Social Responsibility

Pioneer Natural Resources - the Mid-Continent Region Award for Distinguished Corporate Service.

I want to recognize David Hamilton for his tireless efforts in championing our section and recipients.

Speaking of David Hamilton, he will be our speaker for the July study group meeting on the 27^th, with a topic of “SS-25: Sign of Things to Come?” Don’t know what SS-25 is? Neither did I, but I’m sure you heard of the leaking gas storage well in California last winter. David has prepared an interesting review of what happened and how it was remedied. While not on the scale of Macondo by any means, it is always interesting to hear what really happened from a technical standpoint so that history might not repeat itself on your watch.

I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming meetings.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can participate. 

Regards,
Steve Hudson

shudson@wellborecapital.com

 
June 2016

 Hello! My name is Steve Hudson and it is a pleasure to introduce myself as the Dallas Section Chair for the 2016-17 term. Please join me in extending thanks to Gary Schein and the outgoing members of last year’s board of directors for a job well done. I want to thank our incoming board and all of our committee members in advance for their generous donation of time to our section and SPE overall. I hope you can assist in improving our section and your technical knowledge by your participation in our section activities.

I plan to focus on a number of activities our section provides during my tenure as chairman. I start with the overall mission of SPE which I will paraphrase as the commitment to the exchange of technical knowledge related to the oil and gas industry. As a section we do this through our monthly section and study group meetings, posting on our website and through our annual technical seminars.

For a long time I thought the continuing education requirement of my professional engineering license was a burden, being a number of years removed from my college years and the training courses of my early career. With ongoing experience (for me now approaching 40 years) it can be easy to settle into a particular career path or segment of the industry, whether it be reservoir, drilling or production. Ruts can be hard to see out of much less get out of. A new path in my career about 10 years ago opened my eyes to how much had changed while I was busy doing my job! Since then I have done things technically on wells that I was originally taught to avoid at all costs. For those of us that have been around for a while, it can amaze you how the industry has changed.

The Dallas section has approximately 1700 members. We generally have attendance of around 100 at our monthly meetings and 30-50 for the monthly study groups, a fairly low participation rate. I believe the best way to stay current on our changing industry is to take advantage of what SPE has to offer. Our job as a section is to support the SPE mission. I hope you will avail yourself of the options we present.

As a section I would like to increase participation in our technical offerings. Other sections have study groups in other areas beyond our production group. Topics can range from business development (very popular in the Ft. Worth section) to reservoir or HSE. I encourage anyone interested in leading such an effort contact me at the address below and we can explore the possibilities.

The May 18^th meeting hosted Eric Schmelzl, VP of NCS Multistage.  His presentation "Redefining Refracs – What is, What Isn’t and What Might Be" was informative and timely considering the interest in this subject within the industry and as a lead in to our June Seminar on Refracs. Attendance was close to 90 members.

The production study group meeting was held on May 25th with a program presented by Bob Chitwood of Key Energy on "Unconventional Strategies for Conventional Wells". Turn-out was approximately 30 members with several new faces.

This month our meeting will be June 15^th with a presentation by 2015-16 Distinguished Lecturer Robert Sutton, Robert P. Sutton Consulting. The presentation is entitled “Understanding Liquid Loading Will Improve Well Performance”. The Dallas section is privileged to participate in the DL program and the speakers are tops in their field. Hope you can attend.

Please mark your calendar for June 22^nd as our education group will facilitate a day long "Refrac Seminar”. This educational seminar has sold out in the past and registration is currently available on the website. All speakers have been confirmed and finalized for this event and there are several industry experts providing presentations as well as operators providing case histories on some real world refrac examples. Opportunities for sponsorships are available for this event and are on the website as well. There is a student rate such that companies that have summer interns can provide them with a great learning experience at a reduced cost.

The Dallas Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers will be hosting its 33rd Annual Golf Tournament on Monday, June 6, 2016 10:00 to 5:30 p.m at the Firewheel Golf Course in Garland, Texas. The tournament needs financial sponsors to make it a success. Sponsorships of $1000 (Diamond), $750 (Platinum), $500 (Gold) and $250 (Silver) are solicited. Contributions for ditty bags, hole, and door prizes are also needed.

Registration for participants and sponsorships is now open on the Dallas SPE website. http://connect.spe.org/dallas/home.

Our SPE Young Professionals continue working to provide programs through the Ambassador Leadership Program to various groups within or community. This program provides a great opportunity to educate our young people on our industry. Please feel free to get involved and contact an YP representative for more information.

Our scholarship committee has been hard at work soliciting and reviewing scholarship proposals from various engineering students for the 2016-17 academic year. The proceeds of all of our section functions go to support our scholarship program. The Dallas SPE section has historically provided more in annual scholarships than any of the other local societies of professional engineers. We all want to thank our members and sponsors for allowing The Dallas Section to help the next generation of engineers in oil and gas.

Special congratulations go to two of our members and one company who recently received Mid-Continent Region Awards for 2016:

            Pat Handren, Denbury – Mid-Continent Region Service Award

            Rob Bruant, Pioneer – Mid-Continent Region Award in Health, Safety, Security, Environment and Social Responsibility

Pioneer Natural Resources - the Mid-Continent Region Award for Distinguished Corporate Service.

I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming meetings.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can participate. 

 

Regards,
Steve Hudson

shudson@wellborecapital.com

Chairman’s Corner – May 2016 by Gary Schein

 Greetings all, another month has passed as well as this past year and marks the end to my time as Chair for the Dallas Section. It is time for the May edition of the Chairman’s Corner and the last monthly message from me. Steve Hudson will take over as the 2016-2017 Chair beginning June 1. It has been a pleasure to represent our section this past year and I want to thank our members for the support you have provided in these most trying times.

We have seen an increase in the price of oil that provides some optimism that improvement is ahead in our industry. It will however be a long road to a more sustained recovery and the return to better times and opportunities for companies increase activity and employ more people. Our SPE section is committed to help where possible.

On another note I want thank the outgoing board for their commitment and support that made my year as Chair rewarding and enjoyable. With the New Year we welcome a new board made up of both new and old members. This should make for a seamless transition into the New Year. New members include Robert Martinez as Program’s Chair, Robert Rogers as Secretary, and Danny Bell handling technology and communication. The complete board is listed at the end of this newsletter.

Lastly I want a special thank you to Dina Blair - Netherland, Sewell & Associates Inc for her work in keeping me on track to send the chairman’s message and sending information about our section and upcoming events.

We have a number of great speakers coming in the few months and through the summer. Please plan to attend these meetings as you can to support our Section as well as the speakers that take their time to come to Dallas providing these talks. Sports and social events have highlighted these past few months with the Softball tournament and Casino Night. Many thanks to the participants and the sponsors that stepped up and helped make these great events a success. It is not over yet as our annual Golf Tournament is around the corner and provides another opportunity for many to participate. In order to have these events for our section and the local industry we desperately need not only participation but also sponsors. It is through these events that we are able to fund our scholarships for the coming years.

Therefore please consider sponsoring one or more of these events.  

The April 18^th meeting hosted Rick Reischman from Schlumberger, who provided a talk "Evaluating Horizontal Cased Wells for Completion Design". The presentation by Rick was informative and had excellent attendance by over 80 members.

The SPE study group meeting was held on April 27th with a program presented by Aaron Adamczyk, North America Technical Advisor - Expro Americas LLC on "Production Logging in Horizontal Wells". There was a good turnout with approximately 50 members attending.

This month our meeting will be May 18^th with a presentation by Eric Schmeizl, VP Strategic Business, NCS Multistage. The presentation is entitled “Redefining Refracs – What is, What Isn’t, and What Might Be”. This is a timely topic leading up to the educational seminar on Re-Fracs.

The industry’s interest in refracs is a predictable phenomenon in a low commodity price environment.  Many in the completions industry are becoming convinced that most unconventional wells will ultimately require one or more refrac treatments at some point in their productive life in order to maximize the financial return on investment, and ultimate EUR.   When successful, refracs have proven financially advantageous vs. new drills, but refrac failures can quickly reduce the appetite for widespread refracturing programs.

The May meeting of the SPE study group meeting will be held on May 25^th with a program presented by Bob Chitwood, VP of Operations - Key Energy Services on "Unconventional Strategies for Conventional Wells"

The current market conditions have led many producers to change their strategies to improve efficiency, production, and cost savings.  Many legacy wells hold the power to do these things with a little investment and adjustment in strategy.  This presentation will cover well candidates, procedures, and rig selection of how to achieve new production through casing exits and the use of a work-over rig.

Please mark your calendar for June 22^nd as our education group will facilitate a day long "Refrac Seminar”. This educational seminar has sold out in the past and registration is currently available on the website. Almost all the speakers have been confirmed and finalized for this event and there are several industry experts providing presentations as well as operators providing case histories on some real world refrac examples. Opportunities for sponsorships are available for this event and are on the website as well. There is a student rate such that companies that have summer interns can provide them with a great learning experience at a reduced cost.

There are three great and traditional events the coming up in April and June that you should make plans and discuss with your management opportunity to participate and provide sponsorship. It is understandable that budgets have been reduced however consider that the funds from these events are used to provide scholarships to petroleum students.

 SPE Dallas Ninth Annual Co-Ed Double Elimination Softball Tournament was held on Saturday, April 16 with 12 teams participated. Many thanks go to Brian Chacka with Denbury Resources for organizing and running this great event. The eventual winner was Epic Lift Systems. Congratulations to them for going undefeated in the tournament.

 

 Also the 24th ANNUAL SPE Casino Night event was held on Friday, April 22th. This event is a mainstay event and this year did not disappoint with over 180 participants. A great time was had by all thanks to the sponsors and committee members, David Creach, Shaun Goodwin, Josh Poole, Cara Hill, Harold Hill, Robert Rogers, Donnie Harris, Arved Vonzurmuehlen, Peggy Tibbetts, Heath Huff, and Pat Handren,

  The Dallas Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers will be hosting its 33rd Annual Golf Tournament on Monday, June 6, 2016 10:00 to 5:30 p.m at the Firewheel Golf Course in Garland, Texas. The tournament needs financial sponsors to make it a success. Sponsorships of $1000 (Diamond), $750 (Platinum), $500 (Gold) and $250 (Silver) are solicited. Contributions for ditty bags, hole, and door prizes are also needed.

Registration for participants and sponsorships is now open on the Dallas SPE website. http://connect.spe.org/dallas/home.

Our community outreach led by Sam Larkin has had a great year and opportunities will be available in this next year in programs such as “Reach for the Stars” and the STEM Fair.

I also want to recognize the efforts of Orkhan Samandarli - Pioneer Natural Resources, Anil Kumar – Omak Technologies, and Davood Ghorbani – Denbury Resources who all stepped up to judge the Society of Petroleum Engineers Southwestern North America student paper contest held in Austin. Also many thanks to David Hamilton – Denbury Resources and Betsy Cook who served as judges for the SPE Petrobowl. These are all events that occur outside the normal work schedules so if you see these people thank them for their volunteer work.

Our SPE Young Professionals continue working to provide programs through the Ambassador Leadership Program to various groups within or community. This program provides a great opportunity to educate our young people on our industry. Please feel free to get involved and contact an YP representative for more information.

Below is a list of the 2016-2017 Dallas Section board and officers for next year for your reference.

                       2016-2017 Dallas SPE Board

Section Chairperson	Steve Hudson
Section Chairperson-Elect	Rob Bruant
Immediate Past Section Chairperson	Gary Schein
First Vice Chairman (Programs)	Robert Martinez*
Second Vice Chairman (Education)	Terry Palisch
Third Vice Chairman (Membership)	Herb Bell
Elected Director 1 (Sports & Social)	David Creach
Elected Director 2 (Community Relations)	Sam Larkin
Elected Director 3 (Technology/Comm)	Danny Bell*
Secretary	Robert Rogers*
Treasurer	Patrick Slaughter
Treasurer-Elect	Keenan Voit
Young Professionals Chairperson	Joseph Bowens
Director at Large 1 Appointed (Awards)	David Hamilton
Director at Large 2 Appointed (Student Chapter Liaison)	Ganesh Krishnan
Director at Large 3 Appointed (Advertising)	Kimberly Lacher
Director at Large 4 Appointed (Sports/Social help)	John Tabor
Director at Large 5 Appointed (Speakers Bureau)	Pat Handren

I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming meetings.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can participate. 

Again is has been a pleasure to serve as your Dallas SPE Section Chair.

Regards,
Gary Schein

Chairman’s Corner – April 2016 by Gary Schein

Another month has passed and it is time for the April edition of the Chairman’s Corner. We have seen a slight uptick in the price of oil yet mostly a result of speculation of additional demand and impact of declining rigs. It is a shame that this downturn has hit companies and people hard and much worse than many of the past downturns. It appears we will be dealing with low oil and gas price for a long while.

We have many great speakers coming in the next couple of months as well as some sports and social events that should provide fun and opportunities for everyone to participate. In order to have these events for our section and the local industry we desperately need not only participation but also sponsors. It is through these events that we are able to fund our scholarships for the coming years.

Therefore please consider sponsoring one or more of these events.  

At the March 9^th meeting our section hosted David R. Spain, 2015-2016 SPE Distinguished Lecturer, Senior Advisor for Unconventional Gas Petrophysics, BP Upstream Technology Group who provided a talk "Beyond Volumetrics: Unconventional Petrophysics for Efficient Resource Appraisal". The presentation by David was informative and had excellent attendance by over 110 members.

The SPE study group meeting was held on March 30^th and had a program presented by Trey Lowe, Completions Technology Manager, Devon Energy - a SPE Distinguished Lecturer on "Fiber Optic Sensing Improves Unconventional Reservoir Development".

This presentation discussed completion design for fiber optic distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) and distributed temperature sensing (DTS) and how this data is incorporated with other advanced monitoring techniques. Real-life examples will be used to demonstrate how these new measurements are used to optimize completion design.

There was a good turnout of over 50 members for this study group to hear an excellent talk.

This month our meeting will be April 20^th. We had a speaker schedule change such that as of this newsletter do not have the speaker and topic lined out however rest assured we will have the meeting with a quality speaker and topic. Check the website at the link in this newsletter for details. We will see you there.

The April meeting of the SPE study group meeting will be held on April 27^th with a program presented by Aaron Adamczyk, North America Technical Advisor - Expro Americas LLC on "Production Logging in Horizontal Wells". Understanding where fluid and hydrocarbon production is coming from in horizontal, multistage completions is critical to completion optimization as well as future development planning.  One classic approach to answering this question is the use of production logs.

This talk should provide additional insights to the technology of horizontal well production logs.

Also mark your calendar for June 22^nd as our education group will facilitate a day long "Refrac Seminar”. This educational seminar has sold out in the past and registration is currently available on the website. Although all the speakers have not been finalized for this event there will certainly be some industry experts providing presentations and several operators providing case histories on some real examples. Opportunities for sponsorships are available for this event and are on the website as well.

There are three great and traditional events the coming up in April and June that you should make plans and discuss with your management opportunity to participate and provide sponsorship. It is understandable that budgets have been reduced however consider that the funds from these events are used to provide scholarships to petroleum students.

SPE Dallas will be hosting our Ninth Annual Co-Ed Double Elimination Softball Tournament on Saturday, April 16 at Heritage Yards Softball Complex in Plano.  The tournament will start at 8:30 or 9 am depending on the number of entries and should finish by 6 pm. In this difficult work environment, it is very challenging to secure sponsorship, so we greatly appreciate those willing to step up and help.

Registration for participants and sponsorships is now open on the Dallas SPE website. http://connect.spe.org/dallas/home.

 

The Sports and Social committee is planning the 24th ANNUAL SPE Casino Night. The event will be held Friday w April 22th, 2016 w 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel Dallas 4099 Valley View Lane (west of Midway off I-635)

Registration for participants and sponsorships is now open on the Dallas SPE website. http://connect.spe.org/dallas/home.

The Sports and Social committee is planning the 33rd ANNUAL SPE Golf Tournament. The event will be held Monday w June 6th, 2016 w 10:00 to 5:30 p.m. at the Firewheel Golf Course in Garland, Texas

Registration for participants and sponsorships is now open on the Dallas SPE website. http://connect.spe.org/dallas/home.

To follow up from previous notes the Dallas SPE community outreach led by Sam Larkin as several from our stepped up to provide presentation and hands on activities at the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Fair held at the Brookhaven College on February 20^th and 21^st. I want to thank Kathy Stewart, Steven Laramay, David D’Souza, John Guffey, Kathy Reynolds, Matthew Gross, Rob Bruant, Brian Chacka, Gary Patterson, and Trudy Boudreaux who stepped up to give up their week end to participate in this event.

Our SPE Young Professionals continue working to provide programs through the Ambassador Leadership Program to various groups within or community. This program provides a great opportunity to educate our young people on our industry. Please feel free to get involved and contact an YP representative for more information.

Lastly at our recent board meeting and at the monthly meeting the slate of new officers and board members were presented and unanimously approved. They will be taking office in about two months (June 1st).  Over this time the current officers will be busy transitioning to the new board, and we will be summarizing our 2015-16 activities to SPEI in our Annual Report.  Below is a list of the 2016-2017 Dallas Section board and officers for next year.

                        2016-2017 Dallas SPE Board

Section Chairperson	Steve Hudson
Section Chairperson-Elect	Rob Bruant
Immediate Past Section Chairperson	Gary Schein
First Vice Chairman (Programs)	Robert Martinez*
Second Vice Chairman (Education)	Terry Palisch
Third Vice Chairman (Membership)	Herb Bell
Elected Director 1 (Sports & Social)	David Creach
Elected Director 2 (Community Relations)	Sam Larkin
Elected Director 3 (Technology/Comm)	Danny Bell*
Secretary	Robert Rogers*
Treasurer	Patrick Slaughter
Treasurer-Elect	Keenan Voit
Young Professionals Chairperson	Joseph Bowens
Director at Large 1 Appointed (Awards)	David Hamilton
Director at Large 2 Appointed (Student Chapter Liaison)	Ganesh Krishnan
Director at Large 3 Appointed (Advertising)	Kimberly Lacher
Director at Large 4 Appointed (Sports/Social help)	John Tabor
Director at Large 5 Appointed (Speakers Bureau)	Pat Handren

I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming meetings.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can participate. 

Regards,
Gary Schein

Chairman’s Corner – March 2016 by Gary Schein

 

Welcome to this month’s edition of the Chairman’s Corner. We continue to move through this year without a lot change in the oil and gas market and continued news of reductions in personnel, budgets, and activity.  The low price environment has not changed much and improvement still seems far off. However there have been a few signs that prices may have found a floor at least for the time being. It is just sad that much of this is beyond our control and we continue to hope for improvement.

We all have enjoyed this early spring with many activities both inside and out. Within the Dallas Section of SPE things are just as active with many excellent events, great line up of speakers as well as opportunities for you to participate.

At the February 17^th meeting our section benefited from an excellent program with Christi Craddick, Commissioner, Railroad Commission of Texas presenting on "State of the Texas Energy Industry: A Broad Overview". The presentation by Commissioner Craddick was extremely informative and provided insights into the business and concerns of the commission. This meeting had excellent attendance by over 130 members.

The SPE study group meeting was held on February 24^th and with a program presented by William DuBose (PDC Development) & Aron Deen (Downhole Innovation) – Ulterra on "PDC Evolution - How PDC Bits Have, Do and Will Continue to Advance Drilling Performance" This presentation provided a primer on the technology that goes into the design and manufacture of PDC bits and diamond cutters. Although there was a modest turnout several in attendance commented that there was some excellent information presented. This highlights how the study group meetings provide great information on specific topics.

Please note that this month our meeting has moved up to March 9^th to accommodate the SPE Distinguished Lecturer, Mr. David R. Spain. He is a Senior Advisor for Unconventional Gas Petrophysics, BP Upstream Technology Group and will provide a presentation on "Beyond Volumetrics: Unconventional Petrophysics for Efficient Resource Appraisal".

Unconventional Reservoirs require a new petrophysical paradigm and must go “beyond volumetrics.” Efficient unconventional resource appraisal should consider not only the static (storage) and dynamic (flow) properties within the context of the petroleum system and the current day pore geometry and fluid saturation distribution, but also the geomechanical stress regime and its implications for efficient completion design and reservoir performance prediction.

The SPE study group meeting this month will be held late in the month on March 30^th and will have a program presented by Trey Lowe, Completions Technology Manager, Devon Energy - a SPE Distinguished Lecturer on "Fiber Optic Sensing Improves Unconventional Reservoir Development".

This presentation will discuss completion design for fiber optic distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) and distributed temperature sensing (DTS) and how this data is incorporated with other advanced monitoring techniques. Real-life examples will be used to demonstrate how these new measurements are used to optimize completion design.

Trey Lowe is the Completions Technology Manager at Devon Energy, where he leads a team focused on optimizing completions across the United States. Trey has spent more than 15 years working on completion and production operations in various countries around the globe.

Our Study Group and Education Committee is planning an educational seminar on June 22^nd this year on Re-Fracs. This event has drawn great participation and help is needed this year to facilitate organizing and running the event. If you can help please contact me or email Terry Palisch at Terrence.Palisch@carboceramics.com

There are two great and traditional events the coming up in April that you should make plans and discuss with your management opportunity to participate and provide sponsorship. It is understandable that budgets have been reduced however consider that the funds from these events are used to provide scholarships to petroleum students.

SPE Dallas will be hosting our Ninth Annual Co-Ed Double Elimination Softball Tournament on Saturday, April 16 at Heritage Yards Softball Complex in Plano.  The tournament will start at 8:30 or 9 am depending on the number of entries and should finish by 6 pm. In this difficult work environment, it is very challenging to secure sponsorship, so we greatly appreciate those willing to step up and help.

Registration for participants and sponsorships is now open on the Dallas SPE website. http://connect.spe.org/dallas/home.

The Sports and Social committee is planning the 24th ANNUAL SPE Casino Night. The event will be held Friday w April 22th, 2016 w 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel Dallas 4099 Valley View Lane (west of Midway off I-635)

Registration for participants and sponsorships is now open on the Dallas SPE website. http://connect.spe.org/dallas/home.

Also coming soon will be information on the SPE Golf Tournament. A must attend event that has many years of tradition.

The Dallas SPE chapter community outreach is led by Sam Larkin as several from our stepped up to provide presentation and hands on activities at the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Fair held at the Brookhaven College on February 20^th and 21^st. Thank you Sam and everyone that volunteered.

Our SPE Young Professionals continue working to provide programs through the Ambassador Leadership Program to various groups within or community with a presentation to students at D.A. Hulcy STEAM Middle School. This provided a great opportunity to educate our young people on our industry. Please feel free to get involved and contact an YP representative for more information.

 

Congratulations are in order for Jack Harper and Ganesh Krishnan who were honor as SPE Engineer of the year and Young Engineer of the year respectively at the TSPE Engineers Week Luncheon held on February 25^th. 

I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming meetings.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can participate. 

Regards,
Gary Schein

Chairman’s Corner – January/February 2016 by Gary Schein

 

Welcome to this two month edition of the Chairman’s Corner. I apologize for not getting a newsletter out last month. It seems the Holidays and the New Year’s activities delayed sending something out until I decided two combine the January and February news. The low oil price environment has not improved and hopes of a start of a change are too far off at this point. In any event rest assured things will change as all things do.

I trust that everyone has had a busy start to the New Year just as we have within the Dallas Section of SPE. There is great line up of speakers as well as opportunities for you to volunteer or participate in several events.

At the December meeting we had very interesting program at the monthly meeting with Graham Radler, CEO/President; Baseline Energy Services presenting on "Natural Gas Generators - Cost Efficient Power Solutions for Artificial Lift & Facilities" This presentation is posted on the Dallas Section website.

Also during this meeting we had an opportunity to give back by providing toys in lieu of payment to benefit some of those in need at Christmas. There were over 40 toys and games donated that went to the toy store at Christian Community Action in Lewisville, Texas

I want to personally thank all those that participated and brought toys for this cause. They organization was extremely appreciative of our donation.                                

Our January meeting modest turnout for a presentation by B.R. Reddy, Senior Petroleum Engineer Consultant - Aramco Services Company, Past SPE Distinguished Lecturer presenting on "Oilfield Chemicals and Global Issues That Influence Them" Again this presentation is posted on the Dallas Section website. Please support our chapter with your attendance at our monthly luncheon.

Also this past month the study group and the YP’s (Young Professionals) held a joint meeting with an Education/YP Seminar by Deborah Hempel-Medina - Lecturer, University of Texas – Austin on “Soft Skills for Engineers Seminar”. Thanks to Deborah for her efforts to prepare and present this seminar.  Approximately 40 people heard a great talk.

Thank you to Terry Palisch for organizing this event as well as taking a the time to provide the attendees with a short refresher and tutorial on how to write an SPE Paper abstract that improves the chances of acceptance.

This is the third year a seminar of this type has been offered by our section and has been free with lunch provided as well. What a great opportunity to network, learn and participate in an event of this type. I would like to encourage members to support these opportunities to learn and engage in meaningful discussion at this and other study group opportunities.

This month on February 17^th we will have an excellent program with Christi Craddick, Commissioner, Railroad Commission of Texas presenting on "State of the Texas Energy Industry: A Broad Overview"

A native of Midland, Christi earned both her Bachelor’s Degree as a Plan II graduate and her Doctorate of Jurisprudence from The University of Texas at Austin. During her career as an attorney, she specialized in oil and gas, water, tax issues, electric deregulation and environmental policy.Our December meeting will We will again be collecting new unwrapped toys to be given to a deserved organization joy to children that are in need.

The SPE study group meeting this month will be held on February 24^th and will have a program presented by William DuBose (PDC Development) & Aron Deen (Downhole Innovation) – Ulterra on "PDC Evolution - How PDC Bits Have, Do and Will Continue to Advance Drilling Performance" This presentation will provide a primer on the technology that goes into the design and manufacture of PDC bits and diamond cutters.  In addition, the talk will review how these bits have driven drilling performance over the decades, as well as how they will lead advancements going forward.

The Sports and Social committee is planning the 24th ANNUAL SPE Casino Night. The event will be held Friday w April 22th, 2016 w 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel Dallas 4099 Valley View Lane (west of Midway off I-635) Registration for participants and sponsorships is now open on the Dallas SPE website. http://connect.spe.org/dallas/home.

The Texas Hold’em Tournament was canceled this year in light of the industry conditions so that people and companies can better participate in the Casino night event. Remember events such as these are the only methods we have to fund scholarships and other community activities.

Also note that the SPE Softball Tournament will be held in April again this year. More information to follow.

The Dallas SPE chapter community outreach is led by Sam Larkin and has had a number of activities the past months as well as the upcoming  STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Fair to be held at the Brookhaven College on February 20^th and 21^st.  There is still time to volunteer and help with this event. Please contact Sam Larkin at sam.larkin@pxd.com to participate as there is still need for people to volunteer at this event.

The Future Cities competition was held on January 23^rd at Brookhaven College. This is a program to reach more students around North Texas and inspire them with technology and engineering. Special thanks to Sam Larkin, Rob Bruant, and Trudy Boudreaux for their willingness to step up and volunteer for this event.

Also thanks go out to Kathy Stewart with Fuse Energy and a Dallas SPE Section member by providing a keynote presentation to and all girl "Reach for the Stars” event giving these young ladies with great information about her career and opportunities in STEM careers.

  Our SPE Young Professionals continue working to provide programs through the Ambassador Leadership Program to various groups within or community with current plans to present to students at D.A. Hulcy STEAM Middle School. This is a great opportunity to educate our young people on our industry. Please feel free to get involved and contact an YP representative for more information.

I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming meetings.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can volunteer. 

Regards,
Gary Schein

Chairman’s Corner – December 2015 by Gary Schein

 

Welcome to this month’s edition of the Chairman’s Corner. This is a busy time as we prepare for yearend activity in the industry and the fast approaching Holidays. Regardless of the situation within our industry let’s remember to be thankful for what we have and this great country in which we live. Also remember to thank our veterans, military, and first responders for their sacrifice and service.

This past month we had very interesting program at the monthly meeting with Alan W. Farquharson, Sr. Vice President - Reservoir Engineering & Economics with Range Resources presenting on "The Resurgence of the Appalachian Basin". This presentation is posted on the Dallas Section website.

Also this past month the study group and the YP’s (Young Professionals) held a joint meeting with a presentation and discussion by Robert Martinez, Asset Manager, Compass Production Partners on "Basic Accounting and Project Evaluation for Oilfield Engineers - A Practical Approach". Approximately 45 people heard a great talk. Thank you for the increased attendance for this study group meeting as I know those that attended benefited from the program.

These study group meetings are a great opportunity to network and participate in more detail. I would like to encourage members to support these opportunities to learn and engage in meaningful discussion at these technically focused meetings.

This month on December 16^th we will have Mr. Graham Radler- CEO, Baseline Energy Services presenting on "Natural Gas Generators - Cost Efficient Power Solutions for Artificial Lift & Facilities" Graham co-founded Baseline Energy Services in 2011 and serves as CEO and President. As the primary operating partner of the company, Graham enjoys leading and serving alongside other Baseline team members in various capacities including business development, power operations, investor relations, and logistics.

Our December meeting will be an opportunity to give back. We will again be collecting new unwrapped toys to be given to a deserved organization providing some Christmas joy to children that are in need.

Bring a Toy in Lieu of Payment

For the December Monthly Meeting only, the SPE Dallas Section will be accepting a toy in lieu of registration payment.  Here's how you do it:

1. Register for event on the website.
2. On the payment screen choose payment type: "Generate an Invoice (for Check/Cash or Payment Order)"
3. Bring a new unwrapped toy to the meeting (preferably one that costs approximately the same as the registration fee).

It's that easy! We encourage everyone to help make a child's Christmas wish come true.

There will not be a SPE study group meeting in December because of the holiday. However make note that the education and SPE Young Professionals will join to have an educational seminar entitled “Soft Skills for Engineers Seminar”.

This seminar will be led by Deborah Hempel-Medina - Lecturer, University of Texas - Austin on January 26^th from 10 AM – 2 PM at Brookhaven College Geotechnology Institute (BCGI) and registration is now available on the Dallas Section SPE website. Best of all this seminar is Free and includes lunch.

The seminar will review these soft skills and their importance in the daily work for engineers; as well providing ways for improving them.  In addition, Terry Palisch (Author on over 50 SPE papers) will provide a short refresher and tutorial on how to write an SPE Paper abstract that improves the chances of acceptance.  He will also cover the mechanics of submitting the abstract to the SPE “Call for Papers”. Come learn or refresh yourself on how your communication and soft skills can help you in your career. 

Our SPE Young Professionals continue working to provide programs through the Ambassador Leadership Program to various groups within or community. Please feel free to get involved and contact a YP representative for more information.

Lastly in the SPE/SPEE held a joint meeting on ethics led by Mark McLane with Rose and Associates on "Reserve Overbooking – An Issue of Professional Ethics". This was highly attended with approximately 130 from SPE and SPEE organizations.

I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming meetings.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can volunteer. 

Regards,
Gary Schein

Chairman’s Corner – November 2015 by Gary Schein

 

Welcome to this month’s edition of the Chairman’s Corner. We are into the fall and getting closer to Holiday activities. It appears the “El Nino” is coming so prepare for more rain and wet weather in addition fall brings an end to daylight savings time as will see less daylight and early darkness. Kind of mirrors our industry at the moment.

This past month we had an excellent program at the monthly meeting with SPE Distinguished Lecturer Mr. Robert Shelley a 38 year industry veteran currently with StrataGen presenting a talk on "Optimization of Multi-Fractured Horizontal Completions; A New Industry Challenge".

If you missed his presentation I would encourage you to take a look as it was an excellent presentation. It is posted on the Dallas Section website.

This past month the study group presentation by John Alderman - Oil & Gas Services Specialist, Terracon on "Methane Regulations - Past, Present and Future Impact on the Oil & Gas Industry". Approximately 20 people heard a great talk. Attendance was down for this study group meeting as I know these are busy times with budgets and planning for the future as I would ask that everyone help get the word out about these more focused meetings.  

Keep these study group meetings in mind as they are a great opportunity to network and participate in more detail. I would like to encourage members to support these opportunities to learn and engage in meaningful discussion at these technically focused meetings.

This month on November 18^th we will have Alan W. Farquharson, Sr. Vice President - Reservoir Engineering & Economics with Range Resources presenting on "The Resurgence of the Appalachian Basin". Alan joined Range in 1998 and has held the positions of Manager and Vice President of Reservoir Engineering before being promoted to Senior Vice President – Reservoir Engineering in February 2007 and his current position in January 2012 with his assumption of additional responsibilities for strategic allocation of capital. This presentation will provide an overview of the historic growth in the Appalachian Basin, including changes in drilling and completion practices that have improved efficiencies to new industry levels.

On November 11^th   the study group and the YP (Young Professional) will have a joint meeting with a presentation and discussion by Robert Martinez, Asset Manager, Compass Production Partners on "Basic Accounting and Project Evaluation for Oilfield Engineers - A Practical Approach". While most oilfield engineers don’t need accounting degrees to perform their day-to-day jobs, some basic understanding is important.  In fact, knowledge of these basic principles is critical to allow for the successful economic evaluation of many everyday oilfield projects.  The purpose of this presentation is to present some of these basic ideas, and put them into real-world examples.

I want to thank all those that participated, worked and sponsored the 11th Annual "Shoot for Your School” Sporting Clays event held this past month. This event was a great success particularly given the state of the industry.

In particular would like to acknowledge John Tabor, John Semmes, Darrell Haney, Brad Hunsucker, Rick Stevens, Tim Hilton, and Gary Dittmar. These individuals on the committee made this a most successful event. Please thank these folks when you see them around town or at industry events.

Also on Tuesday, November 17th SPE/SPEE will jointly host a meeting on ethics which will count as educational credit that may be needed for members P.E. or other registrations. The program will be led by Mark McLane with Rose and Associates from 11:30-1:00 at Brookhaven College Geotechnology Institute (BCGI) and registration will be available on the SPE and SPEE websites. The title for this talk is "Reserve Overbooking – An Issue of Professional Ethics".

Our December meeting will be an opportunity to give back. We will again be collecting new unwrapped toys to be given to a deserved organization providing some Christmas joy to children that are in need. The toys will be in lieu of payment for the meeting.

Our SPE Young Professionals have been working to provide programs through the Ambassador Leadership Program to various groups within or community. Please feel free to get involved and contact an YP representative for more information.

I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming meetings.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can volunteer. 

Regards,
Gary Schein

Chairman’s Corner – October 2015 by Gary Schein

 

Welcome to this month’s edition of the Chairman’s Corner. We have rolled into the fall season and are hopefully on the downside of 90F temps for this year. Our industry continues to experience tough times. If there is light at the end of the tunnel it appears to be a very long tunnel, however members in our industry are tougher than those in any other business. We will preserver.

This past month we had another excellent program at the monthly meeting with Matthew Hornbach, Associate Professor, Geophysics Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University presenting on "Causal Factors for Seismicity near Azle, Texas" – Earthquakes”. As anticipated well over 100 were in attendance for this timely topic.

If you missed his presentation it is posted on the Dallas Section website. Although the parking lot has been restored there are still some challenges to finding a place to park. It will get better as more parking is made available on other parts of the campus. Thank you for your patience.

This past month the study group had a well-attended presentation and discussion by Justin Butler - US Business Development Manager - NCS Multistage on "Stimulation Stage Optimization – Single Point Entry for New and Old Wells". Approximately 60 people heard a great talk.

Keep these Study group meetings in mind as they are a great opportunity to network and participate in more detail. Some of the attendance has been down during the summer and would like to encourage members to support these opportunities to learn and engage in meaningful discussion at these technically focused meetings.

This month we will have and SPE Distinguished Lecturer presenting another excellent program on October 13^th. Please note that this meeting is on Tuesday next week to accommodate the SPE Distinguished Lecturer program. Mr. Robert Shelley, 2015-2016 SPE Distinguished Lecturer, and 38 year industry veteran currently with StrataGen will be presenting on "Optimization of Multi-Fractured Horizontal Completions; A New Industry Challenge". This presentation will describe the challenges engineers face and the methodologies which are being used to improve hydraulic fracture understanding and support decisions related to the completion and stimulation of multi-fractured horizontal wellbores.  Examples from several horizontal development targets including the Bakken and Eagle Ford will be shared in this presentation.

On October 28^th  the study group will have a presentation and discussion by John Alderman - Oil & Gas Services Specialist, Terracon on "Methane Regulations - Past, Present and Future Impact on the Oil & Gas Industry". Given the scrutiny of our industry by the public and environmental regulators this should be a very informative meeting topic.

Another reminder that time to register at a discount for the “Shoot for You School Sporting Clays Tournament” is coming to an end on October 8^th. You can still register after that time at a higher cost if space is available.

This major event for the Dallas section will be held on Thursday, October 15, 2015 at Elm Fork Shotgun Sports in Dallas. This is the 11th Annual "Shoot for Your School” Sporting Clays Tournament – and will be a 100 Bird event The goal for 2015 is to raise at least $10,000 for the Dallas SPE Scholarship program to be distributed to your school. Your sponsorship and/or donations can make this possible!

 Our November program will include topic on “Reservoir Engineering & Economics” by Alan Farquharson, Senior Vice President –Range Resources.

Also on Tuesday, November 17th SPE/SPEE will jointly host a meeting on ethics which will count as educational credit that may be needed for members P.E. or other registrations. The program will be led by Mark McLane with Rose and Associates from 11:30-1:00 at Brookhaven College Geotechnology Institute (BCGI) and registration will be available on the SPE and SPEE websites.

With regard to community outreach the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Fair to be held at the Brookhaven College Geotechnology Institute was cancelled for the fall and will be re-scheduled for spring. More information will be available as that time gets closer. Thank you to all those who stepped up to volunteer and we hope you can help at this event in the future.

Our SPE Young Professionals have been working to provide programs through the Ambassador Leadership Program to various groups within or community. Please feel free to get involved and contact an YP representative for more information.

I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming meetings.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can volunteer. 

Regards,
Gary Schein

Chairman’s Corner – September 2015 by Gary Schein

 

The summer is winding down; although you cannot tell by the 95 degree days we continue to have. In addition to that it has been either feast or famine with too much rain in the spring and now too little rain. Kind of reminds us about our industry and the highs and lows we experience. For many of our younger members with 10 years or so of experience you have never seen a real downturn in our industry. For us more seasoned members, although we have seen this before, it just seems different this round. With commodity pricing out of our control we just have to try hanging on for a wild ride.

Ironically with this summer drought we are experiencing our August monthly meeting had an excellent program with Stephen McNair - Vice President, Infrastructure Development and Operations, Pioneer Natural Resources speaking on "Permian Water Management for the 21st Century".  Again a nice turnout and if you missed his presentation it is posted on the Dallas Section website. Some really good news along with that is the parking lot has been restored to normal making access to the facility much better. Thank you for your patience.

The Study group meeting was held in August with a presentation and discussion by Greg Darby - Vice President, Pro-Ject Chemicals, Inc. on “Improving Paraffin Treating by Modernizing Chemical Application via Pressurized Injection”. Keep these Study group meetings in mind as they are a great opportunity to network and participate in more detail. Some of the attendance has been down during the summer and would like to encourage members to support these opportunities to learn and engage in meaningful discussion at these technically focused meetings.

This month we will have an excellent program at the monthly meeting on September 16^th. Matthew Hornbach, Associate Professor, Geophysics Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University will be presenting on "Causal Factors for Seismicity near Azle, Texas" – Earthquakes”. It is anticipated to be a highly attended event so I would encourage everyone to sign up early to ensure a place.

On September 23^rd the study group will have a presentation and discussion by Justin Butler - US Business Development Manager - NCS Multistage on "Stimulation Stage Optimization – Single Point Entry for New and Old Wells". Given the industry focus on horizontal wells this should be an interesting meeting topic.

A major upcoming event worth noting is the Dallas section will be holding the 11th Annual "Shoot for Your School” Sporting Clays Tournament – This will be a 100 Bird event held on Thursday, October 15, 2015 at Elm Fork Shotgun Sports in Dallas. The goal for 2015 is at least $10,000 to the Dallas SPE Scholarship program to be distributed to your school. Your sponsorship and/or donations can make this possible!

 Future programs will include topics such as “Optimization of Multi-Fractured Horizontal Completions” in October by one of the SPE Distinguished Lecturers and “Reservoir Engineering & Economics” in November.

With regard to community outreach the Dallas Chapter SPE will be participating in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Fair to be held at the Brookhaven College Geotechnology Institute on October 17-18, 2015 from 10 am to 5 pm. Volunteers to help with the hands-on activities related to the oil and gas industry are welcome.

Our SPE Young Professionals held an Educational Happy Hour August 20^th with a program on "Oil & Gas Economic Consideration of Entrepreneurship". This month our YP’s will be providing programs through the Ambassador Leadership Program to the Imagine Academy in McKinney and a presentation to the Dallas SPE sponsored SMU SPE student chapter meeting.

Hope to see you one of the upcoming meetings.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can volunteer. 

Regards,

 

Gary Schein

Chairman
SPE Dallas Section
2015-2016

Chairman’s Corner – August 2015 by Gary Schein

 

 

Now that we are in the midst of summer it appears this is what was meant when the term “Dog Days of Summer” was used. Hopefully everyone has found ways to stay cool and take some time off and away from reading about oil prices.

Regarding oil prices our July monthly meeting had a great program with Dave Pursell from Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. speaking on "Crude Oil Markets – The Case for Improved Markets in 2016". We had a great turnout and if you missed his presentation it is posted on the Dallas Section website. We appreciate everyone’s attendance these past few months with the challenges the current parking situation at Brookhaven College. Thank you for your patience and perseverance to attend the events. I believe the parking lot issues will be resolved by our next meeting date so hang in there.

The Study group meeting was held in July with Rebekah Stacha, CAE – SPEI Senior Manager Technical Publication discussing “How to Use and Contribute to PetroWiki - A Powerful Tool”. Keep these Study group meetings in mind as they are a great opportunity to network and participate in more detail.

The July meeting was highlighted as well by the presentation of the 2015 SPE Mid-Continent Regional awards to several members of the Dallas Section. Although all our recipients were not able to attend, we will catch up with them at a future meeting, they are listed below so congratulate these people on their contribution to our industry.

Gary Schein - Completions Optimization & Technology

Deepankar Biswas - Reservoir Description & Dynamics

Terry Palisch – Service

Richard Lemon – Service

David Hamilton - Service

This month we will have another good program at the monthly meeting on August 15^th. Stephen McNair - Vice President, Infrastructure Development and Operations, Pioneer Natural Resources will be presenting on "Permian Water Management for the 21st Century". On August 26^th the study group will have a presentation and discussion by Greg Darby - Vice President, Pro-Ject Chemicals, Inc. on “Improving Paraffin Treating by Modernizing Chemical Application via Pressurized Injection”

 Future programs will include topics such as Earthquakes in DFW area and in October one of the SPE Distinguished Lecturer will be presenting on “what else” shales.

With regard to service within our community our SPE Young Professionals group worked to give back to our local Dallas community and work on building a house for a family in need through a Habitat for Humanity Volunteering Event held on July 18^th. Big Thanks to these people who volunteered their time to help others.

Hope to see you at the next meeting.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can volunteer. 

Regards, 

 

Gary Schein

Chairman
SPE Dallas Section
2015-2016

 Chairman’s Corner – July 2015 by Gary Schein

Welcome to the July installment of the Chairman’s Corner newsletter.  This month marks the first Chairman’s Corner that I will write, but more importantly May 31st officially brought to a close the 2014-2015 program years.  On June 1st a new Board (see below) will take the reins of the Dallas Section.  There are some new faces and however there are still many that are returning to some of their previous rolls as well as shifting to new rolls.  This transition has been relatively seamless with new members and our veterans helping lead the way.  Most importantly a key to an orderly transition is that the rest of the Dallas Section membership will continue to support the Board with their volunteer efforts. We are fortunate to have great volunteers within our section particularly in these challenging times.

 

Although Danny Bell has left the board he has been instrumental in the success of our education programs and study group meetings for these past years. His efforts are to be commended and look forward to the guidance he has and will provide to our section in the future.

New to the Board are Keenan Voit who will be taking over as Secretary, Rob Bruant who will take on the position of Programs Chair, and Kimberly Lacher who will assist on our advertising efforts for the section.  These folks are to be commended for taking a step forward in their leadership of the Section.

 

 

This has and will be a challenging year given the low oil price environment we are faced with. With the reduction in expenditures throughout the industry sponsorships and participation in outside events has certainly been affected. However even with these challenges our volunteers have worked diligently to put on quality events.

The 24nd Annual Casino Night, led by David Creach and the 33rd Annual Dallas Section Golf Tournament (June 15th) were great events. Even with the golf tournament having to be postponed two weeks because of the flooding proved to be an outstanding led this year by Peggy Tibbetts with John Tabor’s 30 plus years’ experience and guidance. Remember, these are our primary scholarship fundraisers.  

In addition to these fun events the community relations outreach, led by Sam Larkin has continued our relationship through Brookhaven College with sponsorship to TexPREP program to promote STEM education for young people in the Dallas area. In addition an “Engineering on the Bus” event, thank you to Brian Chacka, was held on June 12^th where over 13 educators traveled to a drilling rig and to a fracturing location and were the provided informative presentations on the oil and gas business.

Lastly we have some great programs up in the coming months that we hope to see you attend. This month’s program will have Dave Pursell from Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. speaking on "Crude Oil Markets – The Case for Improved Markets in 2016". Future programs will include topics such as water management for the Permian Basin operations, Earthquakes in DFW area. So as you can see our programs chair has performed a great job of lining up some great topics.

Hope to see you at one or more of the meetings this summer.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can volunteer. 

Regards,

Gary Schein

Chairman
SPE Dallas Section
2015-2016

Chairman’s Corner – September 2014 by Jack Harper
Summer is just about over and Fall will soon be here. Of course that’s hard to believe when it’s 100 degrees outside. With the Fall season we have a number of activities to tell you about. But before I get to those I wanted to make sure everyone heard the big news. Our Dallas section has been selected to receive the President’s Award for Section Excellence from SPE International. There are approximately 190 sections in roughly 135 countries, and we are one of 17 sections receiving this honor. If you are able to go to the ATCE in Amsterdam please make sure to attend the award ceremony and be sure to thank the members of last year’s Board of Directors for all of their hard work. Now on to this Fall’s events.
In September the Young Professionals are having a Happy Hour at the Top Golf Dallas. Keep in mind you don’t have to play golf to have fun and you don’t have to be young to attend. The monthly lunch meeting will be on September 24th, it’s not our normal meeting time because it is the first of our SPE Distinguished Lecturers. The speaker will be Dr. James Crafton speaking on “Shale Well Performance Metrics, We Shale Succeed”.
On October 18th, the Young Professionals are holding the first annual Kickball Tournament. For those who have never had the joy of playing, kickball is like baseball except the ball is bigger and you kick it instead of hitting with a bat. It should be a lot of fun, teams are forming now so don’t wait too long to sign up.
And of course our 10th annual “Shoot for Your School” Sporting Clays Tournament is Thursday October 30th. Please contact John Tabor if you are interested in sponsoring this event. The sign up is on our website and there are limited spots available and they do fill up fast.
Hope to see you at the section activities this month. Please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details.

Jack Harper,
Chairman
SPE Dallas Section
2014-2015



Chairman’s Corner – August 2014 by Jack Harper

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable summer.  I hope you all have had a chance to take a few days of vacation before the school year kicks back off.  SPE Dallas had a great speaker, Bill Savage, who spoke about “A Better Modeling Approach for Hydraulic Fractures in Unconventional Reservoirs”.  It was a well received talk and I hope you had a chance to hear it.

 

In August we have Lynn Taschner with Exxon speaking about “The Outlook for Energy: A View to 2040”.  Our YP Group is not having a speaker but instead is doing a community outreach event.  On August 16^th they are working at the Turn Hunger Into Hope – Dallas Feed My Starving Children MobilePack Event.  Please see our website for more information.  As always, you do not have to be a young engineer to participate.

 

Speaking of participation, have you ever thought about volunteering with the SPE Dallas?  Throughout the year we have quite a few events and lunches that are completely organized and run by volunteers just like you.  We are making an effort to make it even easier to get involved by creating a volunteer pool.  All you need to do is get your name on the list and we will help you get in contact with the various event chairmen to get you on the committee that is organizing the event.  If you are interested, please let myself or any of the other board members know and we would be happy to give you additional information.

 

Hope to see you at the section activities this month.  Please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details.

 

Jack Harper,
Chairman
SPE Dallas Section
2014-2015



Chairman’s Corner – July 2014 by Jack Harper

 

As always we have started off the summer with a flurry of activity.  We actually had two different golf activities in June.  The first was the fantastic Golf Tournament that happened the first week.  Once again we sold out the event.  Thanks to all of the sponsors and participants we raised over $17,000 for our section.  I would like to thank John Tabor and his committee for all of their hard work.  An event such as this doesn’t happen without many hours of preparation.  The second golf event was the YP Top Golf social.  Seth and his group did a great job organizing and running this and I encourage everyone young and old to consider attending the YP events.

Another event we had in June was our Formation Damage Seminar.  For those that attended you probably noticed the change in venue.  Long story short, we found out the week before the seminar that we would not have access to the big room at Brookhaven that we normally use.  Thanks to some quick negotiating with the folks at the Brookhaven Geological Institute, Danny was able to find a suitable solution to our problem.  I’m glad we have Danny as a volunteer and if you see him be sure to give him a pat on the back.  Without a meeting room it could have been a disaster.

Speaking of excellent volunteers our section once again had a number of people receive awards from the Mid-Continent Region:

Darrell Davis – Mid-Continent Region Reservoir Description & Dynamics Award

Brian Walter - Mid-Continent Region Management & Information Award

Gary Patterson - Mid-Continent Region Service Award

David Lewis - Mid-Continent Region Drilling Engineering Award

Baker Hughes - Mid-Continent Region Distinguished Corporate Support Award

Please join me in congratulating these members on their much deserved awards.  We also need to thank David Hamilton for his efforts as the SPE Dallas Awards Committee Chair.  Someone has to fill out the nominations before anyone is even considered for the award.

I hope everyone has a safe summer and as always if you are interested in volunteering with the SPE Dallas section it’s never the wrong time.

 

 

Jack Harper,
Chairman
SPE Dallas Section
2014-2015

Chairman’s Corner – June 2014 by Jack Harper

 

It’s hard to believe another year has passed and summer is here again.  With that comes the passing of the torch from the old board to the new board.  As Terry mentioned in the last month’s Chairman’s Corner we have quite a few changes this time around.  I would like to welcome the new board members Patrick, Clayton, Seth, and Marc.  I would also like to thank the previous board for all their hard work.  It was an outstanding year we gave over $100,000 in scholarships and we’ve continued to host quality events.  I hope we can continue to provide great functions that are both entertaining and educational. 

One of the biggest things we did last year was assist in adding two new SPE student chapters, one at SMU and one at the University of North Texas.  We have extended open invitations to these students to all of our events.  Please make sure to welcome the students if you see them.

As always, June is a busy month for SPE Dallas.  Our annual Golf tournament is June 2^nd and as of this writing it is sold out.  Our monthly luncheon will be on June 18^th, we have Jeff Voorhis with Hy-Bon Engineering speaking on “Making money and Dealing with oil and Gas Rule: Rules, Tools and Solutions.”  On June 19^th the YP’s are hosting a summer social at Top Golf.  Keep in mind that just because the YP’s are hosting it you don’t have to be a YP to participate.  On June 25^th we are having a one day “Formation Damage Seminar” which I strongly encourage everyone to consider sending your summer interns.

Last and certainly not least I would especially like to thank Terry Palisch for his leadership.  When you see him, be sure to thank him for all of his hard work and dedication over the last three years.  As you know the road to the Chairman’s position is a four year commitment.  Terry has served the chapter with distinction and has raised the bar for all of the future board members.

 

 

 

Jack Harper,
Chairman
SPE Dallas Section
2014-2015

 

 

 

Chairman’s Corner – May 2014 by Terry Palisch

 

Welcome to the May installment of my Chairman’s Corner.  This month not only marks the last Chairman’s Corner that I will write, but more importantly May 31^st officially brings to a close the 2013-2014 program year.  On June 1^st a new Board (see below) will take the reins of the Dallas Section.  While we will see new faces in all but four positions on the Board, ten existing Board members will take on new roles and four positions will be filled by first time Board members.  The beauty of this is that the transition will be relatively seamless as new members will be supported by “veterans”.  Of course, the biggest key to an orderly transition is that the rest of the Dallas Section membership will continue to support the Board with their volunteer efforts.

Kelly Blackwood and Richard Lemon will be leaving the Board after many years of service, although I am confident that both will continue with their dedicated service to SPE and our Section.  Lesley Hughes and Andrew Roberts will be leaving the Board, but unfortunately they will also be leaving the Section, as both have taken jobs outside of Dallas.  We wish tall of them good look, and thank them for their service.

New to the Board are Patrick Slaughter who will be taking over as Secretary, Clayton Conine who will start a two year term first as Assistant Treasurer, followed by a term as Treasurer.  Seth Thomas will become the YP Chair and continue to lead that exceptional group of young professionals, and Marc Punjak as been appointed as one of the five Directors at Large, to take over the section Advertising duties.  I want to thank them for taking a step forward in their leadership of the Section.

Speaking of the leadership in the section, thanks to Brian Chacka for once again running the 7^th Annual YP Softball Tournament.  Congratulations to team Pioneer who triumphed over team Denbury to retain their title, while Halliburton and Baker finished 3^rd and 4^th respectively.  Thanks to all who participated, and in particular, thanks to our Sponsors, without whom the tourament would not have been successful (see our website for a list of sponsors).

Next up is the 22^nd Annual Casino Night (which will have already occurred by time you read this) and the 31^st Annual Dallas Section Golf Tournament (June 2^nd).  We hope to see you at these important (and fun!) events.  Remember, these are our primary scholarship fundraisers.  Thanks to Jeff Stokes and John Tabor for leading these events.

As I transition to Past-Chair, Jack Harper will officially take the reigns of the section June 1^st.  I hope that all of you will give him, as well as the rest of the 2013-2014 Board, the same support you gave this year’s Board….and more!  As I step away, I want to thank the current Board for their hard work and dedication to the Section. 

Hope to see you at one or more of the activities this month.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can volunteer.  And don’t forget to pay your 2014 dues….NOTE that this is the last month that you will receive email updates from SPE Dallas until your dues are paid in full.

 

Terry Palisch,
Chairman
SPE Dallas Section
2013-2014

2014-2015 SPE Dallas Board

Section Chair	Jack Harper
Section Chair-Elect	Gary Schein
Immediate Past-Chair	Terry Palisch
Programs	Steve Hudson
Education	Danny Bell
Membership	Herb Bell
Secretary	Patrick Slaughter
Treasurer	Allan Hastings
Treasurer-Elect	Clayton Conine
Community Relations	Sam Larkin
Sports & Social	John Tabor
Website/Newsletter	Brian Sellers
Scholarship	Dan Auces
YP Chair	Seth Thomas
Director at Large	David Hamilton - Awards
Director at Large	Ganesh Krishnan - Student Chapter Liaison
Director at Large	Marc Punjak  - Advertising
Director at Large	David Creach
Director at Large	Pat Handren

Chairman’s Corner – April, 2014 by Terry Palisch

 

Welcome to the April installment of my Chairman’s Corner.  Spring is finally here, for at least a few weeks!   Spring brings a feeling of new beginning and increased activity….plants are beginning to green up, it is time to plant our annuals, and we are eager to get to our outdoor activities.

It reminds me of our Dallas Section.  As I mentioned last month, a new slate of officers and board members have been nominated, and they will be taking office in less than two months (June 1^st).  Over this time the current officers will be busy transitioning to the new board, and we will be summarizing our 2013 activities to SPEI in our Annual Report. 

April also starts a very busy season for us in the Section.  In addition to the above activities, over the next several months we will be holding several of our premier annual activities…

April 26^th – 7^th Annual YP Softball Tournament  – McInnish Park in Carrollton…spectators welcome!

May 2^nd – 22^nd Annual Casino Night – Doubletree Dallas Galleria.  Early registration ends April 10^th.  There are also still plenty of sponsorships available.  Lots of GREAT prizes will be given away including a 3 day/2 night Las Vegas vacation as well as a Luxury Suite for 18 at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.  Register now before it fills up.

June 2^nd – 31^st Annual Dallas Section Golf Tournament – Firewheel Golf Course, Garland, TX.  Start gathering up your foursomes, as this tournament is always a fun time.  As in the past, there are numerous opportunities for sponsorships at all levels.

While all of these activities provide for a lot of fun and networking opportunities for the participants, they also represent a significant part of our scholarship fundraising efforts.  Recall that in 2013, we were able to fund nearly $150,000 in scholarships, grants, student chapter and community support, and we would like to continue to grow that amount.  It also contributed heavily to the Dallas Section receiving the SPEI Award for Outstanding Student Support in 2013.  Please help us continue to provide this much needed support by signing up and/or sponsoring these events.  Your help is very much appreciated by the recipients of our financial assistance.

Plans are also being finalized for our annual summer symposium.  For the last two years, we have held a well attended “Hydraulic Fracturing” seminar.  This year we will be changing it up and presenting a seminar on “Formation Damage”.  We have three top-level speakers lined up for this Seminar to be held on June 25^th.  Everyone will benefit from these experienced speakers, including not only those of us already in the industry, but also our summer interns and new-hires.  Space will be limited at Brookhaven College so mark your calendars and be on the look out for registration to open very soon.

Finally, I have more exciting news on the Student Chapter front.  Several members of our UNT student chapter recently participated in a wellsite visit to view several forms of artifical lift as well as a workover rig  (see picture).  A big thanks to Mike Warren and J-W Operating company for leading/sponsoring the trip. 

 

In addition, I am excited to say that last week SPEI approved a new student chapter on the campus of SMU, becoming the second student chapter sponsored by the Dallas Section.  Congratulations to student chapter president Madeline Ryder and her officers, as well as faculty advisor John Kiser.  I visited with the section a couple weeks ago and they are a motivated group of students.  If you or your company are interested in hosted field trips or making presentations to either of our student chapters, please contact me or Ganesh Krishnan (our Student Chapter Liaison).

Hope to see you at one or more of the activities this month.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can volunteer.  And don’t forget to pay your 2014 dues!!!

Terry Palisch,
Chairman
SPE Dallas Section
2013-2014

          

Chairman’s Corner – March, 2014 by Terry Palisch

Welcome to the March installment of my Chairman’s Corner.  Last week we attended the annual Texas Society of Professional Engineers awards luncheon, where Richard Lemon was recongized as SPE Dallas’s Engineer of the Year, and Lesley Hughes was recognized as our Young Engineer of the Year.  SPE Dallas sponsors at the TSPE Awards luncheon every year as a part of Engineer’s Week – congratulations Richard and Lesley! 

Speaking of them, the nominations committee (Richard, Lesley, Steve Hudson, Jack Harper & myself) has been working hard to assemble the members of the 2014-2015 Board.  At our February Board meeting, the committee presented the nominations slate  and the Board accepted them  unanimously.  I’m pleased to present to you the nominations for the 2014-2015 SPE Dallas Section Board:

Board Approved Slate for 2014-2015

Section Chair	Jack Harper
Section Chair-Elect	Gary Schein
Immediate Past-Chair	Terry Palisch
Programs	Steve Hudson
Education	Danny Bell
Membership	Herb Bell
Secretary	Patrick Slaughter*
Treasurer	Allan Hastings
Treasurer-Elect	Clayton Conine*
Community Relations	Sam Larkin
Sports & Social	John Tabor
Website/Newsletter	Brian Sellers
Scholarship	Dan Auces
YP Chair	Seth Thomas*
Director at Large	David Hamilton - Awards
Director at Large	Ganesh Krishnan - Student Chapter Liaison
Director at Large	Marc Punjak * - Advertising
Director at Large	David Creach
Director at Large	Pat Handren

 

We are excited to have four new nominees this year (asterisk)!  The 2014-2015 Board will officially take office on June 1^st, and I am confident that with the help of all section members, they will do an outstanding job.  Please plan to support them.

This month we have several events that you won’t want to miss, including:

March 12^th - YP Informational Luncheon  – Davin Bell with Northstar will be holding a session on money management and other financial issues for our YPs on the campus of SMU.

March 19^th – Section Luncheon – Ken Morgan, Director of the TCU Energy Institute will be speaking on “Domestic Shales and Our Energy Future”

March 26^th – Study Group Luncheon – As a follow up to last month’s discussion on Beam Pumps, Scott Malone (Norris Production Solutions) will be presenting “Selection of an Investment in Sucker Rods”.

Also, don’t forget that the 7^th Annual Softball Tournament is scheduled for April 26^th….put together your team and come join the fun!  More details can be found on the Section website.

And finally, I want to highlight two exciting recent events that the Dallas Section has participated in through our Community Relations Committee.  Sam Larkin led several volunteers to help judge projects at the Future Cities – NTX competition (see picture below) held on January 25^th, as well as participation at the STEM Earth Science Fair on February 22^nd-23^rd.  In both cases, we were able to connect directly to children and teens in the DFW area to promote careers in science and engineering.  Thanks to Sam, John Alderman, Bo Henk, Ganesh Krishnan, Jennifer McClarren, Melinda Reitman, Kathy Reynolds, Kathy Stewart, Seth Thomas and Michael Villalva, etc.

Hope to see you at one or more of the activities this month.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events as well as how you can volunteer.  And don’t forget to pay your 2014 dues!!!

Terry Palisch,
Chairman
SPE Dallas Section
2013-2014

Chairman’s Corner – February, 2014 by Terry Palisch

Welcome to the February installment of my Chairman’s Corner.  I recall many years ago while living in Alaska, that despite being the shortest month of the year, February was very slow and always seemed to drag out….I suspect that had a lot to do with the length and severity of winter.  Of course now I live in Dallas, and we don’t really have that issue (although we have certainly had our share of winter!!!).  Why do I bring this up?  February is anything but a slow month for the Dallas Section, its officers or its members.  Below is a snapshot of the many things we have going on in the coming weeks….please take a look…see how you can help….and plan to participate!!  For more details on how to become involved in any of these events, please visit the Dallas Section website (www.spedallas.org ).

Feb 15^th - YP Volunteer Event – The Young Professionals will be giving back to the community when they work with the Texas Trees Foundation to plant new trees and provide maintenance to existing plants.  Everyone is invited!

Feb 19^th – Section Luncheon – This month we will have another SPEI Distinguished Lecturer, Mr. Dan Daulton, who will be speaking on “Hydraulic Fracturing Myths, Reality and Environmental Stewardship Through Better Chemistry.”

Feb 21^st – Texas Hold ‘em Tourney – Our annual tournament is fast approaching.  Seating is limited so purchase your tickets now.  Sponsorship opportunities are also still available.  This is one of our premier scholarship fundraising events.

Feb 26^th – Study Group Luncheon - David Doyle will be presenting “Beam Pumping Units – From the Bottom Up".

Feb 27^th - TSPE Engineers Week Awards Luncheon – Two Dallas Section members will be honored at the annual Texas Society of Professional Engineers luncheon – Richard Lemon is our Engineer of the Year, and Lesley Hughes is our Young Engineer of the Year.  Tickets, sponsorship opportunities and more details are available at www.TSPEEngineersWeek.com .  Come help us honor our winners.

So while February can be a “quiet” month (unless you have two boys who play high school baseball), we have a lot going on this month that I think you will find educational, beneficial and fun!!  And of course, in most cases you will be supporting our Section Scholarship Fund!

Hope to see you at one or more of the activities this month.  As always, please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org ) for more details on these and other upcoming events, as well as how you can volunteer.

Oh, and one more item….if you have not paid your SPE dues for 2014, please take a moment to do so now (it can be done online!).  This will ensure you continue to receive your JPT, and emails from SPE and the Dallas Section.

Terry Palisch,
Chairman
SPE Dallas Section
2013-2014

Chairman’s Corner – January, 2014 by Terry Palisch

Welcome to the January installment of my Chairman’s Corner.  Seems odd to write “2014”....2013 sure flew by in a hurry.  I hope that everyone had a safe and restful New Year’s.  As we roll into the new year, while it can certainly be instructive to review the highlights of last year (I covered some of that in my last newsletter), I’d like to spend some time looking forward to 2014.  Many like to do this in the form of “New Year’s Resolutions” (although I have read that most of them end up being broken at some point in the year!).  Regardless of whether you have made new year’s resolutions for 2014, I’d like to encourage everyone to make at least one – resolve to get more involved with your professional society (SPE).  There is something for everyone, and I can assure you, you will get much more out of the volunteer experience than you expected. 

While there are many opportunities to get involved, let me just list a few that will hopefully peak your interest:

• Help out on the Sports & Social committee – this committee puts on several social events each year (the next one is the Texas Hold ‘em Night on Feb 21^st), and raises the majority of the funds available for the many scholarships we award annually.
• - Serve on the Scholarship committee – serve with others to evaluate and select sholarship recipients each year. The Dallas Section awards well over $100,000 in scholarahips annually.
• - Assist with Website design and maintenance – last year we launched a new website through SPEI, and while it is serving us well, we have just begun to scratch the surface of what we can do with this site. We can always use help with adding and updating content.
• Help with the section Programs & Education Committees – these two committees are responsible for the monthly section and study group meetings, and also puts on seminars and schools each year.
• - Help out with the Young Professionals (YPs) – our YP section is one of the most active in SPE. They are continuously putting on education and social programs for the Young Professionals.
• - Serve on the Board of Directors – over the next month the Nominations Committee will be assembling the 2014-15 officer slate. If you are interested in serving in a position of leadership, I encourage you to contact a current Board member.

Please consider how you can help.  I am confident there is a position and/or opportunity that will fit your interests and schedule.  You will meet other great colleagues, develop your leadership skills and expand your network….you will not be disappointed.  I encourage you to contact a Board member, or Richard Lemon (who is coordinating the volunteer pool in the section). 

Hope to see you at one or more of our section activities this month.  Please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these events as well as more details on how you can volunteer.

Happy New Year!

Terry Palisch,
Chairman
SPE Dallas Section
2013-2014

  

 Chairman’s Corner – December, 2013 by Terry Palisch

Welcome to the December installment of my Chairman’s Corner.  I hope that everyone had a safe and restful Thanksgiving.  Of course by time you read this, whether we like it or not, we will be in the middle of the Christmas season.  Black Friday will have occurred, sales will be upon us, and decorations will be up.  However, before we leave Thanksgiving, I wanted to take a moment to think about the many things for which I am thankful.  While I could list many, many things in my personal life, I would like to recall those things which pertain to our industry, SPEI and SPE Dallas.  So here goes….

• I’m thankful that we work in an industry which is thriving despite the recent economic woes of the US and the world. Our industry has been a primary job creator over the past several years, and States that contain oil and gas development have fared much better than those that do not. I’m thankful that we as SPE members have the opportunity to spread this information to others outside of our industry, and positively impact the world we live in.
• I’m thankful that our industry provides some of the highest paying jobs and biggest opportunities to college graduates. I’m thankful that SPEI and SPE Dallas positively impact elementary and high school students on many levels, including community relations and scholarships.
• I’m thankful for the partnership that SPE Dallas has with Brookhaven College Geotechnology Institute. We have access to meeting rooms free of charge (we give them a sizable donation every year) and we partner with BCGI on many STEM and community events.
• I’m thankful that SPEI and SPE Dallas provide a great opportunity to learn and hone leadership skills, as well as disseminate technical information to our colleagues as well as those across the globe. I’m thankful for the many networking opportunities it gives us.
• I’m thankful for the current SPE Dallas Board members (see the list below) as well as those that have served in the past. These members do a spectacular job putting on great educational and technical programs, awarding scholarships, working in our community, disseminating information, raising money and leading one of the most successful YP organizations in the Society. You are awesome!
• And finally, I’m thankful for YOU! SPEI and SPE Dallas is YOU, YOU are SPEI and SPE Dallas (to paraphrase Egbert Imomoh). Without your membership, participation and volunteerism, none of the above items would be possible. So thank all of you and your companies for your continued time and monetary support.

While December is busy for many of us, and most likely results in a shortened month for the holidays, I do want to remind everyone that we have some great programs this month.  The Study Group will be hosting Syed Hamid (Halliburton) at BCGI on the 11^th who will be discussing  “A Practical Method for Predicting Scale Formation in Well Completions”.  On Dec 18^th we are honored to have George King speaking at our Monthly Meeting at BCGI on “The Facts on Environmental Risk in Fracturing & Well Construction – What do the Numbers Say?”.  Remember that you may bring a toy in lieu of payment to this meeting, with all donations going to Toys-for-Tots. 

Hope to see you at one or more of our section activities this month.  Please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these events as well as opportunities to volunteer.

And I hope everyone has a great Christmas and safe New Year.

Terry Palisch,
Chairman
SPE Dallas Section
2013-2014

 

Current SPE Dallas Section Board

Chair	Terry Palisch
Chair-Elect	Jack Harper
Past-Chair	Richard Lemon
Programs	Gary Schein
Education	Danny Bell
Membership	John Tabor
Secretary	Steve Hudson
Treasurer	Pat Handren
Treasurer-Elect	Allan Hastings
Community Relations	Sam Larkin
Sports & Social	David Creach
Website/Newsletter	Kelly Blackwood
Scholarship	Dan Auces
YP Chair	Lesley Hughes
Director at Large	Herb Bell - Advertising
Director at Large	David Hamilton - Awards
Director at Large	Brian Sellers - Webmaster
Director at Large	Andrew Roberts - Speaker's Bureau
Director at Large	Ganesh Krishnan - UNT Liaison

 

Chairman’s Corner – November, 2013 by Terry Palisch

October was another busy month for the section (and SPE).  Of course many of you attended the Society’s Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans.  Word is that this year’s exhibit space was the largest on record, and at over 12,000 attendees, it was the highest attendance since 1999.  Brian Chacka, Anil Kumar and Fred Stalkup all received their SPE International awards, and our section received its Outstanding Section Student Support Award.  Plans are now underway for next year’s meeting which will be held in Amsterdam.  Note that the Call for Papers for that conference is now open, with a deadline for abstracts of January 27^th, 2014.  Have you ever considered writing a technical paper?  What new technology are you working that you could document and share?  What case history could you present?  I would like to encourage you to consider submitting an abstract next year for either ATCE, or perhaps another meeting or workshop.  Sharing technical information is critical to the success of our society.  It’s also a great way to develop your technical writing and presentation skills.  I have served on several SPE technical committees and written over a dozen papers, and I am confident that everyone has some interesting and important technology to share.  If you have any questions about how to submit an abstract, or write a paper, call me….I’d love to help!

We welcomed Norm Warpinski (Pinnacle-Halliburton) to our October Section Meeting, and Gary Davis (Wellbore Fishing) to the Study Group Luncheon.  The YP’s hosted a happy hour and social, and we had another sell out crowd at the Annual Shoot for Your School.  I also want to thank our Community Relations committee and all of those that helped man booths at the Earth Science Fair held at Brookhaven College of Geotechnology Institute.  In addition to providing hands on activities for the students, the Dallas Section covered 50% of the costs for the Fair.

Speaking of students, perhaps the most exciting news I have to share this month is that the Dallas Section now has its first “Student Chapter”.  For the last few months our Section has been working with students at the University of North Texas to establish a student chapter there.  They were sanctioned buy UNT, and held elections of officers a few weeks ago.  Earlier this week we were informed that all paperwork is in, and SPEI has approved their application!  The Dallas Section is now considered their sponsoring section.  The students are very motivated, and the university is excited to start offering oil & gas related courses and seminars.  If you would like to speak to their section about any aspect of either your job, or the industry, please contact a board member and we will put you in touch with their programs chair.  Brian Chacka and I have both already spoken at chapter meetings, and I think you will find it very rewarding.

I encourage you to attend one of the upcoming November section events.  We have our annual joint meeting with SPEE on Ethics on Nov 7^th – recall that this will meet your PE requirements.  Matt Young (Lufkin) will be discussing Artificial Lift at the YP meeting on Nov 13^th and Craig McPherson (EVP-COO Denbury) will be discussing Denbury’s CO2 Projects at our Section Meetingon Nov 20^th.  Our next Study Group meeting is in December.

Hope to see you at one or more of our section activities this month.  Please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these events as well as opportunities to volunteer.

 

Terry Palisch,
Chairman
SPE Dallas Section
2013-2014

Chairman’s Corner – October, 2013 by Terry Palisch

As you read this “Corner”, over 10,000 industry professionals will be descending on New Orleans, LA, for the Society’s Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition.  This conference is the hallmark event for our society.  It features cutting edge technical advancements presented by SPE members during the multiple-track 3 day technical sessions.  Many companies will launch new products and technologies in the exhibition hall.  SPE sections and members will be recognized for their contributions to the Society and industry at the Awards Luncheon.  And a new Society President will take office at the Annual Meeting.  If you have never attended an SPE ATCE, or haven’t attended in several years, I would encourage you to make plans for next year, when the Conference will be held in Amsterdam.  Write an abstract, join a committee, or just plan to attend – the technical exchange and networking opportunities are tremendous. 

At our last section luncheon/meeting we were pleased to host the then-current SPE International President, Egbert Imomoh, who gave us an informative update on the current status of the Society, as well as a glimpse into the future.  He reminded us that "SPE is YOU....YOU are SPE!"

Earlier this fall, we sent out ~$40,000 in undergraduate scholarships and the Scholarship committee is currently working on awarding $25,000 in graduate student grants.  In October we have another one of our top university support fundraisers – the Annual Shoot For Your School.  This event is always a lot of fun, and raises money that goes directly to the universities of the winning teams.  The event will be held on October 21^st, so register now!  Registration details can be found at our website.

Also in October (19^th & 20^th) the Section will be joining with Brookhaven College Geotechnology Institute to host the Earth Science Fair at BCGI.  This is a great volunteer opportunity that allows us to impact students of all ages.  Please contact Sam Larkin if you can help, even if only for a few hours!

Looking to hire someone?  Looking for a job?  Did you know that there is a tab on our Dallas Section website that lists job openings?  Contact our webmaster – Kelly Blackwood – if you would like to post a job.  

Hope to see you at one or more of our section activities this month.  Please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these events as well as opportunities to volunteer.

 

Terry Palisch,
Chairman
SPE Dallas Section
2013-2014

Chairman’s Corner – September, 2013 by Terry Palisch

Wow, is it September already….where did the summer go?  While it is only a matter of time before the summer heat breaks (hopefully that occurs soon), your Dallas Section as been hard at work.  First of all, I am pleased to report that Dan Auces and his Scholarship Committee met and evaluated the many applicants for Dallas Section Undergraduate Scholarships.  After a lot of hard work, they awarded over $86,000 in scholardships to 59 students from 12 different universities for the 2013-2014 school year.  The first semester awards in the amount of $44,000 went out in July, and we have begun to receive thank you letters and pictures of the recipients.  I encourage you to check out the Dallas Section website to see some of the winners and the smiles on their faces.  I hope that everyone realizes that the hard work we put into fundraising, sponsorships, and attendance at many of our events is having a positive impact on these students. 

We’ve also had a great line up of speakers this summer at our monthly section, study group, and our YP meetings.  After an enlightening talk on Energy Policy in America by SMU’s Bud Weinstein in July, our August section meeting saw a full house listen to Congressman Joe Barton R-TX speak to us about Hydraulic Fracturing, The Evironmental Lobby and America’s Energy Future.  Not to be outdone, a packed crowd learned about Denbury’s Large Scale CO2 Projects at the Study Group in July, followed by a similar crowd in August who came to hear about Pioneer’s successful Choke Management System.  In July, the YP’s had an incredible speaker, David Rodriguez, who discussed energy efficient buildings and the LEED rating system, and in August they did volunteer work at the North Texas Food Bank.

I encourage everyone to take a look at September’s line up of speakers….at the YP Meeting on September 11^th, John Turley will present an Engineering Look at the Cause of the BP Macondo Blowout….the September 18^th Section Meeting will feature SPE International President Egbert Imomoh…. and Chuck Bell will discuss Frac Fluid Selection and Proppant Transport at the Study Group meeting on September 25^th.  All will be populare and are sure to be well attended, so get your reservations early.

Finally, I want to thank the Baljit Sehbi and Sam Larkin, and his team of volunteers who put on the 3^rd Annual “Engineering on the Bus” field trip on August 16^th.  The participants (primarily area school teachers) had many great things to say about the trip, and I’m confident it had a positive impact on those who attended, as well as those who volunteered to speak.  Thanks also to the companies who made the drilling rig and frac operation visits successful, including Eagle Ridge Energy and Newark E&P, as well as FTS International and Weatherford International.

Hope to see you at one or more of our section activities this month.  Please be sure to take a look at our website (www.spedallas.org) for more details on these events as well as opportunities to volunteer.

Terry Palisch,
Chairman
SPE Dallas Section
2013-2014