SPE Italy is the first Italian upstream oli & gas association. Its story started in the mid of 80’s and follows the path of the Italian hydrocarbons industry growth.
Even if hydrocarbon upstream in the country has always been intense, back before the First World War, it’s only during the Second World War that petroleum operations grew strongly , when AGIP started to use the reflection seismic survey, in 1940. Thanks to this survey, in 1944, AGIP struck in Caviaga, near Milan, the first large gas field in Western Europe with 12 billion cubic meters of reserve.
Since then, the Italian upstream petroleum industry grew rapidly promoting a position of prestige in Western Europe.
It was in the middle of 80’s when a group of SPE members began to evaluate the possibility to create an Italian Section by constituting a nucleus of petroleum technicians that could build up a dialogue with technicians from other countries. For this reason 23 SPE members met in Milan, on 3rd December 1985, and decided to make a request to SPE International based in Richardson, Dallas, to form a section. On 24th July 1986, the section was officially established, giving the access to some Yugoslavian SPE members and the possibility to Austrian later. The name “Adriatic Section” was chosen.
Historically, the Adriatic represents a common basin for the three countries. In this contest, in July 1988, the first bulletin was published. Since the first issue was clear such an important and essential medium of communication it was. By time, the contents have had an evolution, not just aimed to reflect the activities of the association but the entire upstream Italian industry. Nowadays the bulletin is an overview on the global upstream sector with a particular focus on the Italian oil & gas activities.
In June 1995, after the Croatians left to set up their own autonomous section, the Adriatic Section changed its name in Italian Section in order to reflect the change in its territorial jurisdiction.
Today SPE Italian Section counts more than 400 members, 130 of which are young professionals, plus another 100 of the Student Chapter. Worldwide SPE members are more than 100.000.
In 2015 SPE Italian Section celebrated 30 years of activity. Discover our journey!