SPE-GCS Blog

June 1st, 2019

“Recognition is the greatest motivator.” – GERARD C. EAKEDALE

Scholarship Program Updates

As some of you might be aware, we have been awarding 12 annual scholarships for the past few years, including nine petroleum engineering scholarships and three for other disciplines. This year, the board of directors agreed on increasing this number to 14 by adding two more scholarships to the “other disciplines” category. This decision was made based on our strong financial performance and the continued growth of our section. Considering that our industry features professionals from various disciplines, it was logical to boost this segment of our scholarship program.

This year’s scholarship applicant pool was much higher than the previous year. I would like to congratulate the Education Committee, led by Dr. Mohammad Tabatabaei, for all their hard work in identifying and selecting the best candidates for these scholarships. …

May 1st, 2019

“In God we trust. All others must bring data.” – W. EDWARDS DEMING

Permian Basin and the Gas Conundrum

The Permian basin was in the news for a unique reason this time. Natural gas prices at the Waha hub in West Texas tumbled to record-low negative levels on April 3, as takeaway constraints, coupled with compressor station issues at one pipeline, stranded the gas produced in one of the hottest basins in our industry. Prices dived down to -$3.38/MMBtu – a scenario where the producers are paying others to take their gas! In other regions where the primary production stream is gas, companies have the liberty to restrict production when prices fall. But in the Permian, where gas is mostly considered a byproduct, producers have limited options other than to produce and sell or flare the gas, because oil and …

April 1st, 2019

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” – MAHATMA GANDHI

As we enter into the second quarter of 2019, we get into the busiest season for our section. Several of our legacy and new one- day events are set to take place in the next two months. The study groups and committees have put in a lot of effort to plan these events and I wish them the best for a successful execution! Please refer to the events calendar at www.spegcs.org for event information.

This season also calls for action from our members and board officers. We’re preparing to identify candidates to fill the vacant positions in the board for 2019-2020. We’re also in the process of selecting our most deserving volunteers for the annual section awards. Our nominations and succession committee, headed …

March 1st, 2019

"Strength lies in differences, not similarities." – STEPHEN R. COVEY

Membership Trends

Since 2014, we’ve experienced a steady drop in our membership every year. A few years ago, our combined professional and student membership was around 20,000; presently, it’s around 15,000. About 6,000 professional and student members allowed their memberships to lapse after the end of 2018. I’m assuming this is an oversight from these members and I’m hopeful many of them will renew in the coming months. With that said, the historic downturn and volatile oil prices have left a mark on our membership levels, and it’s indeed a big concern that we’re trying to address.

In an effort to educate industry professionals across the Gulf Coast Section about the SPE and the benefits of membership in the society, the Membership Committee is relaunching our Ambassador Program. The SPE-GCS board is …

February 1st, 2019

“There is nothing certain but the uncertain.” – UNKNOWN

Oil Prices

2018 was a mixed year for our industry. Oil prices soared to highs that the market hadn’t seen in almost four years, but also succumbed to some of the largest single-day drops. Early predictions from Wall Street pointed to barrel prices in excess of $100. Instead, the market experienced the worst drop in over two years. Amidst all the volatility in prices, we saw the United States become the world’s largest oil producer in 2018. The key factor driving US production levels was the Permian Basin. In spite of Permian Basin drillers having issues with pipeline takeaway capacity, oil production increased by nearly 900,000 barrels per day last year.

With falling demand and increasing production from the Permian Basin, more price uncertainty is possible this year.

Infrastructure constraints …

January 1st, 2019

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” – CHARLES DARWIN

We exit 2018 and step into 2019 while looking at the plethora of opportunities ahead. There is a lot of focus on the digital transformation of the oil and gas industry. For several decades, the industry has not taken advantage of the opportunities derived from the meaningful use of data and technology. Data from a single rig can be in the range of several terabytes, yet only a fraction of that data is used for interpretationanddecisionmaking.Otherindustriesseemto havemadeadvancementsinrevolutionizingtheirbusinesses  throughaholisticadoptionof digitaltechnologies.Observing their success, the oil industry is slowly realizing that digital transformation extends beyond Silicon Valley and is something that organizations need to adopt if they expect to survive in the next decade. …