August 2019 SPE Aberdeen Focuses on Women in Energy

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Aberdeen Section has announced the launch of its first Women in Energy (WIN) Committee in order to promote gender diversity in the oil and gas industry.

With a focus upon attracting, retaining and engaging women in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), the committee will officially launch, on September 4 at Offshore Europe with exclusive event attended by SPE President Dr. Sami Al-Nuaim and SPEI WIN Chair Nihal Mounir.

Preceding the official evening launch, a wider audience is invited to attend a Women In Energy event being held on September 4, at the Hilton Hotel by TECA between 2pm – 5pm. Attendees will hear from a range of speakers discussing their own experiences of diversity, inclusion and balance in the workplace – as well as young professionals sharing their inspiring success stories. Participants will be encouraged to join the discussions on the day.
The primary focus of the WIN Committee in Aberdeen will be to encourage women to realise their potential in the energy sector. Engineer and WIN committee chair, Ritika Pawar, explains: “Many would argue that there is currently a lack of encouragement for women to enter the energy industry; this results in a definite shortage of female mentors and role models. “We therefore aim to create opportunities for women to enable them to step into leadership roles, pursue their career goals and inspire others.”

SPE Aberdeen Appoints Wells Expert as Chair
Press Release
16 September 2019

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Aberdeen Section has appointed Kenny McAllister as Chair. He takes over from Mr Ian Phillips and will hold the position until September 2021.
Beginning his career as a Research Scientist and Product Development Project Leader with a large chemical multinational, Mr McAllister has since gained more than 20 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry, specialising in the development and commercialisation of new well and near-well technology.
Mr McAllister holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Physics from the University of Strathclyde and Master of Science degree in Information Technology from the University of York.
Currently, he is Managing Director of Seal-Tite UK LLC where he leads its well integrity business interests in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Mr McAllister said: “I am delighted to have been selected by my peers as Chair of the SPE Aberdeen Section, and I look forward to continuing to build on the sterling work done by Ian Phillips over the past four years.
“We are emerging from difficult times across the industry and I look forward to continuing to serve our members through knowledge sharing and technical events, as well as inspiring future generations through our schools’ programmes and events for Young Professionals.”
Involved in SPE Aberdeen for 5 years and a member of the SPE for over 20 years, Mr McAllister previously chaired the Programme Committee which brings technical experts from around the world as well as local speakers to present in Aberdeen. Mr McAllister is passionate about the science and art of new technology adoption. He has been instrumental in bringing intelligent wells technology such as downhole fibre optic measurement and surface control downhole valves to the industry across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
SPE is an international organisation, with thousands of members in the UK, each of whom is affiliated to one of three UK sections in Aberdeen, London and Great Yarmouth. Aberdeen is the largest of these sections with over 2,500 members.

SPE Aberdeen awards £29,500 of student bursaries

Students at universities around the country have received a financial boost from the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Aberdeen Section as part of its 2019 bursary programme.

Each year, the bursaries are open to students studying oil and gas related subjects from the University of Aberdeen, Robert Gordon University, the University of Dundee, Heriot Watt University and the University of Strathclyde. More than 85 students, from undergraduate to PhD levels, applied for this year’s programme, with 26 awarded funding.

A shortlist of students was selected and invited to attend an interview panel, which allowed judges to decide who the recipients of the top awards of £3000 would be. The five students are:

Theresia Betty Sumarno – University of Dundee
Xiang Shi – Heriot-Watt University
Victoria Spooner – Heriot-Watt University
Theodor Tufa – University of Aberdeen
Yatin Suri – Robert Gordon University

A further 8 students were awarded £1000 each.

Farhan, Khan – University of Aberdeen
Viktors Stepovojs – University of Aberdeen
Ruissein Mahon – Robert Gordon University
Adam Cawood – University of Aberdeen
Ewan Campbell – University of Aberdeen
Hidayat Miftah – University of Aberdeen
Gillian Douglas – Heriot-Watt University
Nko Victor Ugochukwu – University of Dundee

A final 13 were awarded £500

Yakubu Balogun – Robert Gordon University
Sam Head – Heriot-Watt University
Emmanuel Eke – Robert Gordon University
Alfredo Freites – Heriot-Watt University
Aaron Tung – University of Aberdeen
Joseph Sherratt – University of Aberdeen
Kennedy Omoigui – Robert Gordon University
Serveh Naderi – Heriot-Watt University
Cameron Hogan – University of Strathclyde
Christopher Ibeh – University of Strathclyde
Gang Wang – Heriot-Watt University
Odion Udebhulu – Robert Gordon University
Suardi Nur – University of Dundee

Ritika Pawar, Chair of the Student Development committee, said: “The SPE Aberdeen bursary programme has been a major source of student support for more than four decades and we are proud that this has continued, despite industry challenges over the years.

“Once again, entries presented our judging panel with a challenging task however we have been extremely encouraged by the calibre of the students and their clear future potential. The interview stage also allowed us to meet and hear more from these promising individuals and like previous years, this process did not disappoint.

“Sharing technical knowledge is at the core of SPE and as much as this applies on a peer-to-peer basis, it is even more important that we share this knowledge and support our industry’s future generation.”

Each of the students were presented with their awards at SPE Aberdeen’s monthly technical meeting on 27 March at the Sandman Signature Hotel Aberdeen.

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) recently honored Ian Phillips with SPE Distinguished Membership at SPE’s Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held 24-26 September in Dallas, TX. Phillips is CEO at Oil and Gas Innovation Centre.
Phillips is being recognized for his SPE North Sea Region leadership roles including Regional Director & Aberdeen Section Chairman, for managing and chairing the prestigious SPE Offshore Achievements Awards which has gained International recognition for the SPE Aberdeen Section.
SPE serves more than 159,000 members worldwide, sharing technical knowledge for the benefit of our industry. Each year, SPE presents awards that recognize members whose efforts have advanced petroleum technology, as well as their professional achievements and contributions to the industry and the society.
“It is an honor to recognize Ian for his commitment and dedication to the oil and gas industry with the SPE Distinguished Membership. SPE international award winners were nominated by their colleagues and selected by their peers for their achievement and contributions and it’s my pleasure to congratulate him on receiving this prestigious international award from SPE,” said Darcy Spady, 2018 SPE President.

Our new Annual Review is now available to view online by clicking here.

Have a look at what the section has been involved in over the last 12 months.

From the wonders of slime to learning more about rocks, the fun of engineering is being brought to life for youngsters throughout the summer.

Summer of Engineering, sponsored by SPE Aberdeen Section, is being held at the Aberdeen Science Centre until 31 August and will take visitors on a journey through the different engineering disciplines.

Offering a range of activities and educational workshops to keep families occupied, the event aims to inspire the next generation of innovators and problem solvers to learn more about engineering and the wide variety of ways it helps shape our world.

STEM ambassadors from SPE will be helping out throughout the summer to help provide real world context to the activities that are put on by the Aberdeen Science Centre.

Liz Hodge, chief executive of the Aberdeen Science Centre, said: “The Aberdeen Science Centre and SPE share a common goal, to engage in promoting the public understanding of STEM. As a charity, we rely on sponsorship support to help make events like this possible and we are extremely grateful to SPE Aberdeen Section. Their support has enabled us to make Summer of Engineering bigger and better, as well as providing us with SPE STEM ambassadors to help deliver events.

“For us, the most important thing about engineering is the relevance it has to everyday life and the north of Scotland. We can’t wait to engage with children and help them understand how it is used in real life, and of course, have fun in the process.”

Graham Skinner, Vice-chair of SPE Aberdeen School Career Guidance Committee, added: “SPE Aberdeen Section is passionate about inspiring the next generation and we are delighted to be supporting the Summer of Engineering.

“Engineering is about problem solving, so in a way, we are all engineers to some extent. By linking engineering to the fun activities youngsters already enjoy, we are hopeful that they will consider a career in Engineering in the future. Our STEM ambassadors are looking forward to working with children throughout the summer and getting that message across in an engaging and exciting way.”

For more information on Summer of Engineering visit www.aberdeensciencecentre.org<http://www.aberdeensciencecentre.org>

Brand new for SPE Aberdeen events, a Petroleum Economics Conference with the date to be announced soon.

SPE’s Petroleum Economics 2018 is the first conference of its kind dedicated to the full cycle of reservoir discovery, project sanction and final investment decision criteria, and tax implications in the UK.

Call for Abstracts is open and we are looking for 200 word abstracts covering the following:

• Case studies on joint venture parties on running open book economics to gain alignment
• Case studies on Tax Transfer History and its impact on asset sales in the UK
• SECR and its impact on the investable projects in the UK

Download the call for abstracts here.

For more information on the conference, visit www.spe-aberdeen.org or contact aberdeen.events@spe-uk.org or call 01224 646311

SPE Aberdeen awards £20,000 of student bursaries

Students at universities around the country have received a financial boost from the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Aberdeen Section as part of its 2018 bursary programme.

Each year, the bursaries are open to students studying oil and gas related subjects from the University of Aberdeen, Robert Gordon University, the University of Dundee, Heriot Watt University and the University of Strathclyde. More than 65 students, from undergraduate to PhD levels, applied for this year’s programme, with 20 awarded funding.

A shortlist of students was selected and invited to attend an interview panel, which allowed judges to decide who the recipients of the top awards of £2500 would be. The five students are:

A further 15 students were awarded £500 each.

Ritika Pawar, Chair of the Student Development committee, said: “The SPE Aberdeen bursary programme has been a major source of student support for more than four decades and we are proud that this has continued, despite industry challenges over the years.

“Once again, entries presented our judging panel with a challenging task however we have been extremely encouraged by the calibre of the students and their clear future potential. The interview stage also allowed us to meet and hear more from these promising individuals and like previous years, this process did not disappoint.

“Sharing technical knowledge is at the core of SPE and as much as this applies on a peer-to-peer basis, it is even more important that we share this knowledge and support our industry’s future generation.”

Each of the students were presented with their awards at SPE Aberdeen’s monthly technical meeting on 28 March. The top bursary recipients have also been invited to present at SPE Aberdeen’s events over the coming months.

The year 2017 saw SPE Aberdeen Section win the SPE Presidents Award for Section Excellence for the 8th consecutive year. We are very proud of such a fantastic achievement – please click below to see some of the highlights.

Jenny Junnier – Chair of AXIS network – recognised by “Woman’s Business Council”

The co-founder of an organisation which aims to boost gender balance in the oil and gas industry will today pick up a prestigious award from the Women’s Business Council at a reception held at the House of Commons.

Jenny Junnier, chair of the AXIS Network and a senior manager at Deloitte in Aberdeen, will receive the Women’s Business Council award for Getting On- an award given to those who help women enhance their careers.

The awards, now in their third year, celebrate professionals working to support women’s contributions to economic growth.

Founded in 2014, the AXIS Network, aims to promote gender diversity in the oil and gas industry. Over the last 3 years Jenny and the AXIS Network committee have grown the group from 20 to more than 620 members from 160 organisations in the North East of Scotland.

Jenny said: “It’s an honour to receive recognition for what we’re trying to achieve in the oil and gas industry. When we launched, we didn’t appreciate that oil and gas was about to enter one of its toughest-ever periods. Back in 2014, we struggled to find any women heading up energy companies in Aberdeen, but now you can point to a number in senior positions.”

As the industry recovers and seeks to implement the recommendations laid out in the Wood Review, women have an increasingly important role to play  providing an alternative view of how to take oil and gas forward and build a more collaborative future.

Graham Hollis, senior partner for Deloitte in Aberdeen, said: “A massive congratulations to Jenny for an outstanding commitment to oil and gas as well as championing women in business. The industry needs to forge a collaborative future and to achieve this we must recognise the current challenge and promote diversity”

SPE Aberdeen and AXIS Network work closely together under their MOU created in 2015.

SPE would like to express our sincere appreciation for our volunteers service and contribution as members of the Inspire committees.

We ran a multitude of events this year targeted at Students and Young Professionals as part of the 2017 Inspire Programme.

We had two sponsors for the Inspire programme including Expro and TAQA. In addition Schlumberger provided additional support to the Schools Engagement Programme.

A summary and some photos of these events are below.

Career Pathways Fair We had great engagement from local volunteers and our program sponsors for this program with 13 Stands representing a variety of industry career paths. This allowed attendees to find out everything they need to know about the potential opportunities available to them by speaking to those in the industry one to one.

CV and Interview Skills Workshop  SPE President, Janeen Judah, started us off at this event discussing her views on the future on then industry. This was followed by an in depth exploration on how to approach a job description and making yourself the best candidate for the role. We have had some great feedback from this event and plan to run more.

Emerging Engineers Forum Adam Zalewski and Lalit Bhamare from the Aberdeen Section led on this event, featuring many local experts from Aberdeen. Through round table groups, six industry topics were explored, discussing various future developments with the groups. This was an excellent way to give some in depth insights about exciting upcoming local innovations.

Communication Skills Workshop This event explored various methods and tips to develop skills that will benefit any career. Through activities and presentation, best practices were described allowing attendees to hone their skills and understand their own communication styles. Topics included what using the best method of communication for the message, understanding your audience as well as discussing global issues like time zones, cultural and language barriers.

Oil and Gas: EXPAT-ations of living abroad This event featured seven great speakers who each talked about their own experiences working abroad. Their combined knowledge meant that we covered experience from almost everywhere in the world. This global insight allowed for great discussions with attendees to inform their own decisions, plans and concerns about living abroad.

Making the Most of Your membership Attendees were welcomed by a last minute additional speaker, Hisham Saadawi, SPEs Technical Director for Production and Facilities. Joined by Aberdeen Section Vice Chair, Brenda Wyllie and SPE Staff, this session was able to explore everything to be gained from SPE membership. By the end attendees were thoroughly up to speed with everything SPE.

Schools Engagement Programme This year the programme welcomed over 30 students (15-17 year olds), 10 teachers and 8 schools. Several exhibitors supported the programme and hosted the student tour groups including Aker, EC-OG, Expro, Fairfield and Schlumberger though a tour of the OE Exhibition. Keynote speeches were provided by SPE President Janeen Judah, Neils Sims VP of Europe CIS Region, Expro and Donald Taylor, MD, TAQA.  There was a lot of positive feedback from the teachers and pupils who were in attendance.

SPE Cares Beach Clean at the River Don Working with the Marine Conservation Society, we recorded data on what the types and quantity of litter found at the local River Don Beach. Local and international volunteers contributed to this national study to improve conservation and manage to clear a considerable amount of waste from a very beautiful beach.

Some photos are below. The full 17OE Conference and Exhibition photos can be found online here.

SPE Aberdeen University student chapter hosted Shell Upstream Vice President U.K. and Ireland – Steve Phimister  who came to campus to deliver a seminar. The session began with Steve introducing himself, his education and varied roles within Shell which took him across Europe, Australia, Asia and the Americas. Steve also gave a brief insight into Shell’s current operations both globally and in the North Sea region, after which the event proceeded to a Q&A session.

The one and a half hour Q&A session extensively covered a broad range of queries posed by fully-packed lecture theatre of undergraduate and post-graduate students hailing from various engineering and geology disciplines amongst others along with specialised post-graduate degrees such as decommissioning and oil and gas law.

PACKED LECTURE THEATRE FOR STEVE PHIMISTERS PRESENTATION

The session covered the present-day oil and gas climate along with Shells current and future strategies. Net zero emissions and Paris climate agreement were raised in one of the questions and Shells commitment towards diversifying its energy portfolio aimed towards a sustainable future was outlined. Similarly, Steve shared the process that goes into major current and future investments in the ongoing downturn such as diligently scrutinising natural and monetary resource efficiency, while keeping environmental impact at the forefront of the discussion.

Other topics discussed included Shells regional policies and effects of geo-politics in operations, the decommissioning projects in North Sea, carbon capture facilities and possibilities, impact of major events such as Brexit on North Sea operations along with region specific developments such as Saudi Aramco’s public share offering and the Shale revolution in North America. The energy outlook of various think tanks was considered and the potential future energy makeup consisting of a harmonic coexistence of renewables and hydrocarbons was pondered over along with the prevalent electrification boom.

Similarly, population growth along with increasing urbanisation within developing countries was considered, to underscore the exponentially increasing energy demands and the strain placed on both hydrocarbons and renewables to pursue more efficient future strategies; incorporating innovation, standardisation, efficiency and transparency of technical expertise among other targets.

Steve also divulged the key traits considered during Shell’s recruitment process. He also shared some of Shell’s STEM promoting ventures along with the company goal of accruing a more ethnically and gender diverse workplace environment mirroring global communities.

All in all, it was a successful event and the attendees had all of their questions answered in-depth. The evening ended with the presentation of a handout to Steve; followed by a networking session over complimentary pizza, cake and drinks.

From Pore Space to Pipeline  leading subsurface conference returns for 15^th year

The organisers of DEVEX, a leading subsurface conference, officially launched the 2018 Conference yesterday.  Working together, from pore space to pipeline will be the theme for the 2018 Conference which is now in its 15^th year.  It is the only technical conference of its size which is focused on the full cycle of reservoir discovery, evaluation, development and recovery in the UK and provides opportunities for engineers and geoscientists to come together and share knowledge.

The Chair for the 2018 Conference, Brenda Wyllie from the Oil and Gas Authority and Vice President of SPE Aberdeen said I am pleased to be asked to Chair DEVEX 2018 on behalf of the SPE Aberdeen Section and look forward to helping the Technical Committee develop a strong program that brings together Engineers from Geoscience, Subsurface and Facility disciplines.

DEVEX is entering its 15^th year and has a reputation for showcasing Operator case studies with excellent examples of collaboration, cost savings and innovative use of technology.

SPE, PESBG and AFES are working collaboratively to provide a two day conference that provides a high quality, local conference to assist in professional development and training.

The organisers would once again like to make DEVEX free to attend, or at least with a minimal entry fee, to ensure it is accessible for all those wishing to join this important conversation. Companies pledging their support so far are Apache, BP, Chevron, CNR, ConocoPhillips, Nexen, Premier Oil, Shell and TAQA.

DEVEX 2018 will take place on the 8^th and 9^th May at the AECC. Organisers will soon be issuing a call for abstracts and will be seeking papers on frontier exploration; advanced recovery mechanisms “ waterflood to EOR; near field opportunities; facilities enhancements to improve efficiency; big data; field rejuvenation and late life well optimisation and of course case histories on maximising production and on successfully bringing shut in wells back on stream.

Back by popular demand will be expert-led masterclasses, a Young Professionals event and Core will be on display.

For further information, visit www.devex-conference.org or email devex@mearns-gill.com

Do you know some of the other benefits of being an SPE member?

The access to online SPE publications such as JPT (Journal of Petroleum Technology) OGF ( Oil and Gas Facilities) and TWA (The way ahead),  and we also provide live SPE webinars which are free to our members and at a cost to non-members.

Links to our pages are available by clicking the links below.

JPT: https://www.spe.org/en/jpt/jpt-main-page/

OGF: https://www.spe.org/en/ogf/ogf-main-page/

TWA: https://www.spe.org/en/twa/twa-main-page/

SPE Live webinars: https://webevents.spe.org/

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Aberdeen Section has awarded a total of £20,000 to the winning students in its 2017 student bursaries programme.

The programme has been an integral part of SPE Aberdeen for over 40 years, and in the last 10 years alone, more than £100,000 of financial support has been awarded to over 100 students.

This year almost 100 students applied for awards, with 20 winners selected to receive grants. Five bursaries of £2500 and 15 bursaries of £500 were awarded to students from the University of Aberdeen, Robert Gordon University, University of Dundee and Heriot Watt University.

The bursaries were awarded to students currently undertaking oil and gas related degrees at various levels, from undergraduate to PhD. Each applicant was judged on the quality of their academic work, their intent to embark upon a career in the oil and gas industry and their active involvement with SPE.

Out of the 20 finalists, 12 were invited to attend an interview panel to compete for the five £2500 bursaries.  Judge Alan Dick, Vice President at Simmons & Co, said: “We’re presented with a challenge every year to select the highest performing candidates, and this year was no different with an extremely high quality of applications.

“Judging these entries is an inspiring process to go through – the whole panel were very encouraged by the work ethic, innovative thinking and presentation skills of each of the candidates. We wish all of the winners the very best in their future careers.”

The five students who were awarded the £2500 bursaries were:

·         Balogun Yakubu, PhD in Engineering, Robert Gordon University

·         Robert Lawrie, MEng in Petroleum Engineering, Aberdeen University

·         Mark Lakos, MSc in Petroleum Engineering, Heriot Watt University

·         Douglas Gourlay, MEng in Petroleum Engineering, Aberdeen University

·         Paul Robb, MSc Oil & Gas Innovation, Robert Gordon University

The students were presented with their awards at a ceremony at Robert Gordon University on Friday 17 February, 2017.

Ian Phillips, Chairman of SPE Aberdeen said: “Our student bursary programme was set up to help high calibre graduates achieve their career goals, and the return on the investment we make ensures these future leaders develop the leadership and innovation skills required for our future sustainability.

“The last couple of years have been an extremely challenging time for the industry, and external factors have sadly forced some businesses to reduce this type of support for students. We are extremely proud that we have been able to continue running our student bursary programme throughout the downturn, ploughing our modest surplus funds back into the future of the industry.

“SPE is a not-for-profit professional society, and aims to run events at a ‘break even’ level.   The ongoing support of our members and the wider energy industry in Aberdeen and further afield, attending our events and remaining involved in our initiatives, means that we make a small surplus on some events. This allows us to fund support for students and school age children, encouraging our industry’s next generation and future leaders.”