The 2022-2023 Session Is Officially Underway!

Taking place last week at Aberdeen Science Centre, our section kick-off event was a fantastic night for all involved. Opening the night up beyond members, we invited many of our partners and supporters to attend, seeing first-hand how their contribution ensures that SPE Aberdeen inspires the next generation of industry leaders and experts.

Taking full advantage of the brilliant, cutting-edge facilities available at the science centre, it provided the perfect location for many of our committees to showcase their commitment to developing the future of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. There was no better example of this than having the brilliant Mintlaw Academy ROV team in attendance.

We’d like to extend a massive thank you to everybody who attended our session launch event for coming along, getting involved, and taking the opportunity to discuss the exciting future ahead for the SPE Aberdeen section, as well as to the team at ASC for being so accommodating in hosting our event.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the Aberdeen section, or if you’d like to get involved yourself, then don’t hesitate to get in touch; details here.

SPE Aberdeen Needs You!

People like you! That’s what the volunteers at SPE Aberdeen are.

As we see the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel we have a wealth of volunteering opportunities.

The summer months see the changing of guard with several officers’ 2-year tenures coming to an end and this creates an opportunity for you to bring your ideas to Chair and Vice Chair roles too. We are keen to bring new people and new ideas into the volunteering team and into leadership roles. 

My tenure as Chair of the Section comes to an end this summer. We expect Graham Dallas to step up from Vice Chair and this will lead to vacancies for section Vice Chair and also chair of the Membership, Marketing and Communications committee. The vice chair position in the Programme Committee is also currently vacant. 

In addition to these positions, our committees always welcome new ideas and new volunteers. We have a couple of new committees, Net Zero and Diversity & Inclusion, for you to get involved in. These committees will help SPE Aberdeen continue to grow and meet the needs of the energy industry.

Within our committees there will be a role for you which fits with your interests and time commitments.

It is easy to get in touch and get involved. Contact myself (aberdeen.chair@spe-uk.org) or Section Manager Diane Wood (aberdeen.manager@spe-uk.org) and we can tell you more about these opportunities and discuss what might suit you best. We look forward to hearing from you. 

Get involved, you will find a friendly, smart, positive bunch. People like you! 

Meet the team here.

Kind regards,

Kenny

Kenny McAllister

Chair SPE Aberdeen Section 

SPE Aberdeen Embraces Change

The events of 2020 require no explanation, it has changed life for the last 7 months and continues to do so. SPE Aberdeen has a mission handed down from SPE International “to collect, disseminate, and exchange technical knowledge” and “to provide opportunities for professionals to enhance their technical and professional competence”. Due to the issues with our typical delivery, many like-minded people congregating in the same room discussing and sharing knowledge, we have had to change our mode of operation somewhat.

Incoming SPE President Tom Blasingame likens the current crisis as a storm and notes “humans have evolved and survived not despite adversity but because of it”, I think we can reflect on this and hopefully see some cracks in the clouds and look for the sun breaking through.

With this in mind, we have turned our output digital and found many benefits. Our Continuing Education programme was hugely affected, so we replaced major conferences and adapted them to bite-size webinars timed to suit the working day. With three (Seismic, DEVEX and CCUS) safely under our belts we understand what works and what does not, the feedback and data from a digital event gives a huge insight into viewing time and engagement; valuable information for our upcoming and future events.

Our evening technical programme, usually held at the Sandman Signature Hotel, was likewise affected but has transformed into a series of technical webinars  Being unhindered by location and timing we have managed to provide a varied range of topics delivered by and available to anyone around the globe, providing we are cognisant of the relevant time-zones.

Outreach to students and schools is more critical than ever. Teachers and lecturers are adjusting to the new normal of remote and blended learning. SPE Aberdeen are here to support, digitally of course, and have a vast range of volunteers standing by, indeed a number are currently supporting TechFest’s STEM in the Pipeline Energising the Transition essay competition and are being interviewed by students as part of the research for their chosen topic.

Our members stand fast and I hope they continue to associate themselves with SPE Aberdeen. The entire industry, not just Aberdeen, is in a stage of constant change, an Energy Transition if you will. We aim to be at the leading edge of this transition, understanding our members needs, and being at the forefront of technology exchange and knowledge sharing, especially where it involves skills transfer and the livelihoods of thousands of professionals.

What will the future bring? In any scenario SPE Aberdeen shall reflect what is current and pertinent to the Energy Industry, be mindful of and embrace change, and champion the future to carve out a meaningful, challenging career for all.

Graham Dallas – Vice Chair SPE Aberdeen

SPE Aberdeen Section has awarded £27,500 to 21 students as part of its 2020 bursary programme.

With individual bursaries ranging from £500 to £3,000 available, a total of 71 students from undergraduate to PhD level applied this year from Robert Gordon University, University of Aberdeen, University of Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt University.

Each winning student was presented with their bursary award at a ceremony hosted by SPE Aberdeen, which took place on 12 March at Robert Gordon University.

Five students were awarded this year’s top bursaries of £3,000:

• Amy Connelly, University of Aberdeen
• Eilidh Heaton, University of Aberdeen
• Milena Zagulak, University of Aberdeen
• Sam Head, Heriot-Watt University
• Xiang Shi, Heriot-Watt University

A further 9 students were awarded £1000 each:

• Amanzhol Kubeyev, Heriot-Watt University
• Amirsaman Rezaeyan, Heriot-Watt University
• Mark Ashworth, Heriot-Watt University
• Nicolás Manuel Sosa, Heriot-Watt University
• Yevgeniya Morrice, Heriot-Watt University
• Theodor Alexandru Tufa, University of Aberdeen
• Christine Enowmbi Tambe, University of Strathclyde
• Ruissein Mahon, Robert Gordon University
• Augustina Ginikanwa, Robert Gordon University

A final 7 were awarded £500:

• Nengi Karibi-Botoye, Heriot-Watt University
• Miftah Hidayat, University of Aberdeen
• Bauyrzhan Batayev, University of Aberdeen
• Alberto Lener, University of Aberdeen
• Viktors Stepovojs, University of Aberdeen
• Robin Samuel Ponmelil Thundiyil, Robert Gordon University
• Emmanuel Eke, Robert Gordon University

The 2020 awards also showed strength of diversity, with women representing half of this year’s recipients and three out of the five top bursary awards.

Rob Lee, Head of Petrophysics Solutions at Shell UK was head of the student bursary selection committee for 2020 and commended the calibre of this year’s applicants. He said:

“Although the majority of applications tend to come from petroleum engineering students, the field of studies this year covered a wide range – not only chemical, mechanical, environmental and safety engineering, but also industry management, economics and law. The diversity of the skills and knowledge demonstrated in those planning a future career in energy is extremely encouraging for our industry.”

SPE Aberdeen’s scholarship programme has been running for more than 35 years and in the last ten years alone, the bursary programme has awarded approximately £200,000 of financial support.

Kenny McAllister, SPE Aberdeen Chairman said: “We are delighted to once again support our industry’s next generation, particularly during a time when such huge emphasis is being placed upon nurturing future talent.

“The amount of financial support our section has been able to provide for bursary awards over the years is tremendous. This is made possible not only through the dedication of our volunteers, but also the support from our event sponsors and delegates who help to provide the funds we use to support our STEM initiatives.

“On behalf of SPE Aberdeen, I’d like to congratulate each of the winning students and wish them all the best in their future studies.”

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.

Congratulations to all our SPE Regional and Section Award Winners

This week, during Offshore Europe, we held our annual award ceremony. This event was a great opportunity to celebrate all the hard work, dedication and commitment of our volunteers; all of whom played a significant role in the section being awarded the SPE President’s Award for Section Excellence. Sami Al-Nuaim, SPE President, was on hand to present all the awards.

The full list of awards recipients is below – congratulations to all.

SPE Aberdeen Section Awards:

Stuart McIntosh – Section Service Award

Janis Corbett – Section Service Award

Lorraine Mutch – Section Service Award

Alfred Akisanya – Section Service Award – Student Chapter Faculty Sponsor

Liz Hodge – Section Service Award – Aberdeen Science Centre

University of Aberdeen – Best Student Chapter Award

Heriot-Watt University – Highly Commended Student Chapter

SPE Regional Award Winners

Elliot Kinch – Regional Public Service Award

Brenda Wyllie – Regional Service Award

Ritika Pawar – Regional Service Award

Graham Skinner – Regional Service Award

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.

Each year SPE recognises individuals who have gone the extra mile by nominating them for an SPE Award.  People can be nominated in two categories – those who have supported SPE activities in an outstanding manner – and those who have to displayed technical excellence in their particular field.

Locally we recognise individuals who have gone “above and beyond” in their support for our SPE Aberdeen Section with local Section Awards.

Those who have gone further and made an exceptional contribution to SPE locally and regionally might be nominated for an SPE Regional Award.

Finally, those who have made an exceptional contribution at the international level can be nominated for an SPE International Award

There is a video outlining the awards here or click on image below – but in summary people can be recognised for

• Technical contribution and excellence in their professional area – spanning reservoir; formation evaluation; drilling; completions; HSE; management; projects; production and sustainability.
• Professional awards – spanning service to SPE; distinguished university faculty; public service and there is a special category for Young Members Outstanding Service

If you know someone who you think should be recognised in some way, please send a short e-mail to aberdeen.chair@spe-uk.org – including their name / position / company affiliation / e-mail address and a few lines describing why you think they should receive an award.  We’ll take it from there – identifying the appropriate award category, orchestrating the support paperwork and submitting the nomination papers.

If you like to discuss someone’s suitability please e-mail Ian Phillips at aberdeen.chair@spe-uk.org and we can arrange to speak.

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.

The AFBE-UK (Association for of Bme Engineers) Scotland 4th Gala Dinner and Awards will take place on the 21^st November at DoubleTree by Hilton Treetops and nominations for the awards are now open. This event celebrates the impact of AFBE-UK on the engineering landscape and their contributions to diversity in the industry over the last 11 years in the UK and 7 years in Scotland. The closing date for nominations is the 12^th of October and there are three categories:

1. Young BME Professional
2. Company of the Year
3. Outstanding Mentor

More details including nominations forms are available here.

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.

This week entries opened for the 32^nd Offshore Achievement Awards (OAA).

The OAAs, which were launched during last month’s Offshore Europe, have already began gathering momentum with many companies planning submissions for the 2018 awards.

Categories remain similar to last year’s line up, with the exception of the newly created HSE Innovation award which combines the existing Safety Innovation and Environmental Innovation awards. The 2018 categories are:

Emerging Technology (sponsored by the Oil & Gas Technology Centre)

• Innovator (sponsored by the Oil & Gas Innovation Centre)
• HSE Innovation (sponsored by the Offshore Europe Partnership)
• Collaboration (sponsored by Nexen)
• Export Achievement
• Outstanding Skills Development
• Young Professional
• Above & Beyond
• Great Company – SME
• Great Company – Large
• Significant Achievement

Ian Phillips, chairman of the SPE Aberdeen Section and the OAA organising committee, said: “The OAAs go from strength to strength every year and the calibre of entries we have become accustomed to is tremendous. We’re particularly excited by the quality of the submissions in the technology categories, these are always closely fought and present an unenviable task for our judges.

“The Young Professional award is another category which, year-on-year, showcases the remarkable talent that our industry continues to attract. After its success last year, we’re pleased to once again include an interview stage for this category, which was valuable for both judges and finalists.

“This is our seventh year as custodian of the awards and we remain involved because of the unrivalled opportunity the awards present to recognise success and share technical knowledge. This is a key part of SPE’s mission and is arguably more important now than ever. We urge any companies and individuals with a great story to tell to start working on their entry as soon as possible.”

Donald Taylor, managing director at principle sponsor TAQA added: “The Offshore Achievement Awards are both a showcase and celebration of all the great activities and talented people that we have in our industry. In every company there are teams and individuals going above and beyond to move our industry forward and it’s important that these people are recognised.

“I’d encourage everyone to consider submitting an entry into the Awards as the benefits are twofold. The team at TAQA who won an award in 2017 were not only absolutely delighted that they had been recognised at an industry level for their hard work but also that they had the opportunity to share their story and successes with others to learn from.”

Last year’s young professional winner, Marianne McKevitt, petroleum engineer at BP North Sea, said: “Being announced as the YP winner is certainly the highlight of my career to date. It raised my profile with senior leaders across the company and allowed me to build a stronger network that gives me exposure to more global opportunities. I encourage any high performing individual to enter the OAAs or make a nomination to showcase their work at the prestigious event and to be independently recognised for their impact to the business.”

Entries are open from now until Friday 1 December 2017. Submissions are welcome from UK based companies operating offshore in both the oil and gas and renewables sectors, with categories, criteria and application forms available at www.spe-oaa.org.

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

This week, during Offshore Europe, we held our annual award ceremony. This event was a great opportunity to celebrate all the hard work, dedication and commitment of our volunteers; all of which will have played a significant role in the section being awarded the SPE President’s Award for Section Excellence for an unprecedented 8 years in a row. Janeen Judah, SPE President, was on hand to present all the awards.

The full list of awards recipients is below – congratulations to all.

SPE Aberdeen Section Awards:

Chris Stewart – Section Service Award – Young Professional

Ritika Pawar – Section Service Award – Student Support

Sylvester Ofogba – Section Service Award – Student Support

Kenny McAllister – Section Service Award – Programme Committee

Suzanne Robertson / Mearns & Gill – Section Service Award – Service to the Section

Diane Wood – Section Service Award – Service to the Section

Heriot Watt University – Best Student Chapter Award

University of Dundee – Highly Commended Student Chapter with special mention of chapter president Theresia Betty Sumarno

SPE Regional Award Winners

Steve Cromar – Section Service Award

Neil Armstrong – Drilling Engineering Award

Richard Cooper – Young Professional Outstanding Service Award

Eric Mackay – Production and Operations Award

SPE International Award

Colin Black – Outstanding Service Award

This year, for the first time, the SPE Heriot-Watt University team successfully went through from the regional qualifying competition for Europe at the SPE East Meets West Student Congress in Krakow Poland to participate in the PetroBowl International Final. The Heriot-Watt University team of Mark Lakos, Wong Ming Yi, Hydra Rodrigues, Muzammil Rammay and Zharas Shorabek from the Institute of Petroleum Engineering in the School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society finished 3rd (out of 28 universities represented) in the European qualifying round. They will be competing against other student chapter teams from Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, South America and Caribbean, Middle East, and North America regions who have also made it to the last 32.

The HWU team is the only team from the UK to have qualified for finals which will be held later this year at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) in San Antonio, Texas from the 9^th to the 11^th of October. The team wish to showcase the high technical and academic training that has been promoted not just in Heriot-Watt University, but in the whole of the UK.

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) holds the annual PetroBowl Quiz competition where university teams from around the world are challenged to answer both technical and non-technical questions associated with the oil and gas industry. The event was first held in 2002 and has since grown in size and popularity.

This competition is a combination of challenge and fun with the opportunity to win a competitive prize. The SPE ATCE in San Antonio will be a great opportunity for the team to attend the conference and exhibition, to meet with students from other universities, and to build networking with other academia and industry professionals.

The team is extremely grateful to the SPE Aberdeen Section for their generous donation of £2,500 to help fund the team to compete in the finals. The team is also indebted to the Heriot-Watt University Annual fund support, the CMG Foundation Chair, the Adrian Todd Golden Key Student Fund Award and the and logistic arrangement from Geo2Flow founders Daniel and Vicki O’Meare. In addition, the team would also like to thank Professor Patrick Corbett, Professor Sebastian Geiger and Dr Alex Graham for their encouragement and support during the fund-raising period.

Sponsors:

SPE Aberdeen was delighted to support the RNLI at last month’s Offshore Achievement Awards, where our guests raised the fantastic total of £2065!

These funds have contributed to the fundraising target of £52,000, which is the cost of replacing Aberdeen’s Inshore Lifeboat.

The campaign efforts are being led by Ian Garden of RigDeluge and William Bird of Fennel Media, who have already launched on online raffle appeal to win a spin in the RigDeluge sponsored rally car with local rally ace Quintin Milne, on the VIP Test Day at the Speyside Rally on 21 April.

Dr Margaret Farquhar CBE, Aberdeen Lifeboat Management Group Chairman, commented: “RNLI Aberdeen was hugely grateful to the Society of Petroleum Engineers Aberdeen Section for promotion our appeal with RigDeluge at the Offshore Achievement Awards. To raise £2065 on the night is a brilliant boost to fundraising for our new inshore lifeboat.”

Sabeil Ahmed, Treasurer at SPE Aberdeen added: “We were delighted to select the RNLI as our charity partner for this year’s awards. As the charity that saves lives at sea, we felt that this was a very worthwhile, relevant cause which many of our members and friends would strongly support.

“We are hugely grateful to the RNLI crews for volunteering their time and helping to keep us safe every day, and to RigDeluge and Fennel Media for the work they’re doing in raising awareness of this appeal.”

To find out more about the charity raffle, please visit https://vimeo.com/fennelmedia/rnli

The link to support the campaign and enter the raffle, where tickets can be purchased for £5 each, is https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Aberdeen-ILB

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.” 

Dear SPE Aberdeen members, colleagues and friends,

Our Continuing Education committee has finalised its calendar of events for the year ahead and the result is an exciting programme of events including new topics alongside some of our well established and popular events.

Our first event is DEVEX, now in it’s 14th year; this year the theme is: Building Resilience – Driving Growth. This is organised jointly with PESGB and AFES with support from the OGA. With the continuing financial support of the conference partners, 350 free delegate places were made available – a great achievement. Unsurprisingly these places went very quickly and there are now a limited number of ‘at cost’ places available. The final conference programme will be announced very soon.

This is followed by the first new event of the year, Seismic 2017: Seismic through the asset life cycle. This is the first seminar of its kind to be held in Aberdeen and will explore the entire spectrum of seismic. Judging by the number of abstracts received this will be a very popular event.

Another new event for SPE Aberdeen is Topsides UK 2017: Shared learnings, multiplied savings – balancing efficiency, integrity and investment. This event aims to explore key areas affecting every aspect of Topside operations.

Due to its popularity and relevance our Well Abandonment seminar is now held annually and the 7th in this series is being held in June: Gather Data, Plan Better and Cost Effective Execution. The exhibition space at this event has already sold out and a waiting list is now in operation. Our members identified a need to share knowledge on the issue of rig reactivation or alternative solution experiences and as a result the SPE Aberdeen 1st Rig Reactivation and Alternatives seminar is being held back-to-back with the Well Abandonment seminar.

Our Inwell Flow Surveillance and Control seminar continues to go from strength to strength with the third in this series being held in October: Delivering Surveillance Solutions & Driving Well Performance through Flow Control. Abstracts are currently being sought.

The final event of the year will be the annual SPE ICoTA Well Intervention conference in November– Unlocking our potential – innovation and collaboration to maximise recovery. This collaborative event has been running for an impressive 23 years and continues to be the largest and longest established conference of its kind in Europe; abstracts are also being sought.

Details of these all these events, including sponsorship and exhibition opportunities can be found on the section website www.spe-aberdeen.org

If there is a specific topic you would like to see featured at one of our events please get in touch with Steve Cromar, the chair of our Continuing Education committee at CE.chair@spe-uk.org. I look forward to seeing you at our events.

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Aberdeen Section has secured three international oil and gas industry experts to give a series of presentations over the next three months.

Each year, as part of its mission to collect, disseminate and exchange technical knowledge, the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) appoints a group of professionals who have been nominated by their peers to share knowledge and expertise through visits to local SPE Sections around the world. These global industry experts are known as SPE Distinguished Lecturers.

Kicking off the Distinguished Lecturer series in Aberdeen in February is Johan van Dorp, Shell’s senior consultant in the NAM (Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij), a joint venture operated by Shell, who will present: ‘Does Heavy Oil Recovery Need Steam?’ Mr Van Dorp is also Shell’s group principal technical expert in Thermal EOR.

With over 40 years’ experience in the upstream petroleum industry, Steve Mackie of Santos Ltd follows in March by discussing ‘Dry Hole Analysis: What I Have Learnt About the Upstream Oil and Gas Industry from my Failures’.

Shell’s Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Operations Geochemistry, Daniel McKinney of Sarawak Shell Berhad, will then present: ‘Operational Geochemistry at Work: Integrate or Perish!’ in April. Mr McKinney was one of the founding members of Shell’s Fluid Evaluation and Sampling Technologies (FEAST) team.

Ian Phillips, SPE Aberdeen Chairman said: “Part of what makes our industry so great is the passion of those who share their successes, and failures, to teach others and continue the development of our sector. Knowledge sharing has always been at the heart of SPE Aberdeen’s monthly evening meetings, and to welcome three Distinguished Lecturers this year is a significant achievement for the Section and hugely encouraging for our industry.

“Mr van Dorp, Mr Mackie and Mr McKinney each hold a wealth of industry experience, and these presentations offer a rare opportunity for industry professionals in Aberdeen to hear from experts at the top of their field. We would urge anyone interested in attending to book early as we expect to see high demand.”

These presentations are part of a monthly programme of technical presentations organised by SPE Aberdeen and sponsored by Expro and Premier Oil. Advance booking is highly recommended. For more information and to book your place, please visit: http://www.spe-aberdeen.org/events/

NOMINATE A DISTINGUISHED LECTURER – WE ARE LOOKING FOR TWO NOMINATIONS FROM THE ABERDEEN SECTION.

Dear SPE Aberdeen members, colleagues and friends,

The theme of Offshore Europe in 2015 was ‘inspiring the next generation’; SPE Aberdeen fully embraced this and continues to do so. Any surplus from our events and activities is re-invested in a wide range of initiatives designed to inspire the next generation of industry professionals; this investment is supported by our volunteers’ time, expertise and enthusiasm.

Our section has invested almost £200,000 over the last five years to support initiatives promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects. This includes about £80,000 in scholarships to support students studying oil and gas related qualifications in order to relieve the financial stresses faced by students and allow them to focus on their studies.

Our School and Career Guidance (SCG) committee plays a significant role in encouraging young people to study STEM subjects, which are fundamental to the energy industry’s future workforce. We have been long term supporters and sponsors of the Techfest annual “Festival of Science” and their “Maths in the Pipeline” programme. The SCG committee was also instrumental in tailoring Energy4me, SPE’s global energy schools programme (primary and secondary), to fit with the Scottish schools Curriculum for Excellence, developing the materials and training teachers to speak knowledgeably about our industry.

We also support “Inside Industry”, a career guidance website, which is targeted specifically towards the energy industry. It is the only tool of its kind focused on providing first class industry driven career information and advice and has been rolled out across more than 300 schools in Scotland.

It is currently award season globally, including here in Aberdeen. Next month we will be celebrating over thirty years of innovation and collaboration at the 31^st Offshore Achievement Awards. This event is the biggest and longest established industry awards for the UK offshore energy sector, covering all aspects from supply to upstream operations and offshore renewables. Its success ensures we are able to continue inspiring the next generation. The finalists for this year’s awards have already been revealed and the winners will be announced at the black tie event on 23^rd March. If you would like to join us at this event you can find booking details here.

Ian Phillips 

SPE Aberdeen Chairman

With almost daily reports highlighting the skills gap in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects in the UK, the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ (SPE) Aberdeen Section has reported investing almost £200,000 over the last five years to support initiatives designed around these subjects.

SPE Aberdeen’s Schools and Careers Guidance Committee plays a significant role in encouraging young people to study STEM subjects, which are fundamental to the energy industry’s future workforce. Activities such as workshops at the Techfest Festival of Science, which take place in Aberdeen, are supported by profits from SPE Aberdeen events and offer thousands of children the opportunity to get a hands-on introduction to STEM subjects each year.

Another important enterprise that the Society has supported over the years is Inside Industry, the only tool of its kind focused on providing first class industry driven career information and advice. The career guidance website, which is targeted specifically towards the energy industry, has been rolled out across 300 schools in Scotland.

Since 2011, SPE Aberdeen has invested almost £80,000 in scholarships to support students studying oil and gas related qualifications in order to relieve the financial stresses faced by students and allow them to focus on their studies.

Ian Phillips, Chairman of SPE Aberdeen said: “Inspiring the next generation has always been, and continues to be, at the heart of SPE Aberdeen. We are committed to encouraging and supporting the industry’s next generation of talent by providing opportunities that otherwise would not be available. The oil and gas industry has a long future ahead and it is essential that we do all we can to equip the future workforce with skills they need to drive it forward.”

All of SPE Aberdeen’s initiatives are funded by profit generated from its annual programme of events, such as the Offshore Achievement Awards, its monthly technical presentations and networking meetings, and topical conferences including DEVEX, the SPE ICoTA Well Intervention Conference and the SPE European Well Abandonment Seminar.

As well as key initiatives such as Techfest, Inside Industry and student bursaries, other events and workshops which benefit from these profits include CV workshops and industry exhibition tours for pupils and teachers, creating vital links between schools and industry.

In addition to the financial support given by SPE Aberdeen, the volunteers in each committee give their time and expertise to develop and deliver workshops, events and share their passion and enthusiasm for STEM and the industry.

Mr Phillips continued: “The events we run not only encourage knowledge sharing and professional development, but also play a direct link in supporting the talent of tomorrow. One such example is the Offshore Achievement Awards. As well as celebrating success and innovation across the industry, the awards also provide the wherewithal to attract the next generation of workers.

“It’s particularly important in this current market climate that we work even harder to encourage the next generation to pursue interests in the industry, and reinvesting back into key events and initiatives through the OAAs is a fantastic way to do so.”

The Offshore Achievement Awards will take place at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre on Thursday, 23 March, 2017. For more information please visit: http://www.spe-oaa.org/

For more information on the full SPE Aberdeen events programme, and the initiatives the Section supports, please visit www.spe-uk.org/aberdeen

News release – September 2015

Since 2004, well construction costs in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) have doubled, directly impacting drilling activity which is currently at an all-time low. However, collective industry efforts are already focusing in on how a reduction in core drilling costs of 50 per cent could potentially unlock around five billion boe of known reserves over the next decade.

The significant work the industry is doing through the Technology Leadership Board (TLB) to address the well cost reduction challenge, will feature in a forthcoming event organized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Aberdeen section on September 21 at Aberdeen’s Douglas Hotel.

As one of eight MER UK government industry forums focused on maximising economic recovery from the UKCS, the Technology Leadership Board (TLB) has four priority themes: asset integrity; small pools; decommissioning and well cost reduction. Members of the TLB’s Well Cost Reduction workgroup, comprising representatives from industry and the Oil and Gas Authority, aim to identify where innovation is more urgently required to ensure well operations are delivered at a lower and sustainable cost.

Oil & Gas UK’s operations optimisation manager, Mrs Katy Heidenreich is leading the activities of the Well Cost Reduction Workgroup and will speak at the SPE event to discuss the challenge and the initiatives underway, examine the results achieved so far and outline the next steps required to reach this target.

Mrs Heidenreich said: “The significant progress already achieved reflects the quality of cross industry interaction between groups of operators and service providers in optimising well designs, raising awareness of available technologies and driving operational improvements.”

If we can continue attracting broad industry support and commitment, there is the potential for delivering estimated well construction capital expenditure savings equivalent to more than 40 wells per year by 2020.”

Kenny McAllister, chair SPE Aberdeen Programme Committee added: “The UKCS is at a crossroads. The future of investment in UK waters depends on our competitiveness with other basins. Oil & Gas UK initiative to bring experts together to collaborate to reduce UKCS wells costs are essential to the Maximum Economic Recovery and future developments.

“Katy’s presentation will open this year’s seasons touching on some of the most important UK industry themes and I trust will help us chart our course through the current difficult waters.”

Mrs Heidenreich is a graduate from Heriot Watt and has spent the majority of her career in the oil and gas industry. After 15 years with Schlumberger, she joined Oil & Gas UK.

The presentation will take place on Wednesday 21 September at the Aberdeen Douglas Hotel from 6.30 – 8.30 pm. This presentation is a part of a monthly programme of technical presentations organised by SPE Aberdeen and sponsored by Expro and Premier Oil. For more information and to book, please visit www.spe-uk.org/aberdeen/events

SPE Aberdeen Section was delighted to welcome 2016 SPE President Nathan Meehan to Aberdeen last week, during which time he spoke with the Press and Journal.

Read what he had to say about the future of the oil and gas industry on Energy Voice here  https://www.energyvoice.com/other-news/121348/spe-president-spells-fracking-part-solution/

The SPE Aberdeen Section is pleased to announce the bursaries for 2016 – 2017 Academic year; we are offering a combined total of up to £20,000 of bursaries. There will be five Bursaries of £2,500 each and up to fifteen bursaries of £500 each. (Please note if the standard of applications received are not satisfactory the total amount of bursaries offered might be reduced.  )

These bursaries are open to Full-Time Postgraduate students, PhD students and Under-Graduate students studying Oil & Gas industry related courses while attending from the listed 5 Universities under SPE Aberdeen Section.

• University of Aberdeen
• Robert Gordon University
• University of Dundee
• Heriot-Watt University
• University of Strathclyde

Eligibility criteria –The applicant should demonstrate in their response

• A Course of study that is directly relevant to the oil & gas industry,
• A Clear intention/commitment to work in the oil & gas industry,
• Academic merit,
• Active involvement in the SPE.

If you are eligible and wish to apply for a bursary, please complete the attached form and send it in a pdf format, electronically to:  Diane Wood, SPE Aberdeen Section Manager aberdeen.manager@spe-uk.org.  The subject line of the email must read as follows:

“Aberdeen SPE 2016-2017 Bursary Application: last name, first name, university”

The form asks for some relevant information from you, to help the selection committee to make its judgement.  The committee may also contact your University for further information. Please provide, succinctly, any information which you feel may be useful.  Do not attach any other files to the email.

Click here to download the application form.

Applications will be reviewed and recommended by the SPE Aberdeen Section Student Development Committee.  The Board has final approval.

APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED UNLESS THEY ARE COMPLETE AND SUBMITTED ON TIME AND AS INSTRUCTED.  The closing date for applications is 7th November 2016

A shortlist of candidates for the £2500 bursary will be invited to present their answers to the judging panel in Aberdeen. (For students not based in Aberdeen, presentations may also be done remotely.) The date and time of this presentation will be confirmed later. Candidates will be advised which answers to present one week in advance.

Successful candidates for the £2500 and £500 bursary awards will be announced in January 2017.  All awardees will be invited to attend the Award ceremony.

The top five (£2500) winners will be invited to present their best answer at the Awards ceremony to an audience comprising Bursary judges, SPE Board and industry representatives.

Ritika Pawar and Sylvester Ofogba

Student Development Committee Co-Chairs

SPE Aberdeen Conference Giving Oil Production a Lift

News release – May, 2016

Artificial lift is widely recognised as a valuable tool for extending the life of mature reservoirs making it essential to maximising returns from the North Sea.

The biennial European Artificial Lift Euroforum (EuALF), organised by SPE Aberdeen, takes place on 8-9 June 2016 at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, and will highlight the latest technical advances in this key area. The event will feature over 20 presentations dealing with current trends and technologies with contributions from major oil and gas operator and service companies including Chevron, Gazprom, Saudi Aramco, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and TAQA.

The programme covers an extensive range of topics including the role of artificial lift in overcoming the challenges of heavy oil production. In addition the reliability and performance of electrical submersible pump systems (ESP) and gas lift valves (GLV) will be dealt with extensively including ESP design (Saudi Aramco) and cost saving on large scale developments (Gazprom).

New for this year is a panel session during which state of artificial lift technology within the oil and gas sector will be discussed by representatives from an operator, service company and government regulator.

The keynote speaker is Shauna Noonan, Chief of Production Engineering and Operations, Oxy Oil and Gas Corporation. Ms Noonan has worked on artificial lift projects and technology development worldwide for 22 years. She has chaired many industry artificial lift forums and authored / co-authored over 20 papers on the subject of artificial lift.

Craig Durham, Chair EuALF 2016 is looking forward to welcoming delegates to the two-day event: “I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that artificial lift is a primary enabling technology, which continues to deliver value in a mature basin like the North Sea, and in a low oil price environment.

“Sharing knowledge, skills and experience is at the heart of SPE Aberdeen and EuALF continues to provide a high-quality learning opportunity, bringing together experts in the field with those starting their careers in this fascinating subject. This year we are delighted to include a panel session during which delegates will have the opportunity to put their specific industry-related queries to the panel.”

In addition, a pre-conference training workshop is being held on 7 June and will appeal to those new to the discipline of artificial lift, as well as those requiring a refresher or an overview. It is a practical workshop and the trainers (Alastair Baillie, Engineering Insights and Cameron Laing, Laing Engineering) will use real field examples with commercial software. There will also be the opportunity to analyse participants’ data if they are willing to share it.

For more information, please visit www.spe-uk.org/aberdeen/events

WELL ABANDONMENT TO TAKE CENTRE STAGE AT INDUSTRY EVENT

NEWS RELEASE – MAY 2016

A growing number of UKCS assets have already reached, or are approaching, the end of their economic lives. This has resulted in rapid growth of decommissioning activity in the North Sea, estimated to cost £16.9 billion from 2015 – 2024. Plug and abandonment represents 46% of decommissioning expenditure, with over 1200 wells forecast to be plugged and abandoned over this time period¹.

This topic will take centre stage at next month’s SPE Aberdeen 6^th European Well Abandonment Seminar which is being held on Wednesday 15 June at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC). Successful well abandonment should be compliant, cost-effective and safe; achieving this is the theme throughout this year’s seminar programme.

Decommissioning is one of the Oil and Gas Authority’s (OGA) priorities and this one day event starts with an introduction to the OGA’s role in well abandonment, including the impact of the Maximising Economic Recovery (MER) strategy on cost effective well abandonment.

In addition there will be an update on the Oil and Gas UK Well Abandonment Guidelines with guideline changes highlighted and reviewed, followed by an interactive question and answer session. Other seminar highlights include presentations and case studies on the leading edge technologies from major operators including BP, Chevron, Talisman Sinopec, Statoil and CNR International. The seminar is completed with a pop-up exhibition of commercial abandonment innovations.

Commenting ahead of the seminar, conference co-chair Kelly Richardson of BP, said: “Well abandonment is an increasingly important aspect of the oil and gas industry and its growth is set to continue rapidly over the next decade, including the demand for expertise in the area both domestically and globally.

“This event provides an excellent forum to share experience and knowledge in this fast growing area. We have specifically included a number of question and answer sessions in the programme to stimulate knowledge sharing and collaboration. Leading operator and service companies active in this discipline along with OGA and Oil and Gas UK are all participating at this event which will be of benefit to anyone involved or likely to be involved in decommissioning.”

Plug and abandonment will also feature at the SPE Aberdeen 6^th Late Well-Life Integrity Workshop which takes place the preceding day, 14 June at the AECC.

For full programmes and booking details regarding both of these events please visit: www.spe-uk.org/aberdeen/events

¹Oil and Gas UK Decommissioning Insights 2015