SPE Technical Directors’ Outlook - The Industry’s Transformation in 2020 and What It Means for the Future

For an industry in which terms like “first ever,” “unparalleled,” “unprecedented,” and “novel” are often over-used to the point of losing their meaning, 2020 hit hard with the true meaning of those words as the COVID-19 pandemic exploded onto the world and disrupted almost everything about life as we knew it. The oil and gas industry, which had begun showing signs of recovery from a generational downturn, was hit particularly hard. Jobs were lost, companies shuttered, and supply chains upended. But the same combination of audacity and ingenuity that has driven the industry for over a century took hold quickly. Oil and gas people love - and need - to network, share ideas, transfer and apply technology, and gather intelligence. So, when in-person conferences, workshops, and tradeshows were suddenly canceled or indefinitely postponed, entities such as the Society of Petroleum Engineers scrambled to use digital technology to take those events online and make them virtual. While not a perfect replacement, virtual online events offer some unique advantages, as SPE technical directors pointed out in their annual roundup. Digitalization, long a controversial topic among many in the upstream sector, is now being called essential by the directors across the six SPE technical disciplines they lead. Automation is mentioned frequently in the directors’ comments as a growing contributor to efficiency and risk reduction. Capital discipline, balance sheet management, and cash flow are seen as crucial, as are collaboration (both internal and external) and value - ranging from core values to value-driven data, to provable, value-based outcomes. Agility and the ability to comply with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria have taken on new importance. So has work - how and where we do it, and how we balance it with other aspects of life. Knowledge dissemination is considered more important than ever. Uncertainty continues to characterize the upstream sector, even more so than before the pandemic, but at least one thing is certain: The work of the industry, and the way in which people who comprise it work, is forever changed. The SPE technical disciplines and the directors who lead them are as follows. Completions - Terry Palisch, CARBO Ceramics Data Science and Engineering Analytics - Silviu Livescu, Baker Hughes Drilling - David Reid, NOV HSE and Sustainability - Annamaria Petrone, Eni Production and Facilities - Robert Pearson, Glynn Resources Reservoir - Erdal Ozkan, Colorado School of Mines Here, they reflect on a truly unprecedented year and share their outlooks for their disciplines going forward.