Chairperson's message for February 2009
Message from the chair. . .
Dear Fellow SPE Members,
It is hard to believe it is February and we are more than one month into 2009! The world economy is declining continuously and the US recession is getting deeper. Like many other industries, the oil and gas industry, is facing new challenges, which require readjustment. Globalization and the change in the world order may need some business and cultural changes on the sides of both employees and employers. Business may not be as usual and many things taken for granted, unfortunately, may not be true anymore.
Despite many challenges, there are new opportunities that should be taken advantage of in coping with the current economic crisis. Time is tough but as always, those who survive the tough times will have a bright future. As I discussed in my January message, this is the time for our industry to use technological advances to fully utilize its potentials. Despite the downturn in the economy, investments in research and development is continuing in technologies that will take drilling, completion and production into deeper water offshore and into harsher environments including colder climates. SPE is doing a great job of transferring knowledge and facilitating technology utilization.
On some good news from LASPE, CONGRATULATIONS to three of our members, Candra Janova, Salina Derichsweiler, and AB Gorashi Abdulrahman, who will be recognized and will receive the Orange County Engineering Council Young Engineer Award at the OCEC Awards Banquet to be held on February 20th as part of the celebration of the Engineer’s Week. Details on the ceremony and the awardees’ achievements can be found in another section of this issue of the newsletter. The LASPE Technology Forum is continuously attracting many attendees thanks to efforts of our Program Committee Chair, Kate Wallgren, for bringing outstanding speakers to the forum. Please plan on attending and do not miss these very informative talks. If you are interested in a particular topic, please contact Kate at: Katherine_Wallgren@oxy.com. As in the past years, this year LASPE is sponsoring many scholarships for students from high school to graduate programs. For details, please visit www.laspe.org. Additionally, for the first time SPEI is sponsoring a very generous and attractive STAR Regional Scholarship for undergraduate and graduate students majoring in Petroleum Engineering or related fields. This scholarship pays $5000 for undergraduate and $10,000 for graduate students renewable up to 4 year. For details please visit www.spe.org or contact me at: torabzad@csulb.edu. The 2009 SPE Western North America Regional Meeting will be held on March 24-26 in San Jose, California. The conference focuses on “New Solutions for Maximizing Recovery and Value” and offers many excellent technical papers, panel sessions, keynote speakers, and short courses. As part of this meeting a SPE Student Paper Contest will be held on Monday March 23. In this contest, students in petroleum engineering programs from USC, Stanford, UC Berkeley, University of Alaska, Cal Poly SLO, and CSULB will compete at BS, MS and PhD levels. On Monday evening and before the award ceremony, an alumni event is scheduled to bring former and current students, faculty, and staff together. This is the first time this event is scheduled at the Western Regional Meeting. Please plan to attend.
Finally, LA Basin Section has nominated (and is in the process of nominating) candidates for various positions and awards at regional and international levels including the SPE Western North America Regional Director position, 3 WNAR Technical and Service awards, and several SPE International awards. I hope to report on the success of these nominations in future issues of this newsletter. Until next time, have a successful month.
Jalal Torabzadeh
LASPE Chairperson 2008-2009