Letter from the Chair . . . John Jepson

It is with excitement that I take over the duties of the SPE chairperson for 2001. I am excited and eager to take on the challenges and opportunities as your chairperson for the year.

I want to thank our outgoing chair, Vivian Bust, for a job well done. She set high goals for the section and made sure those goals were achieved. Her level of performance has set the standard for future section leaders. To our Honorary Chairperson Bruce Davis, we wish you all the best during your recovery. I will need your wisdom from time to time during the next year. Be of good cheer.

This time of year we say goodbye to old friends and hello to new officers and committee chairpersons. Several long-term section leaders have retired this year: Jeff Blesener, Shahed Meshkati, Tim Liggett, Paul Frost, Floyd Leeson and Jackie Ehrman. Jeff and Shahed were involved as section leaders for over 15 years, serving as chair, vice chair, scholarship chair, fund raising coordinators and many other positions. Tim Liggett and Paul Frost had a huge impact on the local section by organizing the golf tournament for the last 9 years. Their tireless work made the tournament one of the biggest and most successful oil industry events in the Western U.S. Tim and Paul your efforts will truly be missed. To Mr. Leeson, you are a fund raising animal. Thanks go out to Jackie for the great job she did producing the newsletter for the past 2 years.

Congratulations and a well done go to Glen Swanson, Don Clarke and the organizing committee for the SPE/AAPG meeting. The success of the event earned $20,000 for SPE sections in the western region of which $7,000 goes to the L. A. Basin section.

New to the board of directors this past year was John Thompson, from The Gas Company. John will serve as the vice-chairperson for 2001. Mike Bruno, from Terralog Technologies, has volunteered to produce this newsletter and Ted Garland, from Stocker Resources will be the student section liaison.

And now for the pitch, for those of you who enjoy our SPE activities such as the golf tournament, the Forum talks, the barbecue fundraiser and our outreach programs, We Need Your Help!

(continued under Letter from the Chair in next column)

Volunteers are needed to serve in a variety of functions with the section. We have openings for scholarship, membership, golf and continuing education chair people in addition to a science fair liaison and a board secretary. If you have been sitting on the fence, waiting for the right time to get involved with the SPE now is the time. Now is the time to continue the good job our predecessors have accomplished. If you would like to step up and serve as a committee chair, please join us at the next Board of Directors meeting at the DOGGR office in Cypress on October 12 at 4:30.

Let me remind you that participation in the SPE is an excellent way to network with other industry professionals. There can be no better example of networking than this month's Petroleum Technology Forum. The speaker, Richard Keck, a SPE distinguished lecturer is an expert in waste disposal through fracture injection and co-authored an SPE paper on the THUMS waste disposal project. Two local companies currently have successful waste disposal projects of this type and at least two more are considering them. Join us on October 10, to learn about the latest research concerning this disposal technique and ask the question, Where are all the tank bottoms and drill cuttings going?

In short, my goal as the section chair for 2001 is to draw new participation and new vitality to the section and the Board of Directors. Please consider volunteering for a position or volunteer a co-worker! I will be contacting many of you in the near future regarding the open positions and requesting your ideas for the section.
Remember, I know where you work. So call me or send me an email at chair@laspe.org before I get to you.

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Petroleum Technology Forum

DATE: Tuesday, October 10, 2000
TIME: 11:30 am ­ Social
PLACE: Long Beach Petroleum Club
3636 Linden Avenue, Long Beach, CA
COST: $15.00 , $5.00 Students
SPEAKER: Richard Keck
Vice-President
Pinnacle Technologies

TOPIC: Drill Cuttings and Solids Injection
Over the past ten years, drill cuttings injection has rapidly matured into a routine disposal alternative for drilling operations around the world. Despite continued improvements in surface handling, mixing and the injection operations, our understanding of the mechanics that take place in the injection zone is still not complete. Our current engineering tools need to be more accurate to allow us to answer two basic questions: (1) how much material can we inject into a well and (2) where does the waste go? The goal of this lecture is to transfer the latest industry research on drill cuttings injection to the global SPE community.

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Richard G. Keck is currently the Vice President of Fracture Diagnostics for Pinnacle Technologies. Prior to this he was at for ARCO for 10 years. He has also worked for ARCO, Mobil and Dowell Schlumberger. Mr. Keck has a BS degree from the University of Oklahoma, an MS and PhD from MIT, all in mechanical engineering.

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