Petroleum++: SPE’s Uses of Artificial Intelligence and Board Meeting Update
Authors: Kamal Medhat M. 
Published: June 2023

In this month’s column, I will share news on the recent SPE Board of Directors meeting in Saudi Arabia and SPE’s utilization of artificial intelligence (AI).

The first of the Board’s quarterly meetings of the year is usually held virtually where several administrative items are discussed and the nomination process for the new Board members gets started. The last meeting of the year is held in conjunction with the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE). The middle two meetings are usually held in areas with significant industry operations that gives the Board an opportunity to meet the leaders of SPE sections and regions. The spring 2023 meeting was held for the first time in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Below are some of the key decisions reached at the meeting.

- Approved the nominating committee’s recommendations for the 2025 SPE President—Olivier Houzé; Data Science and Engineering Analytics Technical Director—Sushma Bhan; Asia Pacific Regional Director—Hazli Sham Kassim; Europe Regional Director—Pierre Emmanuel d’Huart; Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Director—Carlos Alberto Pedroso; North American Regional Director—Kim Oracheski; and the Russia and Caspian Regional Director—Alexey Borisenko. More information about these volunteers was published in the April JPT.

- Approved the budget for SPE’s fiscal year 2024, which runs from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

- Reviewed the activities for selling the building in Richardson, Texas.

- Updated the process for countries/sections that wish to be considered for an exception to the membership dues.

- Removed the requirement for students to provide a full technical paper for participation in the Regional Student Paper Contest.

- Approved SPE CCUS International Conference and Exhibition, October 2023, in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

- Formed a work group to develop a long-term plan for SPE’s flagship event, ATCE.

- Approved SPE policy on AI-generated content in publications (details on the policy are available here).

- Updated the Charitable Contribution Policy when SPE donates to areas where our members are affected by natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes.

In conjunction with the meeting in Dhahran, Board members attended the monthly meeting of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Section, with about 500 members, to discuss local and Society-level activities. Saudi Aramco arranged for the Board to visit the Shaybah field operations and the natural wildlife sanctuary in the Rub’ al-Khali, or Empty Quarter.

It is interesting how the challenges of operating a large oilfield facility in a remote area like the Empty Quarter are like what I used to see with operations of the Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk fields in the North Slope of Alaska. It is telling the extent of what we do to provide the world with energy it needs when at airports like in Anchorage next to the counters of United, American, and Alaska Airlines, there were counters for ARCO, BP, and ExxonMobil.

The next Board meeting in July 2023 will be held in Kuala Lumpur. I am looking forward to connecting with our colleagues at Petronas as well as other employers and stakeholders in the area.