Comments: Highlighting New Technology
Authors: Donnelly John 
Published: February 2015

Editor's column

Last year, the SPE Board of Directors created a task force headed by its technical directors to examine how the society could help accelerate the acceptance and awareness of new upstream technology. The issue is of particular importance now as the industry strives to increase recovery factors and tap new hydrocarbons to meeting escalating global demand.

The task force noted that one of SPE’s goals is to provide the means of transferring technology through the technology life cycle—from inception to maturity—including early in the cycle of “emerging technology.” SPE has been strong in transferring more mature technology through its many publications, conferences, lectures, and workshops. But highlighting “young” technology presents a challenge. Technology that is new in the development cycle often does not lend itself to technical papers, the lifeblood of many SPE events and publications.

To that end, the SPE Technical Directors’ Technology Pipeline Task Force aims to accelerate emerging technology through publications and other vehicles. JPT is a natural ally in that goal. JPT is now soliciting information on new and emerging technologies to publish and inform the upstream oil and gas community of their potential. Companies and individuals are invited to submit information on their new technologies for possible publication, both in the JPT print edition and online, by submitting a template that describes the technology and what it can do.

The template outlines the minimum content necessary for inclusion. Developers of technology will need to define the reason or need for the technology, its purpose, describe how it works, state its target applications, and note how and where it has been used. In addition, the submission must provide information on any case studies, discuss what would cause the new technology to not work or fail, and describe the possible health, safety, and environmental impact.

The technology must provide significant benefits beyond commonly used technologies. It must also be original and, to a certain degree, groundbreaking. Future plans for the technology and whether it has been commercially developed should be given, and a company website and contact information provided. The information should avoid undue commercialism, product cost information, and the use of trademark or other commercial symbols. The technology must be no more than two years old, meaning less than two years since its full commercial deployment or introduction to the marketplace. Companies are not limited to one submission. The sub-missions will be reviewed by SPE’s technical directors for possible inclusion in JPT.

In addition to this effort, JPT staff are making a special effort to cover emerging technology and its potential for acceptance in the industry. This month’s issue concludes a three-part series on promising technologies that are vying for wider industry acceptance—managed pressure drilling, seismic while drilling, and permanent downhole monitoring—and other recent articles have covered digital rocks and other promising technologies.

If you are interested in submitting information on your new technology or have any questions about this process, please contact me at jdonnelly@spe.org.