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29.05.2009 ROGTEC talks with Claudia Rodionova, General Manager of SPE Russia

1. What are the main goals of SPE in Russia?

Russia is one of the SPE’s fastest growing regions. Our office was opened in Moscow in 2007 to assist in membership development in this important region and to develop more SPE technical programs in Russia. It shows the global recognition of the importance of the Russian oil and natural gas industry. In Russia, the SPE provides access to technological advances from around the world and also provides an important opportunity to highlight the unique advances in technology that have been made by Russian engineers and scientists.

The goals are to develop SPE Applied Technology Workshops, which focus on the latest applications of relevant technology, illustrated with field case studies and examples and to support the SPE Russian Oil and Gas Technical Conference and Exhibition, run every 2 years in Moscow. It is the major international event for the upstream oil and gas exploration and production community organized in Moscow by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and Reed Spearhead Exhibition. The next SPE Russian Oil and Gas Technical Conference and Exhibition will take place in Moscow in October 2010.

SPE will also provide four leading technical experts every year to speak to SPE sections across Russia as part of its popular Distinguished Lecturer program.

One of the main objectives is to provide opportunities for students to enhance their technical and professional knowledge. We currently organize student conferences and student paper contests in Russia and starting 2009 introduced the STAR scholarship program in Russia and the Caspian region.

2. I believe SPE Russia membership has been growing rapidly in recent years, how is this going and what is being done to attract new members?

We currently have 6 professional sections in Russia based in Moscow, Tyumen, Almetievsk, Nizhnevartovsk, Noyabrsk, Sakhalin and 13 student chapters in most of the oil and gas Universities across Russia.

3. Do you see the price of the barrel having an effect on SPE membership?

In the current economic downturn, companies are tightening their travel budgets. The Society of Petroleum Engineers is responding by placing its technical conferences and workshops close to major petroleum operations to help reduce or eliminate travel costs. Now, more than ever, companies are seeking innovative ideas and technology that can reduce their operating costs and produce better results. SPE is a leading resource for technical knowledge that can enhance performance. Our conferences and workshops present both regional and global perspectives, offering the latest practical applications that you can take back to the office for immediate use.

We are examining whether we can relocate some currently scheduled events to be more conveniently placed and will strive to place future events close to where you operate. We are also looking for ways to use technology for our committee meetings to reduce travel expense.

This is also the time when SPE’s online resources will assume additional importance as a way of keeping in contact with peers around the world and transferring technology and knowledge.

4. Are you planning to increase the amount of exhibitions and technical meetings in Russia?

Our current plan is to run 4 Applied Technologies Workshops annually. For the remainder of 2009 we plan the following workshops in Russia:

  • SPE Petroleum Reserves Estimation Workshop: Sharing the Vision (September)
  • Formation Water (November 2009)
  • ESP (October 2009)

We also are looking for local workshops to be arranged by local SPE sections in Tyumen and in Nizhnevartovsk.

5. The SPE is a platform for technology information sharing; are there any particular technologies or topics that are being “hotly discussed” at the moment?

SPE provides ways to share knowledge on new approaches and technological advances in all technical disciplines. There are some topics that are being widely discussed with applications across the globe, including deepwater, heavy oil, carbon capture and sequestration, enhanced recovery and unconventional reserves. The digital oilfield is also a topic of interest, with increased automation and “intelligence” built into equipment and tools, as well as better information-technology enablement of field personnel.

6. With question 4 in mind, how do you see integration between Russian and Western technologies?

I think that all the events we run in Russia help to integrate the best Western practices in operations within the Russian market. In October 2008 we introduced a bi-monthly SPE Newsletter called “Vestnik” in Russian. We publish SPE technical papers in every issue. Also open discussions during SPE workshops and SPE Russian Oil and Gas Technical Conference and Exhibition provide a great opportunity for Russian engineers and scientists to introduce the local technologies and innovations to the global market. As an example, all papers presented at SPE Russian conferences in 2006 and 2008 are available in the SPE e-library.

7. How do you think the current economic climate will impact on new technology development and implementation?

The SPE’s President, Leo Roodhart, recently wrote in SPE’s Journal of Petroleum Technology that “this is the time we should focus on preparing for the next upturn by retaining capacity and developing or improving the relevant technology.” In an economic downturn, companies will focus more on technology that helps maximize production of known reserves, especially early production, and that helps to lower costs and improve production efficiency. Companies also will invest for the longer term in technology that helps to discover new reserves, like seismic imaging and in the technology needed to produce unconventional resources.

crodionova(at)spe.org

www.spe.org

www.spe-moscow.org

(c) ROGTEC


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