Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts

Last updated
Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts (SPWLA)
Founded1959
TypeProfessional Organization
PurposeTo promote advancement and education in petrophysical sciences
Members
2500+
https://www.spwla.org/SPWLA/About/Board_of_Directors.aspx
Key people
Jim Hemingway (2020-2021 President), Mayank Malik (VP-Publications 2020-22), Sharon Johnson (Executive Director)
Website www.spwla.org

The Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts (SPWLA) is a 501c3 [1] nonprofit corporation formed in 1959 [2] [3] and concerned with the science of petrophysics, well logging and formation evaluation. SPWLA has approximately 2500 members. [4] The SPWLA's mission is to increase the awareness of petrophysics, formation evaluation and well logging best practices in the oil and gas industry and the scientific community at large.

Contents

Chapters

The original chapters were started in Oklahoma in 1959 in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Expansion of the Society has always followed the petroleum industry boom and bust cycle. The downturn in the 1980s, late 1990s and 2010s [5] severely impacted the society's membership. In 1983 there were over 70 chapters and 4200 members but as changes in industry demographics occurred several chapters have been shut down. Listed in Table 1 are the active chapters at present.

Table 1: Active Professional Chapters as of 2018
North AmericaYear FormedLatin AmericaYear FormedMiddle East and AfricaYear FormedEuropeYear FormedAsia Pacific/AustraliaYear FormedChapter At LargeYear Formed
Bakersfield 1979 Argentina 2000 Abu Dhabi 2003 Aberdeen 1982 Australia (FESAus) 2007 Society of Core Analysts 1982
Boston 2014 Brazil 2002 Angola 2001 France (SAID) 1966 Queensland (FESQ) 2001Acoustic SIG2013
Dallas 1962 Colombia (café) 2000 Dubai 2010 London (LPS) 1973 Bangkok 1998Formation Testing SIG
Denver 1964Mexico1976 Egypt 1993 Netherlands (DPS) 1993East China1986Nuclear Logging SIG
Houston 1961 Kuwait 2008 Norway (NFES) 1981India2010
Lafayette 1965 Nigeria 1989 Indonesia (FESI) 2003
Permian Basin - Midland 1962Oman2007 Japan (JFES) 1994
New Orleans 1964 Saudi Arabia(SPS) 2003 Malaysia (FESM) 1999
Oklahoma City 1959
Trinidad/Tobago (FESTT) 2006
Tulsa1959

Annual Technical Symposium

The SPWLA holds an annual symposium which is held in alternating locations between the US and various international venues. [2] [6] The most recent symposium was held in the Old Billingsgate Market in London in June 2018. [6] The next symposium will be held in The Woodlands, TX. The Transactions of the SPWLA are currently hosted on the Society of Petroleum Engineer's website Onepetro.org [7] [8] [9] Annual symposiums are selected from chapters who self-nominate. This is unusual among major technical associations. For this reason the symposium has been held in the same place multiple times.

Currently, the SPWLA only holds a single oral presentation track at the symposiums, with only one talk at a time, and therefore only accepts around 60 oral papers each year. Because Petrophysics is a narrower discipline, the Board has decided attendees should not have to choose between parallel paper tracks. This also makes it difficult to get a paper accepted by the technical committee for the symposium. Annual acceptance rates are typically below 25% of abstracts submitted. [10] Many of the other societies in the petroleum industry hold multiple tracks at their respective conferences and are typically organized around subject matter or discipline.

Table of Past Symposia
VenueYearVenueYearVenueYearVenueYear
Tulsa1960New Orleans1975Lafayette1990New Orleans2005
Dallas1961Denver1976Midland1991Veracruz (Mexico)2006
Houston1962Houston1977Oklahoma City1992Austin2007
Oklahoma City1963Midland (El Paso)1978Calgary1993Edinburgh (Scotland)2008
Midland1964Tulsa1979Tulsa1994The Woodlands, TX2009
Dallas1965Lafayette1980Paris1995Perth (Australia)2010
Tulsa1966Mexico City1981New Orleans1996Colorado Springs2011
Denver1967Corpus Christi1982Houston1997Cartagena (Colombia)2012
New Orleans1968Calgary1983Keystone (Denver)1998New Orleans, LA2013
Houston1969New Orleans1984Oslo1999Abu Dhabi (UAE)2014
Los Angeles1970Dallas1985Dallas2000Long Beach, CA2015
Dallas1971Houston1986Houston2001Reykjavik, Iceland2016
Tulsa1972London1987Oiso (Japan)2002Oklahoma City, Oklahoma2017
Lafayette1973San Antonio1988Galveston2003London, United Kingdom2018
Corpus Christi (McAllen)1974Denver1989Noordwijk (Netherlands)2004Woodlands, Tx2019

Board of Directors

The SPWLA is run by an elected board that consists of the following officers. The President and President Elect serve 1 year terms with the President Elect becoming the President upon completion. The other officers serve two year terms. The Executive Director is appointed by the Board of Directors. Additionally the Board has regional directors from each of the major worldwide oil and gas bearing regions who also serve a two-year term. [11]

Publications of the Society

The SPWLA publishes a bi-monthly peer reviewed technical journal, Petrophysics, and a bi-monthly newsletter, SPWLA Today. [7] [12]

Petrophysics

Petrophysics contains technical articles that include the latest contributions in applied and theoretical aspects of formation evaluation. Petrophysics typically includes 5-7 technical articles and may also have tutorials on more fundamental petrophysics techniques. [13] The magazine has evolved over the years from a humble newsletter to a widely respected peer reviewed journal. [7] Over 200+ technical papers are published each year by the SPWLA in Petrophysics and in the transactions from the annual symposium. [9] Papers published in Petrophysics are available to members on the SPWLA website. [12] Additionally papers can be downloaded for a fee at Onepetro.org. [7] Table of contents from 2020 issues are listed below:

SPWLA Today

SPWLA Today is an electronic only newsletter that covers the news and social aspects that disseminate information relevant for the petrophysics community. The newsletter was launched in 2016 and typically contains updates from the board, chapter activities related with petrophysics events, and a very popular haiku section. Previously this content was included in Petrophysics after the technical content. [12] SPWLA Today is published bi-monthly (every even month). Recent 2020 issues are listed below :

SPWLA App

SPWLA recently launched their app for Android and iOS Devices. With the SPWLA Today App, you can find out about SPWLA events, Webinar recordings, Chapter and SIG news, Petrophysics journal and tutorials, Petrophysics calculators, Glossary of terms, and much more. The app is free for anyone to download - no membership required. Target audience are petroleum engineering and geology students, petrophysicists, well log analysts, geologists, geophysicists, and reservoir engineers interested in petrophysics. [14] [15]

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References

  1. "Certificate of Incorporation". www.sos.ok.gov. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  2. 1 2 "SPWLA History". www.spwla.org. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  3. Pasternack, Eric (Summer 2009). "A Concise History of the SPWLA". Transactions of the 50th annual symposium of the SPWLA.
  4. "SPWLA list of Chapters".
  5. McCain, Bruce. "The Facts Behind Oil's Price Collapse". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  6. 1 2 "Symposia Locations And Conferences". www.spwla.org. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Transactions of the SPWLA". Onepetro.org.
  8. "Transactions of the 59th SPWLA Symposium". Research Gate.
  9. 1 2 "Timeline of SPWLA publications". Worldcat.org.
  10. Salazar, Jesus (March 2018). "Vice President Technology Column" (PDF). SPWLA Today. 1: 8 via SPWLA.org.
  11. "Board of Directors". www.spwla.org. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  12. 1 2 3 "Publications of SPWLA". www.spwla.org. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  13. "Journals". www.spwla.org. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  14. "SPWLA Today - Apps on Google Play". play.google.com. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  15. "SPWLA Today". App Store. Retrieved 2020-11-20.