AAPG, Society of Petroleum Engineers mulling merger

The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) have announced that the two associations were in the process of exploring a potential merger.

The AAPG and SPE said in a mutual statement that the two organisations were exploring the benefits of creating an energy professionals’ organization for the future.

With unanimous consent from the AAPG Executive Committee and the SPE Board of Directors, a steering committee was created to explore opportunities to form a new combined organization in response to an evolving energy sector and challenging COVID-impacted market environment.

Rick Fritz, AAPG president, said: “Our two organizations have worked together side by side for many years on numerous initiatives and global events, notably the Offshore Technology Conference, International Petroleum Technology Conference, Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, and the Petroleum Resources Management System.

“Joining forces would bring the best of both organizations together and provide additional value to engineers, geoscientists, and the broader energy sector”.

According to the statement, the new organization would reflect this interdisciplinary approach and open new opportunities for member education, community, and knowledge sharing.

AAPG and SPE both recognize that oil and natural gas will continue to be essential to meet the world’s energy needs, and the combined membership will contribute substantially to assuring reliable and affordable future energy supplies.

Additionally, the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the new organization will enable its members to accelerate the uptake of new technologies such as digitalization and will also be essential to emerging areas such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage, hydrogen energy, and novel geothermal solutions.

Tom Blasingame, 2021 SPE President, added: “Many of our stakeholders have made it clear that they do not have the resources to support as many professional organizations going forward.

“We believe that as changes in the industry accelerate, the new organization would be the professional community of choice for a generation of professionals and students who are committed to driving long-term change across the energy sector”.

Since the onset of the COVID pandemic, both organizations have felt the impact of quarantines and social distancing mandates. Combining resources would put the new organization in a better position to continue offering the services expected by members. Synergies would reduce overlap and redundancy, increase efficiency and return on investment for members.

“Both organizations feel the timing is right to conduct an in-depth assessment of the potential benefits of moving forward. The steering committee will seek input from each organization’s membership and expects to present recommendations to its respective governing bodies in the next 6-8 months”, the organisations claimed.