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People

Spotlight By Anthony Onukwu

The SPE ‘guardian angel’

SPE Aberdeen chairman Anthony and Petroleum Industry in 2009. To be nomi-

Onukwu re? ects on society’s nated and voted for by impact on the North Sea oil and my peers was an incred- ible feeling.

gas industry as the Aberdeen

More broadly, this is a section celebrates its 40th very special year for SPE anniversary.

Aberdeen and we have reached this landmark aving started out with the Society thanks to the support of

H of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) the North East Scotland during my time as a student at the oil and gas community

Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, but, more importantly, the it has ? lled me with great pride to chair support of our members, the Aberdeen Section for the last two who are the core of the years.

SPE. We were here shortly

SPE Aberdeen was established in before the ? rst drop of oil 1974, three years after the ? rst Offshore was extracted from the

Europe was held in Great Yarmouth in North Sea forty years ago 1971, under the name of Oiltech.Since and we hope to be here then, the workforce that has amassed when the last drop of oil in this area is diverse. The 2500-strong will come out of it.

Anthony Onukwu, SPE Aberdeen Chairman.

SPE Aberdeen membership comprises of different age groups, nationalities, backgrounds, interests, and genders. Anthony Onukwu joined SPE Aberdeen for horizontal wells.

Currently, our board has two female By encouraging the upstream oil in 2002 as a student member and has committee chairs, ages ranging from 29 to and gas industry to engage in an open been a chair of the Young Professionals 60, eight nationalities, Masters and PhD dialogue and share breakthroughs and and Membership committees, as well as a holders, Distinguished Lecturers, and a lessons learned in niche sectors, such as member o f steering committees respon- number of industry professionals, both arti? cial lift, SPE has made a signi? cant sible for organizing events in Aberdeen, technical and non-technical. contribution to driving forward major such as the Sand Management Forum

SPE Aberdeen has spent the last industry developments. and European Arti? cial Lift Forum.

In my own professional life, SPE has 40 years establishing events such as

Internationally, he has been the editor- been somewhat of a guardian angel, the European Arti? cial Lift Forum in-chief of SPE’s The Way Ahead journal. with me along every step of my career (EuALF) to address problems such as

He became the chairman of the Aberdeen journey. During my time as chairman, arti? cial lift for horizontal wells. This

Section in 2012.

one of my proudest moments was when is a particularly challenging topic in

Onukwu worked as a project engineer our section won the SPE International the oil and gas industry at the moment. at Vetco Gray (now GE Oil & Gas) before

President’s Award for Section

Techniques for horizontal wells are going on to work for Eclipse Petroleum

Excellence for the fourth consecutive mostly based upon methods established

Technology and then ITF, where he year and the Innovation award for the in vertical wells, although often with- worked with a number of exploration and ? rst time. out acknowledging the fundamental production companies on projects in the differences. The merits and demerits of On a personal level, I received the

North Sea, Gulf Coast, West Africa, and various techniques in horizontal wells SPE North Sea Regional Outstanding

Southeast Asia. He is currently a produc- are not well-established and modeling Young Member Award in 2008 and the tion technologist at Shell UK, responsible tools for comparing the performance of SPE International Award for Young for a brown? eld well and reservoir man- different approaches are not there yet Member Contribution to the Society agement and well abandonment activities.

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