Know-how to boost unconventional recovery

USA

C. Susan Howes, 2027 President of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), talks to The Energy Year about her outlook for production in the Permian Basin and the technological advances that are allowing operators to boost oil recovery.

The Society of Petroleum Engineers is a global professional organisation that fosters collaboration and knowledge exchange among oil and gas professionals.

• SPE is using Houston’s strong engineering ecosystem and its global events network to transfer oil and gas knowledge to emerging markets, with initiatives such as OTC Asia and OTC Brazil expanding the dissemination of technical expertise.
• The Permian Basin remains central to US oil production, but low recovery rates in unconventional assets mean further technological advances will be needed to unlock a larger share of the resource base.
• Continued upstream investment is essential to offset natural production decline, with operators focusing on reserve replacement and disciplined, quick-return projects as oil prices strengthen.

What are some ways in which SPE is transferring Houston’s energy know-how to emerging markets?
One of Houston’s key advantages is that it is also a hub for the aerospace, defence and medical industries, which rely on engineering technologies that are similar to those used in oil and gas.
Knowledge transfer is SPE’s primary mission. Here in the SPE Gulf Coast Section, we have several study groups and committees that host events and webinars that people can participate in remotely, and because we are one of SPE’s larger sections, we can pilot innovative initiatives, refine them and expand them internationally.
For example, we began holding a biannual symposium in 1982 on electric submersible pumps that has become an international event, and we also pioneered the Digital Energy Conference and Exhibition, which expanded to Europe on an alternating-year basis between 2007 and 2015. The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), which has been held in Houston for more than six decades, now includes OTC Asia and OTC Brazil. The latest edition of OTC Asia attracted about 30,000 attendees; it currently has the largest attendance of the three events.

What is your outlook for unconventional oil and gas production, and how is technology helping unlock more resources?
The Permian Basin, with multiple stacked pays, has been one of the world’s most prolific producing regions for many years. The industry was initially surprised by the scale of opportunities in unconventional reservoirs. More than 20 years ago, many operators viewed the basin as relatively mature, with limited exploration potential and EOR as the primary means to address declining production.
Today, the Permian Basin continues to play a critical role in US oil production as the dominant shale play in North America. One of the most significant opportunities is that the average recovery rate from unconventional assets remains relatively low, typically in the range of 8-10% of the oil in place. This means that approximately 90% of the resource remains commercially unrecoverable, highlighting the substantial need for continued technological advancement.
Ongoing research, pilots and field studies are focused on improving recovery factors in unconventional reservoirs, and encouraging progress is already being observed. At the same time, companies are pursuing increasingly innovative approaches to reduce costs. One example is the growing use of U-turn or horseshoe wells. Typically, a well has a vertical component and a single horizontal component. If you curve the horizontal into a horseshoe configuration, operators can significantly extend lateral reach while utilising the same vertical infrastructure.
Completion practices have also evolved considerably. It is now common for wells to include 50 or more stages of hydraulic fracturing compared to only a handful in the early years. Additionally, operators are increasingly drilling multiple wells from the same pad, similar to what happens on offshore platforms, where wells extend in different directions from one central location. New technologies for shale plays are showcased at the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, an annual joint event by SPE, AAPG [American Association of Petroleum Geologists] and SEG [Society of Exploration Geophysicists].

How do you assess the dialogue among global oil and gas stakeholders about the energy transition?
Over the past several years, industry terminology around the energy transition has evolved considerably. I have heard the concept described not only as an energy transition, but also as “energy diversification,” “energy addition,” “energy expansion,” and more recently, as “energy balance.”
This shift in language reflects an effort to communicate the issue more accurately. The term “transition” can imply a direct substitution, as if oil and gas are being entirely replaced by alternative energy sources. In reality, that is not the case. Oil and gas will continue to remain the fundamental components of the global energy mix for the foreseeable future.
Viewing the energy transition as an expansion or a balancing of sources provides a more realistic understanding of the trade-offs involved, which are not always apparent to the broader public. Renewable energy may appear simple at the point of use, but the infrastructure behind it depends heavily on mining and processing critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium, copper and others for the manufacturing of solar panels, wind turbines and battery systems.
Low-carbon and new energy activities have become an extension of SPE’s core oil and gas E&P activities, and to capture the spirit of this shift, our messaging now also utilises the tagline “Solutions. People. Energy.”

Do you believe the oil and gas sector needs more upstream investment?
Yes. The oil and gas sector is inherently subject to production decline. In most cases, a well achieves its highest production during the first year of operation. Without continued investment, operators deplete the resource base that supports their business. Sustained investment in reserve replacement is therefore essential to maintaining long-term production and operational viability.
Operators closely monitor the relationship between reserves and annual production through the reserve replacement ratio. If a company produces more hydrocarbons than it adds to its reserves, the ratio falls below one. A healthy reserve replacement ratio for an operator is generally considered to be greater than one.
Investment decisions are also highly sensitive to commodity prices. When oil prices are relatively low, such as around USD 50, capital budgets are naturally constrained by profitability considerations. Even when oil prices rise substantially, operators do not necessarily increase their spending in lockstep. Instead, disciplined companies tend to prioritise projects that can deliver production growth quickly and efficiently, including workovers, well completions or other lower-cost interventions that enhance output. Operators are prioritising exploration investments again with the advent of more robust oil prices in 2026.

What steps is the SPE taking to attract young talent to the oil and gas sector?
We have an impactful scholarship programme for high-school students. Each year, we give hundreds of thousands of dollars to students studying engineering and geoscience in universities. In the SPE Gulf Coast Section, the programme has been running since 1963, and we have launched hundreds of students on their technical careers. We also match scholarship students with local employers for internships.
It is certainly a challenge, because this next generation of digital natives grew up amid energy transition discussions, and there are attractive technical careers in other sectors. Nonetheless, I have served on two advisory committees at The University of Texas at Austin, and undergraduate enrollment at the Jackson School of Geosciences has been increasing for the past several years. UT Austin’s Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering has an enrollment cap, but the quality of candidates and number of applications have also been rising in recent years.

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