Petroleum Society of Canada completes merger agreement with SPE

The Boards of the Petroleum Society of Canada and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) have approved a merger agreement that will create a new Canadian organization, SPE Canada, to serve the combined membership of approximately 4,500 in Canada. The two societies signed the merger agreement on June 12, with the legal closing expected to take place by August 7.

SPE Canada will focus on enhancing benefits for members and supporting the Canadian E&P business and technology. SPE gains about 1,000 members in Canada through the merger and additional Canadian technical resources, including the Petroleum Society's Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology, the TechBank database of technical papers, continuing education program, and several key Canadian conferences. By joining forces with SPE, Petroleum Society members become part of a larger organization in Canada while gaining greater access to global petroleum technology through SPE's network of more than 88,000 members worldwide and through additional technical resources, events, publications and programs provided by SPE.

The Petroleum Society office in Calgary will become the SPE Canada office, continuing support of services to Canadian members and publication of the Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology. Some energy professionals already hold memberships in both societies. All 2009 members of the Petroleum Society can automatically become SPE members by opting in, and will receive a communication at a later date about how to do that.

SPE has three current sections in the Canada Region: Calgary, Edmonton, and Atlantic. Two new sections are pending SPE board approval in June: South Saskatchewan and Lloydminster. Helen Chang, Nexen Inc., represents the Canadian Region on the SPE International Board of Directors until October 2010, when her term on the board expires. She additionally will serve on the SPE Canada Board of Directors, which will be made up of members of both societies to be announced shortly.