"In the Headlines" Archives

Onboard a High-Tech Oil Rig

Ever-increasing fossil fuel demand has companies going farther and digging deeper for oil than ever before. Popular Mechanics, April 2008. Read more.

What you need to know about energy

A new energy booklet presents a picture of America’s current and projected energy needs. Published by the US National Academies of Science. Read more.

OTC Education day a link to future workers

For a second year, the Offshore Technology Conference will host the Energy Education Institute for about 100 Houston-area kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers. Read more.

What’s behind rising oil prices?

You're paying way more for gasoline than common sense would suggest, and you might be surprised by who's to blame. Read more

Oceans eyed as new energy source

The world's most powerful sustained ocean current — the mighty Gulf Stream — rushes by at nearly 8.5 billion gallons per second. Read more

Drilling record broken by ExxonMobil’s Sakhalin-1

ExxonMobil has broken its own world record for extended-reach drilling. Read more.

Energy Engineering Essay Contest going on

The National Academy of Engineering is sponsoring Engineering Energy for the Future, an essay contest.  The contest is open to individual girls and boys in grades three through 12. Click here for full details.

Companies explore oil shale

Increased energy demands spark renewed interest in Colorado deposits. Like any good story of buried treasure, X marks the spot. Read more

Engineers Week Recognizes SPE's Tony Thomas

New Faces of Engineering program highlights the interesting and unique work of young engineers and the resulting impact on society. Read more

Picture changing for women engineers

While flying to work on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico, a long-experienced woman engineer was asked by the helicopter pilot if she was a cook.  Read more

Events drove crude's ride from 10.72 (US dollars)

Looking back, several factors came together at the same time to help oil shoot up roughly tenfold in less than a decade and briefly touch $100. Read more
Oil price increase chart

“Be part of the industry to help change it”

NEED interviews marine biologist

Donna Schroeder, a marine biologist in the oil and gas industry, and another young professional discuss their exciting careers in the latest edition of Career Currents. Read more

Hybrids are a cool idea—but they won't save the planet

Popular perception is that to combat global warming, we should trade in gas- guzzling Hummers for gas-sipping hybrids. Read more

The end of the light bulb as we know it

The incandescent light bulb will be phased off the U.S. market beginning in 2012 under the new energy law just approved by Congress. Read more

SPE auxiliary sells cookbook to raise scholarship funds

Members of the Permian AIMEES, an auxiliary group to the Society of Petroleum Engineers, think they have cooked up a winning recipe to raise funds for scholarships for engineering students ... the goal this year, thanks to the cookbook, is to donate $11,000. Read more

High-school students have future in engineering

With a wide variety of careers available to prospective college graduates, one might think that engineering would be among the least desirable - with its math-driven, technical focus ... Not really, said Karla Guajardo, a production engineer with Occidental Petroleum and a volunteer with the Society of Petroleum Engineer's high-school student outreach efforts. Read more

Girls Dominate the Siemen Science Competition

For the first time in the prestigious national math and science contest's nine-year history, girls were awarded both grand prizes. Read more

New Oil Crisis: An engineer shortage

You've heard the reasons for high oil prices: instability in the Middle East, booming demand in China and India, the sagging dollar. Now add another one to the list: Engineers. The world doesn't have enough of them. From Alberta to Azerbaijan, the fervent hunt for new reserves of oil and natural gas is running up against a shortage of experienced oil patch professionals. Read more

Boom in oil industry paves way for new petroleum engineers

A boom in the oil patch has led to a similar resurgence in university petroleum engineering programs. After surviving years of slumping enrollment, these programs are now growing again as a booming industry means graduates are virtually guaranteed employment at salaries upward of $100,000. Read more

50 ways one engineer can make a difference

One person can make a difference in the engineering profession and in National Engineers Week. Here are 50 ways to try. Read more

Chinese company becomes world’s biggest oil company

The meaning of the term "Big Oil" has changed overnight, as state-controlled PetroChina became the first company worth more than $1 trillion, tripling its value Monday in its debut day on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and making it by far the largest company in the world. Read more