Project InnerSpace and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) has announced a new partnership to institutionalise geothermal as a technical focus area across SPE’s core disciplines.
InnerSpace has provided support for the partnership with a US$100,000 grant to help build upon SPE’s identification of geothermal as a one of its five core ‘Grand Challenges’. The support is designed as catalytic seed funding, providing the activation energy for a set of repeatable initiatives that can sustain and grow over the coming years, with the aim of engaging the full technical weight of the oil and gas industry.
The initiative is structured around two workstreams: Journal of Petroleum Technology, a print publication with PE articles on the technical synergies between oil and gas and geothermal; and geothermal-focused activities led by SPE Technical Directors across six disciplines – Drilling, Completions, Data Science, HSES, Production and Facilities, and Reservoir Engineering.
The grant extends a growing collaboration between SPE and InnerSpace, who are working together to develop the Geothermal Resources Management System (GRMS), a standardised resource and reserves classification framework for geothermal modelled on SPE’s Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS).
Jamie Beard, Founder and Executive Director or Project InnerSpace, said, “The oil and gas industry, with its highly skilled workforce and technological advancements that rival those in space exploration, is poised to lead the way in developing this abundant and undervalued resource beneath us. We are proud to partner with SPE to tackle remaining challenges to industry-wide engagement.”
Chief Executive Officer at SPE, Simon Seaton, commented, “SPE’s mission is to connect technical professionals to advance the safe, responsible, and sustainable development of oil and gas and related energy resources. We are grateful for Project InnerSpace’s support and partnership in helping create new opportunities for our members to apply their expertise, collaborate across disciplines, and accelerate the growth of geothermal.”