International Awards
SPE confers numerous honors and awards that recognize the contributions made by members to the Society, the engineering profession, and their communities.
Membership Designations
Honorary Member
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- Highest honor that SPE presents to an individual
- Limited to 0.1% of the SPE total membership
- Represents those individuals who have given outstanding service to SPE and/or who have demonstrated distinguished scientific or engineering achievements in the fields within the technical scope of SPE
- May be presented to a non-member
Distinguished Member
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- Established in 1983
- Recognizes SPE members who achieve distinction deemed worthy of special recognition
- Acknowledges members who have attained eminence in the petroleum industry or the academic community, and/or who have made unusually significant contributions to SPE
- Limited to 1% of SPE professional members
- Those who are selected as Honorary Members, recipients of the Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal, John Franklin Carll Award, Lester C. Uren Award, DeGolyer Distinguished Service Medal, Public Service Award, or Distinguished Service Award, as well as the immediate past president of SPE automatically become Distinguished Members
Technical Awards
Anthony F. Lucas Technical Leadership Gold Medal
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The Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal honors distinguished achievement in the identification and development of new technology and concepts that will enhance the process of finding or producing petroleum.
John Franklin Carll Distinguished Professional Award
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The John Franklin Carll Award, established in 1956, recognizes contributions of technical application and professionalism in petroleum development and recovery. The Carll Award may be given to a nonmember of the Society
Lester C. Uren Technical Excellence Award
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The Lester C. Uren Award, established in 1963, recognizes distinguished achievement in the technology of petroleum engineering by a member who made the contribution before age 45. The candidate must be a living member of SPE.
Cedric K. Ferguson Young Technical Author Medal
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The Cedric K. Ferguson Medal, established in 1954, recognizes significant contributions to the permanent technical literature of the profession by a member younger than 36. Nominations are not made for this award; all papers written by SPE members younger than 36 at the time of publication are considered. Coauthors who are SPE members age 36 and over receive the Cedric K. Ferguson Certificate.
Completions Optimization and Technology Award
The Completions Optimization and Technology Award of the Society of Petroleum Engineers recognizes outstanding achievement or contributions to the advancement of petroleum engineering in the area of completions optimization and technology.
Drilling Engineering Award
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The Drilling Engineering Award of the Society of Petroleum Engineers recognizes outstanding achievement or contributions to the advancement of petroleum engineering in the area of drilling technology.
Formation Evaluation Award
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The SPE Formation Evaluation Award recognizes outstanding achievements in or contributions to the advancement of petroleum engineering in the area of formation evaluation, encompassing core analysis, well logging, and petrophysics.
Health, Safety, and Environment Award
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The SPE Health, Safety and Environment Award recognizes outstanding accomplishments in the field of environmental protection, health, or safety in oil and gas exploration, drilling, or production operations. This award was formerly known as the Environment, Health and Safety Award.
Management and Information Award
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The SPE Management and Information Award recognizes outstanding achievements in or contributions to the advancement of management and information in the industry. This award was formerly known as the Economics and Evaluation Award.
Production and Operations Award
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The Production and Operations Award of the Society of Petroleum Engineers recognizes outstanding achievement or contributions to the advancement of petroleum engineering in the area of production and operations technology.
Projects, Facilities and Construction Award
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The SPE Projects, Facilities and Construction Award recognizes outstanding achievements in or contributions to the advancement of petroleum engineering in the area of projects, facilities and construction.
Reservoir Description and Dynamics Award
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The Reservoir Description and Dynamics Award recognizes outstanding achievements in or contributions to the advancement of petroleum engineering in the area of reservoir description and dynamics. This award was formerly knows as the Reservoir Engineering Award.
Professional Awards
DeGolyer Distinguished Service Medal
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The DeGolyer Distinguished Service Medal recognizes distinguished and outstanding service to SPE, the professions of engineering and/or geology, and to the petroleum industry. The candidate must be a member of SPE with at least 15 years professional experience in the petroleum industry.
Distinguished Faculty Achievement
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The SPE Distinguished Achievement Award for Petroleum Engineering Faculty recognizes superiority in classroom teaching, excellence in research, significant contributions to the petroleum engineering profession and/or special effectiveness in advising and guiding students.
Distinguished Service Award
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The SPE Distinguished Service Award recognizes contributions to the Society that exhibit such exceptional devotion of time, effort, thought, and action as to set them apart from other contributions. No person who has been awarded the DeGolyer Distinguished Service Medal is eligible to receive the Distinguished Service Award.
Public Service Award
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The SPE Public Service Award recognizes distinguished public service to a country, state, community, or the public through excellence in leadership, service, or humanitarianism. It is presented for humanitarian efforts and commitment to public service through dedicated service and leadership and granted only to those individuals whose contributions have been exceptional and is awarded only on a periodic basis. The candidate must be a member of SPE in good standing for five consecutive years.
Young Member Outstanding Service Award
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The SPE Young Member Outstanding Service Award recognizes contributions to and leadership in public and community matters, the Society, the petroleum engineering profession, and/or the petroleum industry. No award shall be given solely on the basis of a nominee's contributions to SPE, the petroleum engineering profession, or the petroleum industry. SPE members under the age of 36 during the year of presentation are eligible for consideration.
