James Pappas is Vice President of Ultra-Deepwater Programs for RPSEA, the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America, in Sugar Land, TX. He has previously held the positions of Global Technology Coordinator, Facilities Engineer in the Deepwater & International Well Engineering & Facilities Division, Deepwater Project Coordinator for Devon Energy, as well as Production Engineer in the Gulf of Mexico Division for Devon Energy, and Santa Fe Snyder prior to their merger. He has also held drilling, completions, production, operations superintendent, reservoir, and acquisitions and divestitures (A&D) positions with Fina Oil and Chemical Company, UPRC, and Amoco Production Company.
He has been involved with the Society of Petroleum Engineers for 30 years. He is both the immediate past SPE International Production and Operations Technical Director and SPE Technical Programs and Meetings Committee Chair, and is is a former chair of the SPE-Gulf Coast Section. He has served on several technical program committees for meetings including: the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) , the Latin American Continental Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (LACPEC), the SPE R&D Conference, and the SPE Production & Operations (P&O) Conference. He is an invited organization Offshore Technology Conference Board member.
He is also the immediate past Private Industry Practice Chair and Executive Committee member of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers and serves on that body’s Legislative and Governmental Affairs Committee. He is also active in the American Petroleum Institute (API), National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), the American Association of Drilling Engineers (AADE), and Marine Technical Society (MTS).
James has authored over 40 papers and spoken at various conferences and interviews on a variety of technical and professional topics including: Monte Carlo reservoir simulation, hydraulic fracture analysis, well conformance remediation, subsea tiebacks, flow assurance issues, floating platform concepts, project management, drilling, government and the oil and gas industry, engineering, professionalism, recruiting, training and development, retention, volunteerism, and ethics.
James earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry with Math and Spanish minors, from the University of Texas at Austin in 1979. He graduated with a Master of Business Administration with highest honors from the University of Texas at Tyler in 1993.
He has earned numerous accolades including the SPE-Gulf Coast Section and SPE Gulf Coast Region Service Awards, as well as both the Houston Area Engineer of the Year in 2007 and Texas Engineer of the Year by the Texas Society of Professional Engineers in 2008, and he was selected Distinguished Engineer in Texas by the Texas Engineering Foundation in 2008. He has been a Registered Professional Engineer inTexas since 1985.
