SPE-GCS Annual Awards & Scholarship Banquet

Nathan Meehan, 2016 Society of Petroleum Engineers president, is senior executive adviser at Baker Hughes, advising executive management on reservoir and geoscience issues. Previously, he was president of CMG Petroleum Consulting, vice president of engineering for Occidental Oil & Gas; and general manager exploration and production at Union Pacific Resources. 

He previously served as chairman of the CMG Reservoir Simulation Foundation and as director of the Computer Modelling Group, Vanyoganeft Oil Company, Pinnacle Technologies, SPE Board of Directors, and JOA Oil & Gas BV. He served on advisory boards of the University of Texas and the University of Houston and currently serves on the EME industry relations board at Pennsylvania State, the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission and the Advisory Board of World Oil. 

He received a lifetime achievement award from World Oil in 2016. Meehan also is the recipient of the Lester C. Uren Award for Distinguished Achievement in Petroleum Engineering and the Degolyer Distinguished Service Medal and served as a Distinguished Lecturer. He is a licensed professional engineer in four states and has published scores of papers.

Meehan earned a BSc in physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology, an MSc in petroleum engineering from the University of Oklahoma, and a PhD in petroleum engineering from Stanford University

Keynote: Sustainability and the Future of Oil and Gas

 The definition of sustainability is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In this keynote talk, Nathan Meehan reviews key sustainability issues and compares a Middle Eastern field, Prudhoe Bay and North American unconventionals in light of their relative impacts with observations on improvements required in unconventional reservoirs. 

Emcee: Marc Vandermeer - Voice of the Houston Texans

Additionally we look forward to the return of our emcee Mark Vandermeer, the Voice of the Houston Texans. Marc Vandermeer co-hosts the Drivetimeplayers show with Rich Lord and has worked as the play-by-play voice of the Houston Texans since the franchise began play in 2002. Vandermeer previously worked as the play-by-play voice of the Miami Hurricanes, UMass and Central MichiganUniversity calling National Championship seasons in Football (2001), Baseball (2001) and a Final Four in 1996. He also appears as a guest commentator on the weekly show Texans Huddle on Fox Sports SW and Sports Sunday on KPRC. His extra play-by-play work includes NCAA Tournament games on Westwood One Radio. He graduated from Boston University in 1985. Vandermeer works regularly with many regional charities including Junior Acheivement, Child Advocates, Candlelighters and the VanderTeam.

Magician Ben Jackson is returning to our annual event. Forget the top hats, big boxes, and furry woodland creatures. The ancient art form of magic is getting a face lift and Ben Jackson is leading the forefront with just two hands, more than a decade of practice, and some serious digital dexterity.

In 2010 Ben Jackson became one of the youngest magicians to win the World Magic Seminar’s International Close-up Magic Competition in Las Vegas, NV. He had a lot in common with the presenter, Lance Burton, a former World Magic Seminar winner 30 years prior. He has appeared at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, in MAGIC magazine, and in the newly released book, Magic’s Most Amazing Stories. 

Ben’s past clients include British Petroleum, Hewlett-Packard, Lincoln Financial, Dave Lesar, the current C.E.O. of Halliburton, and celebrities such as Tom Colicchio, star of the Food Network.

Most recently Ben won 1st place, the People’s Choice Award, and the coveted Medal of Merit from the 2012 Society of American Magicians’ National Close-up Magic Competition at the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas, NV. With an unprecedented“triple win” from the oldest and most prestigious magical society, it’s safe to say that Ben Jackson is taking the magic world by storm.

Ben's performance is sponsored by PIKA Industries.