With an engineering degree from Oklahoma State University and graduate work in industrial engineering, Richard Spears has worked for 37 years in the upstream oil and gas industry, starting as a field engineer for Halliburton. Today, Richard is one of the managing directors of Spears & Associates, an oilfield market research firm founded in 1965. The firm has over 400 clients worldwide, including all major oil companies, many national oil companies, all major service companies and over one hundred private and institutional investors. Richard has been with the firm since 1985 and leads the firm’s mergers and acquisitions support practice. Richard is a 30-year member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE 1141910) and was an SPE Distinguished Lecturer 2005‐2006.  He is also a 30-year member of the Association of Energy Service Companies. Richard is on the board of directors of several oilfield service companies: Allied Horizontal Wireline, a wireline logging company that is commercializing GE’s digital openhole logging technology; Abrado Wellbore Services, a wellbore diagnostics company; and W-Technology, a manufacturer of directional drilling components. Richard and his wife Carol have three adult children.