SPE Forum: Artificial Intelligence in Upstream E&P 2030 and Beyond
7–10 April 2026 | Santa Fe, New Mexico
SPE Forum: Artificial Intelligence in Upstream E&P 2030 and Beyond
7–10 April 2026 | Santa Fe, New Mexico
7–10 April 2026 | Santa Fe, New Mexico
The application deadline is 2 March
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the engineering landscape, reshaping how problems are approached, solutions are designed, and systems are optimized. For upstream energy operations, AI is redefining the pathways to innovation and efficiency. In the exploration and production (E&P) sector, this transformation extends beyond the nature of tasks to the very skills required to perform them. Learn more
Building on the 2024 SPE AI Forum, this forum delves into the transformative impact of continued advancements in AI technologies, intelligent workflows, and new software and hardware on the engineering and geoscience domains as well as the workforce. Key upstream E&P topical questions for discussions will include:
What fundamental skills will preserve the human edge?
Can AI ever truly acquire the tacit knowledge and intuition?
How can we build trust in AI models?
How do we architect a new human-AI symbiotic future?
The forum will consist of six sessions covering these topics:
The future of drilling and completions, including AI for exploration.
The future of production and surface operations.
The future of unconventional asset development, and AI technologies for cycle time reduction.
The future of conventional asset development including deep water and conventional reservoirs, and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods such as polymers for heavy oil.
The future of decision making and support systems, and the role of human knowledge, human computer interaction, and AI agents, and what future systems for decision making could look like.
Aspirational benefits and productivity increase, expected workforce evolution, and ethical AI by 2030.
Who Should Attend?
R&D staff working on AI and decision processes from academia, E&P companies, and service providers.
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