2018 SPE President Darcy Spady

Abstract

Darcy Spady, the 2018 SPE president, is the first Canadian to have been elected to this position. Spady, who works with Calgary-based Broadview Energy, has been an active SPE member since graduating from university. Most recently, he served on the SPE International Board as regional director for Canada; he is also a member of the Vancouver and Calgary sections. Spady has held officer positions in the Calgary, Illinois Basin, and Appalachian sections. In 2012, he won a Regional Service Award for his work in the Canada region. Spady has an extensive background in the natural gas, oil, and heavy oil segments of the industry, having worked a decade for Schlumberger across North America in its wireline and pressure pumping segments, as well as with Columbia Natural Resources/Triana Energy group in the Appalachians, and Atlantic Canada. He has also served as CEO of Calgary-based Contact Exploration and more recently as head of sales for Sanjel Corporation. He is an active independent director, serving as board chairman for Green Imaging Technologies, Crestwynd Exploration, and as a board member of MNP Petroleum. He previously served on the boards of Edge Resources, Contact Exploration, Guildhall Minerals, and Poplar Point Exploration. Spady holds a BS degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Alberta. What are the main goals you would like to accomplish? I have five main goals: The first one is revising the SPE Strategic Plan, which has not been updated in 5 years, and which charts the course of SPE. Times have changed dramatically, and it is a different industry and a different SPE. The second comes from my background in the industry and the company I am with, Broadview Energy. I have a special interest in heavy oil technology and would like to promote the importance of that. The third goal is something I have been talking about in the past year since I was nominated: the importance of increasing awareness about the need for community consensus and corporate social responsibility. Previous SPE presidents have talked about it, but my flavor is a little different. I am actually a farmer and do field work around wellheads, so I look at the issue from a landowner point of view. The fourth is to ensure that SPE’s new sections and sections that may be in remote areas receive the same quality of programs and services that the larger, better-established sections receive. I think equality in what SPE delivers is very important. We need to grow equitably in a global sense as well, making sure we are a diverse organization that reflects our membership. The fifth is to represent and support the independent and small producers around the world. My experience on the producer side has been with small companies, and I sit at some board tables with small companies, so I feel an obligation to ensure better attention from SPE to this group.