Why OPC sponsors London SPE

Why OPC sponsors London SPE

by Piers Johnson, Managing Director OPC and SPE London Chairman 2000

This article was originally published in the SPE Review London May 2019 and has been republished here with consent.

“I joined the SPE in 1988, the same year in which I founded OPC, and have been a member, chair, sponsor and active participator for the last 30 years. My marketing consultant asks me what ‘ROI’ we get from this involvement as he wants to use the sponsorship money on SEO or SEA or some other three-letter abbreviation that marketers seem to love these days. Fortunately, as I am both the Managing Director and owner of OPC, I can do what I like. But even if I wasn’t, I would still tell him that the return that we get from our relationship with the SPE is immeasurable but also considerable – as a large number of current and past clients of OPC have been developed through the SPE.”

We first began sponsoring London SPE in the mid-1990s. We had started to expand the services of OPC from well testing to undertaking reserve audits and CPRs. From the very first event that I attended as a sponsor, I was able to talk to senior decision-makers at large oil businesses (that I’d previously been unable to get in to see). My year as Chairman in 2000 coincided with the boom years and I was lucky to host several large and high profile events. The week after a dinner at which Red Adair was a main guest, I was stopped walking down the street in Aberdeen by a guy who had been to the dinner, recognised me and asked me to come and see him about a new project he was working on. SEO can’t get you that.

As well as our ongoing sponsorship of the London Section, we have been actively involved in speaking at and sponsoring events such as the Women in Energy and Introduction to E&P events. I am particularly passionate about attracting new talent to our industry and have sponsored student awards at Nottingham University and Imperial College as well as the SPE student chapter field trips. As OPC has expanded overseas, we have also developed our relationship with the SPE regions including Houston, Aberdeen and Kazakhstan:

Is it all worth it? A hundred times yes. Petroleum Engineering is our business and the members of the SPE are our most loyal customer base. I wish that some of the major oil companies would also see the value of the London section sponsorship – but their loss is our gain. I look forward to continuing our sponsorship for as long as I’m running OPC – and I look forward to meeting many more members at events this year.

Piers Johnson
Managing Director
OPC

Read the article on the full edition of the SPE Review London May 2019:

2000: With Red Adair at SPE London section dinner (as SPE London Chairperson)

2012: Receiving Distinguished Support award, SPE North Sea region.

2014: Panelist at At the Women in Energy event.

2014: At the SPE London Summer Ball, with Milton Jones, comedian.

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