01 February 2026 — JPT February Issue (VOL. 78, NO. 2)

February 2026 Issue of JPT — Now Available to SPE Members

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is excited to announce the release of the February 2026 edition of the Journal of Petroleum Technology (JPT), the flagship magazine serving energy professionals around the globe. Active SPE members can now access the full digital issue online for the latest insights, case studies, and expert perspectives in oil and gas technology, exploration, and production.

What’s Inside the February 2026 JPT (VOL. 78, NO. 2)?

Key Features and Editorials

• President’s Column: Energizing Tomorrow: SPE's Scholarly Publishing
  From JPT to SPE Journal, OnePetro to technical guidance documents, SPE’s publishing portfolio is broader and more dynamic than many members may realize. In this column, I unpack the Society’s current publication options, explore how AI and open access are reshaping scholarly publishing, and share what SPE is doing to strengthen paper quality, transparency, and impact in an evolving digital landscape.

• Texas Explores Beneficial Reuse as Produced-Water Flows Top 24 Million B/D
  Ongoing seismicity concerns and orphan well risks are pushing operators and regulators to explore alternatives for managing produced water.

• Guest Editorial: Shale to Silicon—Where Oil and Gas Fits Into the Fifth Industrial Revolution
  This guest editorial explores the rise of agentic AI and its potential impact on oil and gas professionals.

• Emissions Big Picture: Metering Closes the Accuracy Gap
  Monitoring at ground is helping the industry shift from best estimates to hard data so it can bring into focus the true emissions profile.

• Something New, Something Old: Australia’s Greenfield LNG Projects Grow Capacity While Depleted Wells Drive Decommissioning
  Despite a 2.8% drop in LNG exports in 2025 due to lost market share in China, Australia anticipates a 2026 rebound as new North West Shelf capacity comes online. Meanwhile, east coast operators brace for a tsunami of wells entering the decommissioning pipeline and potential energy shortfalls necessitating LNG imports.

• Case Study: Reducing OPEX and Boosting Production in Oman Heavy-Oil Fields With Downhole Spring-Loaded Valve Technology
  To overcome operational constraints tied to ball-and-seat valves, an operator tested a spring-loaded alternative downhole.

• E&P Notes
  Updates about global exploration and production activities and developments.

Technical Focus Synopses

• Drilling Automation and Innovation by Marc Willerth, Research and Innovation Manager, Helmerich & Payne

  • Autonomous Directional Drilling and Geosteering Enhances Real-Time Decision-Making

  • Integration of Physics Models and ML Algorithms Enhances Automated Sliding Performance

  • Level 3 Automation Achieved in Rotary-Steerable-System Downhole ControlDeep-Learning Technique Optimizes Sequestration, Oil Production in CCUS Projects

• Well Testing by Chris Carpenter, JPT Technology Editor, SPE

  • Pairing Wireline Formation Testing With Drillstem Testing Unlocks Potential

  • Integrated Approach Schedules, Validates Steady-State Production-Well Tests

  • Multiphase-Flowmeter Systems Use Autodiagnostic Solution

• Formation Evaluation by Haijing Wang, Senior Petrophysicist, Chevron

  • Pulsed-Neutron Logging-While-Drilling Tool Enables Direct Carbon Measurement

  • New-Generation Formation Testing Advances Evaluation of Volcanic Breccia Formations

  • Formation and Fracture-System Compressibility Tracked Through Interference Testing

• Seismic by Wassem M. Alward, Domain Lead, SLB

  • Rapid High-Frequency Wave Imaging Improves Resolution of Complex Geology

  • Pretrained Foundation Model Enables Rapid Seismic Interpretation

  • Study Reviews Operator’s Use of 4D Seismic in Campos and Santos Basins

Plus:

• SPE Technical Papers Available for Download — January 2026–February 2026
  The complete SPE technical papers—synopsized in each monthly issue of JPT—are available for download for SPE members for 2 months.

Don’t miss this month’s JPT for unparalleled analysis, technical content, and thought leadership — keeping you at the forefront of the energy industry.