The Dutch Petrophysical Society, DPS, was founded on 10 November 1993, at the initiative of a few members of Shell and Schlumberger in the Netherlands. The initiative was probably inspired by the inaugural lecture of Max Peeters (Shell) upon his appointment as Professor of Petrophysics at the Technical University of Delft in August 1993.
The DPS was founded as a Vereniging (“society”) in its own right by notary deed in accordance with Dutch law, and registered with the Kamer van Koophandel (”Chamber of Commerce”). As stipulated in the Statuten, DPS is a Chapter of the international organization SPWLA, which involves certain obligations to the mother organization.
Since its foundation, DPS organized yearly some eight to ten monthly meetings, initially in the KIVI building in The Hague, and later at the Faculty of Mining & Petroleum Engineering (later called Applied Earth Sciences) in Delft. The meetings included a presentation by one of its members, or by a speaker from the associated companies. Attendance varied with an average of some twenty members.
From 2005 to 2007 the DPS board was extended with a “Northern Liason Officer”, in an (unsuccessful) attempt to engage the large Petrophysical community in Assen.
According to Dutch law, a society has to conduct an Annual General Meeting. This was yearly done prior to a monthly meeting, usually in May so that the new Board could be presented at the annual Symposium of SPWLA which is typically held in June. Subsequent to the AGM, the Board completed their Annual Report to be sent to SPWLA. Due to apparent lack of interest from the latter, this was not done after 2006.
In 1996 hosted the SPWLA European Logging Symposium at the EAGE Convention, June 3-7, in Amsterdam (RAI building) with a total of 36 petrophysical papers.
In December 2000, DPS organized a half-day panel discussion on “The Future of Petrophysics”, with introductions by senior staff from associated organizations and moderated by Jan Oele, executive board member of the TU Delft.
In 2004, DPS hosted the 45th SPWLA Annual Symposium, June 6-9, in Noordwijk. Being a relatively small chapter, DPS managed to formulate a successful bid, as early as November 2001, with the aid of a professional congress organization, Congrex Holland B.V. To limit the liability of DPS, a dedicated foundation was created, Stichting SPWLA Symposium 2004, responsible for this symposium. Attendance of a total of 525 registrants greatly exceeded the prognosed play-even number, resulting in a nice profit after paying the required amount of US$106k to SPWLA.
In most years, a lecture was organized jointly with its sister organization PGK in the KIVI building, The Hague. Similarly, a lecture was organized jointly with SPE, held at their venue.
In June 2004 DPS initiated an annual BBQ, jointly with SPE and PGK. The first occasions were held in the inner court of the Mijnbouw building in Delft. In later years the venue shifted to the Carlton Beach Hotel in Scheveningen.
In April 2006 DPS paid a visit to KNMI on the topic “Seismicity due to Gas Production”.
Unfortunately, the attendance to the monthly meetings declined seriously in the following years. In January 2012 a questionnaire was sent out to all potential members. The general sentiment of the reactions was of pity and regret. There were a few reactions with suggestions, but not concrete enough to turn the trend. At at the AGM of May 2012 it was decided to go in hibernation until a new Board calls a revival. If this would not happen, the remaining members of the old Board would ultimately dissolve DPS.
May 9th, 2016
Wim Looyestijn
Past President DPS