When I studied petroleum engineering, one path captured my attention more than any other: reservoir management and the challenge of mature fields. I was fascinated by a simple idea… How can fields that began development more than 60 years ago still have significant potential left underground?

After more than 13 years at SLB working with mature fields, answering that question still motivates me. Maximizing recovery from these assets keeps getting more complex—economic, technical, and ultimately human, coming down to our ability to make the right decisions at the right time.

For years, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) belonged to a specialized world. Say the word, and people imagined something complex, expensive, and confined to laboratories.

At SLB, we had a chance to challenge that.

I had the privilege of leading the implementation of Ecuador’s first chemical EOR pilot, alongside an exceptional multidisciplinary team and one of our key clients in the region. The goal? Become more efficient, make the most of existing assets, and reduce the need for new wells.

We took EOR from a technical concept to a tangible field implementation. But the real innovation wasn’t one of technology. It was integration—connecting capabilities that used to work in isolation, so we could move from insight to decision to execution faster than ever before.

For me, that’s the biggest lesson: mature fields keep changing. Pressure shifts. Fluids move. Sweep patterns develop. Our approach has to evolve just as continuously, or we fall behind what the field is already telling us.

The future isn’t only about better models or more technology. It’s about an integrated reservoir management loop—one that connects subsurface understanding to human decision-making and treats recovery as a life cycle commitment rather than a last resort.

Our pilot in Ecuador proved what’s possible when expertise, technology, and people come together around one objective: unlocking recovery that once seemed out of reach. I believe those first steps were only the beginning. What we’re building through Recovery Express™ can help redefine how we find, mature, and deliver recovery opportunities across mature fields in South America and beyond.

Innovation isn’t always about inventing something new. Sometimes, it’s about connecting what we already know in a completely new way and turning potential into reality.

SLB changed how our industry saw what was possible in its first 100 years. I’ve spent 13 of those years chasing that same instinct underground, and I’m certain the next 100 will be shaped by people willing to do the same: Look closely at what’s already there and see more.