Society of Petroleum Engineers

code of ethics
 Why Ethics and
Engineering

The engineer as a professional is dedicated to

improving competence, service, fairness, and the
exercise of well-founded judgment in the ethical
practice of engineering for all who use engineering
services with fundamental concern for protecting the
environment and safeguarding the health, safety and
well-being of the public in the pursuit of this practice.
 Why should I study ethics?

- Adaptation for current business environment

on corporate governance. Increased
governmental legislation on industry.
- Fulfillment of chartering, registration, or
certification requirements on Ethics training.
Provide vehicle for required training for
Students.
 Why should I study ethics?

- Better alignment with other professions

(Attorneys, Accountants, Physicians) where
public interest is involved. Other engineering
organizations have ethics education for
membership
- Provide resource for Students on ethics training
and guidelines.
 ETHICS
- Ethics –critical reflection on what one does and why one does it.
• Morality –social conventions about right and wrong conduct.
• Ethics is a guide to personal conduct of a professional
engineer.
- The field of ethics is usually broken down into three different
way of thinking about ethics:
• Descriptive
• Normative
• Analytic
- Engineers have an ethical and social responsibility to themselves,
their clients, and to society.
 ETHICS
• Descriptive Ethics:
- Descriptive ethics –study of peoples belief about morality.
- Descriptive ethics is a form of empirical research into the attitudes of
individuals or groups of people.
• Normative Ethics:
- Normative ethics is “action guides” which include theories, principles,
rules, and maxims.
- Engineering ethics (and professional ethics in general) are normative.
• Analytical Ethics
- Analytical Ethics –involves reasoning about the presuppositions
- Analytical ethics is all about questioning the validity of what we are
talking about.
 Ethics Decision Framework

Ethics can be complex, without a clear answer. The

Decision Framework developed by the SPE Ethics
Sub-Committee is proposed to enable the petroleum
professional to make sound decisions on complex
ethical issues.
 Ethics Decision Framework
Ask yourself:

Would the resulting action be legal?

Would stakeholders see the action as responsible stewardship?

Would I feel good about the resulting action?

Would I mind having information regarding the decision publicized?

Have I consulted with peers/others regarding the perceived action and possible

ramifications?

Would the public view the perceived act as a responsible professional action?
 National Society of Professional Engineers
Code of Ethics
Fundamental Canons
- Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public in the
performance.
- Perform services only in areas of their competence,
- Issue public statements only in an objective manner,
- Act in professional matters for each employer or client as trustees,
- Avoid deceptive acts in the professional employment.
- Conduct themselves responsibly, ethically, to enhance the
reputation, of the profession.
 National Society of Professional Engineers
Code of Ethics

Professional obligations
 Engineers shall be guided in all their professional relations by the highest standards of
integrity,
 Engineers shall at all times strive to serve the public interest,
 Engineers shall avoid all conduct or practice which is likely to discredit the profession
or deceive the public,
 Engineers shall not disclose confidential information concerning the business affairs or
technical processes of any present or former client or employer without his/her
consent,
 Engineers shall not be influenced in their professional duties by conflicting interests,
 Engineers shall uphold the principle of appropriate and adequate compensation for
those engaged in engineering work,
 Engineers shall not attempt to obtain employment or advancement or professional
engagements by untruthfully criticizing other engineers, or by other improper or
questionable methods.
 National Society of Professional Engineers
Code of Ethics
Intellectual Property
One of the main focus of the engineer is to provide technological
solutions for the needs of society, then creative invention is a major
part of the engineer design activity. Therefore, the engineer must be
familiar with the current laws for the protections of intellectual
property.
Intellectual Property is composed of four separate legal entities:
1- Trade Secrets;
2- Patents;
3- Trademarks; and
4- Copy rights
 National Society of Professional Engineers
Code of Ethics
Intellectual Property
1- Trade Secrets:
Trade secrets are creative works usually methods, process. Or design,
or they are actual inventions that a company or individual does not
want to expose to public.
2- Patents;
A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the
inventor. Patents are granted for new, useful and non-obvious
inventions for a period of 20 years from the filing date of a patent
application, and provide the right to exclude others from exploiting
the invention during that period.
 Intellectual Property
3- Trademarks
• A trademark is any work, name, symbol, or device or any
combination of these adopted and used by manufacturers or
merchants to identify their goods and distinguish them from
those manufactured or sold by others.
4- Copyrights
• The copyright protects creative works such a literary works,
musical works, dramatic works, pictorial, graphic, sculptural,
motion pictures and other audio-visual works, computer
software.
• The notice of copyright is given by (copyright) or the
abbreviation (Copr) or by the symbol ©.
Question and Answer
Session
 Some Realistic Situations
Question 1
I was told that I could hire a consultant to take care
of getting all the permits we need from a foreign
government. He requested a $40,000 retainer and
said that he would use the money to ‘help move the
process along.’ Since we don’t really know where
the money is going, do we have to worry about it?
 Some Realistic Situations
Answer 1
Yes. You should know enough to find out if your consultant
is getting an unfair advantage on the competition. Is it
customary for conducting business in this foreign
government or a one-time deal to get special favors? One
must balance ethical considerations with the realities of
doing business in many foreign marketplaces. Acceptable
behavior in one part of the world may be very different
from your normal operating practices at home.
 Some Realistic Situations
Question 2

I have just received an invitation to attend a

hearing of a governmental/local authority
committee as an expert industry witness.
How should I respond?
 Some Realistic Situations
Answer 2
You should use your best judgment as per the expertise
required to testify. By definition, an expert is one that
has achieved a high degree of skill or knowledge as a
result of their experience and training. Will the
testimony be in your area of expertise? Do you have
sufficient education and a long track record of industry
experience in this area? Does your company and/or
peers recognize you as an expert?
 Some Realistic Situations
Question 3
Every week we are required to test chemical discharges
that are produced when we make a particular product.
The tests always come out the same, so sometimes when
work is very busy we skip the tests and do them a day or
two later if we can. Then, when we do the missing tests,
we just back date the results. Since this helps manage our
work-flow, is this really wrong?
 Some Realistic Situations
Answer 3

Definitely wrong. Would you want to live next to a

plant that followed this behavior? Probably not. Back-
dating quality-control measurements is unacceptable in
any situation and few things “always” stay the same.
Measurements are recorded to ensure safe, legal
operation of your business. No answer at all is better
than a back-dated entry. Don’t do this.
 Some Realistic Situations
Question 4
A former Company A employee who worked on my team
recently contacted me to request that I provide copies of
some materials we worked on during his employment. In
the course of this conversation, I learned that this former
employee has copies of several binders and CDs with
Company A materials and data we used in a project. I told
this employee that I would get back to him/her. What
should I do now?
 Some Realistic Situations
Answer 5

If you told someone you will contact them, then you should
follow your commitment. As far as the materials are
concerned, you should ask if they are proprietary materials
that belong to company A or intellectual property resulting
from your work together. You should also be familiar with
company A’s policy on intellectual property as to what is &
is not transferable and pass along this information as
appropriate to the former employee. If you are still in doubt,
disclose your activities to your superior(s) and seek the
counsel of peers & other co-workers.
 Some Realistic Situations
Question 6
I have just joined Company A as a new employee.
My prior employer is one of Company A’s largest
competitors. Can I share some important
confidential marketing information that I developed
while working for this competitor?
 Some Realistic Situations
Answer 6
You must follow your conscience as what is
acceptable knowledge transfer. Your intellectual
property is yours to keep and may be transferred.
However, proprietary information that you know is
confidential should not be shared with out permission.
You also have potential legal implications if
confidential information is shared, especially if you
signed a confidentiality clause with your former
employer.
 Exercise
Case Study
You provide engineering services to clients in the
fields of reservoir engineering and reserves analysis
and reporting and are paid for your time and
reasonable expenses. Your client wants to be provided
a signed report showing that their fields contain a
certain level of reserves. You receive data necessary
to make an evaluation along with the client’s own
reserves estimate which is really the target they wish
to see. Should you take on this consulting project?