AAPG to honor heritage as basis for the future
AAPG PREVIEWAAPG to honor heritage as basis for the futurePreview of the technical program for the annual meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Houston, March 10 – 13Just when some of the best weather of the year brings the spring blossoming of the azaleas, Houston will host the annual convention of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), its divisions and the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM), March 10 through March 13. The three AAPG divisions include Energy Minerals, Professional Affairs and Environmental Geosciences. Venue for the event will be the George R. Brown Convention Center. The theme of AAPG’s meeting, "Our Heritage: Key to Global Discovery," is meant to honor and derive value from AAPG members’ predecessors and their vast experience. As geologists, members will be encouraged to use their heritage as a key to unlock new discoveries worldwide. In the words of the Convention Coordinating Committee, this "is truly a case of the past being a key to our future."
An extensive technical program will feature sessions and papers covering 12 different themes. In addition, numerous field trips and short courses will be conducted. There will be 14 field trips fanning out from Houston in all directions. Some of these will be held before or after the regular convention. The 19 short courses will emphasize how to recognize better opportunities for exploration and development. Again, some of these sessions will be held before or after the convention. The exhibition hall will feature more than 300 commercial and non-profit exhibits, the AAPG Center, the International Pavilion, the Career Center, the Virtual Café and the Sidewalk Café. The Opening Session in the General Assembly Hall on the afternoon of Sunday, March 10, will again be a multi-media spectacular. Images and music will capture the excitement of the profession and the triumphs of the industry. Attendance/Exhibits Given that the convention will be held in Houston, the U.S. oil and gas capital, AAPG officials expect this year’s event to be highly attended. Last year’s attendance in Denver totaled 7,122 geoscientists and other industry professionals, and this was the highest figure since the event was last held in Houston in 1988 (7,645 attendees that year). The projection this year is that more than 8,000 people will attend.
The exhibit hall at the 2002 annual meeting will represent many divergent, yet related, areas of the petroleum industry. Technology displayed in the hall will be complemented by several enhancements that have evolved and improved over past years. More than 300 commercial and non-profit exhibitors will be present. Other features of the exhibit hall include the AAPG Center. This venue features member services, divisions, AAPG’s publications, General Store, Foundation, future meetings, AAPG/ Datapages and more. In addition, the Career Center will be in booth 149. All job openings, information on prospective employers, job interview schedules, and résumés will be available for review online in the exhibit hall. The International Pavilion (see following page) is where more than 40 countries will tell convention attendees about the oil and gas E&P opportunities in their respective petroleum basins. Half-day Poster Sessions also will be held in the exhibit hall. They will change in the morning and at noon, each day. Situated near the Poster Sessions and the AAPG Center will be the Sidewalk Café, where attendees can enjoy a meal or snacks with business associates, clients, and guests. The Virtual Café is where attendees can surf the Web, check and respond to e-mail, view the online version of the International Pavilion and follow links to exhibitors’ websites. International Pavilion Government ministries, commercial and energy-related agencies and national oil companies from various regions across the globe will exhibit at the International Pavilion, also in the exhibit hall. Initiated in 1994, this venue has grown in participation to more than 40 countries. Some of the countries featured include: Algeria (Sonatrach); Angola; Australia (AGSO); Azerbaijan (ASPG); Benin; Brazil (IGP); Canada (British Columbia); Colombia (Ecopetrol); Congo; Cote d’Ivoire; Ecuador; Egypt (EGPC); Equatorial Guinea (Ministerio de Minas y Energia); Eritrea (Ministry of Energy & Mines); the Falkland Islands (Dept. of Mineral Resources); France (DIMAH-DGEMP); Gabon; Ghana; Greenland (Bureau of Minerals & Petroleum); Indonesia (Pertamina); Malta; Morocco (ONAREP); Namibia (Namcor); New Zealand (Crown Minerals); Peru (Perupetro); Poland (Dept. of Geology, Polish Oil & Gas); Senegal; South Africa (Petroleum Agency of S.A.); Suriname (Staatsolie); Uganda (Petroleum E&P Dept.) and Ukraine (State Committee on Geology and Utilization of Mineral Resources). Given the expanding international portfolios of many oil companies, this has grown to be a popular part of the exhibition. This year, a newly enhanced, map-based online version of the pavilion will be available in the Virtual Café. Technical Program As usual, there will be an impressively large assortment of technical sessions and presentations. There are 115 sessions of all kinds, and at least 914 presentations scheduled within them over three days. There will be 56 oral sessions hosting 437 paper presentations. In addition, poster sessions will total 54 and include 450 individual presentations. There are also five "Interactive E-Poster" sessions (26 presentations). This year, technical content is spread over 12 different themes. These include business, opportunity and vision; worldwide E&P activities; exploration techniques; technology; hydrocarbon source / generation / alteration and migration; sequence / stratigraphy / biostratigraphy; siliciclasitc depositional systems; carbonate depositional systems; reservoir geology and characterization; diagenesis; environment; and other conferences. For convenience, this article includes several tables that list each theme’s technical sessions, plus the date and time of each set of presentations. Seven of the oral sessions actually amount to panel discussions, three of which are listed as "executive sessions." The first of these executive sessions will be on Monday morning (March 11). It is entitled, "Business challenges facing deepwater development." Invited panelists include Dave Blackwood, vice president – deepwater development, BP; Jose Coutinho Barbosa, director of exploration, Petrobrás; Johnny Hall, vice president, ExxonMobil Development Co.; Rich Sears, vice president – Evaluation and Development Planning, Shell International E&P.; Hoshbaht Yusufzade, vice president, SOCAR (Azerbaijan); and Ian Ashcroft, head of North America Energy, Wood-Mackenzie. The second executive session on Monday afternoon is "Technology trends – keys to profitability." Invited panelists include Christophe de Margerie, executive vice president, E&P, TotalFinaElf; William T. Drennen, III, vice president, Geoscience, ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co.; Tim R. Marchant, exploration manager, BP Saudi Arabia; Mathias F. Bichsel, director, Deepwater Services, Shell Technology EP; A. G. Dore (company unlisted at press time); and John G. Khaldi, director, National Centre of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, University of Adelaide. The final executive session on the morning of Tuesday, March 12, is entitled, "Gas in the marketplace – strategies for development." Invited panelists include Audie P. Setter, ChevronTexaco; David H. Lehman, ExxonMobil; Rob R. Ryan, Shell; Luis Ramierez-Corzo, Pemex; and Xavier Preel, TotalFinaElf.
Receptions/Luncheons The exhibition officially opens with the Icebreaker Reception on Sunday evening, March 10, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Attendees, guests and exhibitors will be able to mingle throughout the exhibition floor of the George R. Brown Convention Center. On Monday, March 11, the All-Convention Luncheon will take place in the Convention Center from 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Featured speaker will be Rep. Joe Barton (Republican-Texas). Congressman Barton has been an advocate of legislation that promotes high supply, low demand and consumer-friendly prices. The All-Alumni Cocktail Party will be held on the evening of Monday, March 11, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. AAPG members will be able to look up former classmates and rendezvous at cash bars located throughout the ballroom. Signs identifying participating colleges and universities will be posted throughout the area. In addition, private receptions have been scheduled by a number of universities. On Tuesday, March 12, AAPG’s Professional Affairs and Society of Professional Earth Scientists will host a joint luncheon in the convention center, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Featured speaker will be renowned Houston explorationist, Michael Halbouty. In addition, a number of noted individuals who form part of AAPG’s "heritage" will serve as hosts to individual tables at the luncheon. Also on Tuesday, SEPM’s Business Meeting / Luncheon will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel, Allen Center. Dr. Jonathan Overpeck will be the speaker. He is the director of the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth (ISPE) at the University of Arizona, where he is also a professor of geosciences. Dr. Overpeck’s research focuses on studying past climate and ecosystem change with a goal of understanding what changes might take place in the future. He was awarded the U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Medal for his climate research. Most recently, he was selected as the 2001 Walter Orr Roberts Lecturer of the American Meteorological Society. In addition, AAPG’s Division of Environmental Geosciences will hold a luncheon on Tuesday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Houston Astros Conference Center in Enron Field. Featured speaker will be Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (Republican), who is also chairman of the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission. His topic will be "Energy Supply Policy – A Complex Puzzle." A tour of Enron Field will also be included. On Tuesday afternoon, the Mini-Breaker Reception – a "mini" version of the Icebreaker – will be held from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m., again in the exhibit hall. Meanwhile, on Tuesday evening, the SEPM President’s Reception and Awards Ceremony will take place from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel, Allen Center. The Twenhofel Medal, SEPM’s highest award in recognition of outstanding contributions to sedimentary geology, will be presented to Noel P. James. Honorary Membership will be awarded to Paul M. Harris. Other recipients include James P. Kennett, the Francis P. Shepard Medal for excellence in marine geology; Charles A. Ross, the Raymond C. Moore Medal for excellence in paleontology; M. Dane Picard, the Pettijohn Medal for excellence in sedimentology; and Paul A. Wilson, the Wilson Award for excellence in young scientists. The final event is the Energy Minerals Division Luncheon on Wednesday, March 13, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention center. Chip Groat, director of the U.S. Geological Survey, will speak on the topic, "Is there life after 25?" |
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