What's new in exploration

	Vol. 229 No. 3
ARTHUR BERMAN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, bermanae@gmail.com

NAPE exhibitors miss the mark

Having done a lot of oil and gas prospect marketing over the past eight months, I went to the North American Prospect Expo (NAPE) 2008, February 6−8, with greater-than-usual interest to see how others present their prospects and deals. Unfortunately, many exhibitors missed the mark. Their exhibits were poorly planned and organized. Too many exhibitors failed to meet the most critical needs of attendees by not displaying fundamental prospect summary information like resource size, cost, economic return and timing of projects at their booths. Instead, potential buyers were forced to extract this data from exhibitors in an often time-consuming process that limited their ability to learn about other opportunities.

The event was, nonetheless, a success, because social networking apparently redeemed the expo for many of the 16,000 in attendance at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, despite other shortcomings. There were more than 1,600 booths that exhibited oil and gas prospects, deals and technology. Some companies had expensive, flashy booths complete with seating, tables and carpeting and multimedia equipment, while many others looked more like my office with maps and cross-sections haphazardly hung all around. What was missing at NAPE was a clear way for attendees to efficiently screen the thousands of prospects on display to decide where to focus time and energy.

To evaluate a prospect effectively, at least two elements are critical: a high-level executive or tabular (i.e., bulleted) summary of the prospect, and data that supports the summary highlights. The first element is important so potential buyers can decide which exhibits merit evaluation, and which do not fit with their requirements. Here are a few things that I had hoped to see summarized prominently at NAPE booth exhibits:

• The play and prospect type
• What the exhibiting company is looking for in a partner, buyer or capital provider
• The overall risk and resource level of the prospect
• Costs of entry including drilling, leasing, seismic and any promoted or carried costs
• Economics of the investment
• Timing of the deal.

I rarely observed complete prospect summary information displayed at a booth, explained in a brochure or provided by exhibitors without first enduring a detailed oral explanation of poster displays. It would be helpful if exhibitors were asked to provide a most-likely reserve size and prospect cost estimate along with the other information that NAPE organizers collect to publish in the show guide.

The second element in a prospect evaluation is data to support the main points of the prospect summary. Few booths were designed and organized in a way that made it possible to quickly evaluate the supporting technical aspects of a prospect without entering the booth and engaging an exhibitor.

The AAPG website offers some valuable guidance on how to design a poster presentation (http://www.aapg.org/meetings/instructions/guide.html):

• At first glance from 10−15 ft away, the viewer should see an easy-to-read title and an uncluttered, neat arrangement of illustrations and text
• It should be obvious where to start inspecting the exhibit and where to go from there
• Text should be brief and legible. All lettering should be legible from 5 ft away
• Progression is vital, and component parts of the exhibit should either be numbered or have arrows to lead the viewer through the display
• The exhibit must be clearly organized in a straightforward fashion
• It should have a crisp, clean design and a snappy title that has a strolling audience in mind
• Conclusions should be clearly stated and supported with just enough data to be convincing.

I found too few exhibits that conformed to any of these guidelines. If information about prospects was displayed on a banner, it was typically quite generic (e.g., “Utah Thrust Belt” or “Shale resource plays”) or just the name of a prospect. Booths generally had too many posters that were displayed without clear order or purpose. Most displays were unreadable at more than a few feet or inches away. I saw only a few poster displays that were designed to allow a viewer to take a self-guided tour of a prospect without the help of an exhibitor.

I felt overwhelmed and overloaded at NAPE. There were so many exhibits and so much to see but no obvious way to be selective about where I spent my time. The expo organizers did a good job of providing a show guide that allowed attendees to associate a booth number with a state, basin, reservoir or play objective, and a company name. There was not, however, any easy way to associate a resource size or entry cost with a prospect.

I am certain that most prospects exhibited at NAPE involved a considerable amount of work, but the way they were displayed and presented did not reflect much planning or thought. In fact, many booths looked literally “thrown together” at the last moment. Regardless of exhibit deficiencies, NAPE serves an important function by providing a forum for people to meet, visit, socialize and network, and this often leads to deals. At the same time, companies send their people to NAPE with some expectation that real business will be done, and this requires thoughtfully planned and organized prospect information.

My criticism is not directed at the organizers and sponsors of NAPE Expo 2008, but at exhibitors who showed their prospects and plays. I am not proposing that this or any other prospect expo impose standards on exhibitors, nor do I feel that booths and posters need to be prepared by third-party professionals. Exhibitors can, however, carefully plan booth and poster design to achieve a more efficient and effective presentation.

NAPE and other prospect expos provide a unique opportunity for participants to see a large number of opportunities, as well as to have close contact with experts to explain their prospects. Exhibitors can increase their success by being more sensitive to the needs of serious investors who attend the expo to evaluate prospects and deals.