PETROLEUM GEOSCIENTISTS gather today in Bahrain for the Fifth Middle East International Geosciences Exhibition and Conference (GEO2002) in what could be the most successful event in the history of the series.
The event, which was last held in 2000, goes from strength to strength and is a reflection of the increasing role of Bahrain as a meeting point of minds and technologies.
The response to this year's conference has been particularly strong, with a record total of 386 abstracts received by the Programme Committee, up 15 per cent on the previous event.
Of those received, 275 abstracts have been selected for presentation during the conference, which is themed 'From Prospects to Mature Reservoirs'. Sub-topics include exploration, reservoir technology, geophysics, geoscience information technology and geological technology.
The conference will see a number of highly distinguished speakers, including Bahrain's Minister of Oil Shaikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa, Saudi Aramco president and chief executive officer Abdallah Jum'ah, BP Middle East president Michael Daly and Director of Oil and Gas at Qatar Petroleum, Nasser Jaidah.
The organisers of GEO2002, Arabian Exhibition Management (AEM), say that the event will encourage professional networking within the Middle East petroleum geosciences community, by providing a forum whereby awareness of technological, scientific and commercial concepts within the field may be exchanged.
The conference is held against a background of increased focus on the Middle East region for exploration projects, new technologies and techniques to enhance recovery from existing fields.
The most significant exploration initiatives of late have been for gas, with billions of US dollars being invested by national oil companies and governments across the Middle East. A multitude of opportunities are being created by such high levels of activity as a result, and GEO2002 brings an unprecedented level of expertise to the area during this period of expansion, say AEM.
Executive discussion panels, a new feature to the GEO conference programme, are also planned during the course of the three-day event to address the geotechnical challenges of the Middle East petroleum industry. The 'Impact of Geotechnology on Reservoir Management in the Middle East' and 'Advances in Middle East Gas Exploration and Producing' will take place from tomorrow.
Panellists include manager Exploration and Reservoir Management at Bapco, Anwar Khalaf; Manager Exploration and Reservoir Management at Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) Khalid Al Sumaiti; vice president of Geoscience and Integration Services at Shell, Iain Percival; vice president Marketing and Technology at Baker Hughes Trevor Burgess, president of WesternGeco Gary Jones; manager of Exploration Hydrocarbon Systems at ExxonMobil Kurt Rudolph; Technology Manager at Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) Joe Straccia; vice president of Exploration at Saudi Aramco Mahmoud Abdul-Baqi; senior vice president and general manager at Occidental Middle East Development Company Rolf Monjo; senior vice president of Geosciences, Worldwide at TotalFinaElf, Jean-Marie Masset; vice president, Caspian and Middle East region at ExxonMobil Rick Vierbuchen; and Head of Global Exploration at Shell Andy Wood.
Members of the GEO 2002 programme committee are drawn from the Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (Adma-Opco), Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), Geotech, Bapco, British Petroleum, ExxonMobil, GeoArabia, KOC, PDO, Qatar Petroleum (QP), Saudi Aramco, TotalFinaElf and the United Arab Emirates University.
