Technical Program

Monday, 14 June

Session 1: Upstream E&P Challenges and Opportunities

This session will specifically seek to highlight:

The key challenges that warrant NT solutions in exploration, drilling and completions.
Challenges in reservoir engineering, particularly those relevant to improving reservoir illumination and hydrocarbon recovery.
Challenges in Oil and Gas production operations.
Challenges and considerations in leveraging of nanotechnologies posed by the downhole and reservoir environments.

Session 2: Showcase of NT Solutions

This session aims to show case state-of-the-art and future nanotechnology solutions that could have potential applications in the E&P industry.

What are the existing nanotechnology solutions for the Energy Industry (especially Upstream E&P)?
What are the existing nano-technologies in other industries that can be readily adapted for the E&P industry?
Where are the current nanotechnology research directions?
What should we expect in 2, 5, 10 and > 15 years time?
What should the E&P industry do to expedite uptake of nanotechnology solutions?
Participants should leave the session with a better insight on how to bring innovative ideas from industries such as medical, pharmaceutical, semi-conductors, and material science among others into transformational changes in upstream E&P applications.

Tuesday, 15 June 2010

Session 3: Exploring NT for Strategic Technology Areas

The use of nanotechnology for subsurface oil and gas applications has raised considerable interest in prospects for new enabling technologies related to novel materials, sensors, actuators and enhanced oil recovery mechanisms. Despite a wide literature already, much still needs to be done to examine the potential, priorities and application performance of nanotech-based ideas in a systematic fashion to meet oilfield requirements.

For this session, we will organise five breakout groups to brainstorm, discuss and if possible prioritise nanotechnology ideas relevant to the key E&P areas of exploration and geoscience, drilling and completion, fracture and stimulation, reservoir characterisation and formation evaluation, reservoir management and surveillance, and IOR/EOR. Each group will consist of industry experts (challenges and needs) and nanotechnology experts (new science and technologies) guided by a facilitator to gain a common understanding of industry opportunities matched against possible solutions resting on nanotechnology. With the added element of time scales we expect each group will report back a high level roadmap, and taken together, will expose both common and distinctive solutions amongst the E&P domains.

Wednesday, 16 June 2010

Session 4: How Do We Deploy and Commercialise NT Solutions for E&P Challenges?

This session explores the possibilities in collaboration to commercialise nanotechnology for E&P including:

What barriers to collaboration exist? How can these be overcome?
What opportunities are easy to take advantage of?
What have other industries done to accelerate adoption of nanotechnology?
What commercial models should the industry look at? Partnerships, corporate new venture investment, start-ups, spin-offs, consortia, preferred suppliers, research alliances or something else?
Does the existing supply chain help or hinder new breakthroughs?
Would the industry benefit from a common roadmap? If so, how should that be organised?
Participants should leave the session with a better understanding of how great ideas in nanotechnology can turn into profitable products at an accelerated rate.

Session 5: Creating Communities of Interest/Practice

To succeed in the implementation of nanotechnology based solutions in the E&P industry, it is critical to reduce the gap between the two distinctive oil and gas and nanotech communities. Currently oil and gas experts do not know enough about nanotechnology and nanotech experts are not aware of the challenges faced by the O&G industry. Thanks to a few initiatives such as the nano SPE ATWs, the Advanced Energy Consortium and EPNanoNet, the situation is starting to change. Still, a common communication platform has yet to be established and a forum where both communities can maintain an open dialog and educate each other is needed. This session will explore the ongoing efforts and identify those that are still needed to consolidate an oil and gas-nanotech community .

Nanotechnology: Exploring Solutions for 21st Century Upstream E&P Challenges