Events and Activities

Tuesday, 19 October

0800–1140

Plenary Session

The role and importance of unconventional resources continues to grow in North America and internationally. This plenary session examines the importance of resource development to Western Canada and North America.

Panelists:

Roger Gibbins, President and CEO, Canada West Foundation
Gibbins explains the importance of the oil and gas sector to the Western Canadian economy and the role that unconventional resource development plays as we look to the future. 

David Manning, Senior Vice President, Energy Practice Group, VBH Engineering, and Director, M.J. Bradley and Associates
Manning examines the impact of emerging climate change policies in the US on the natural gas market and discusses where opportunities and challenges exist in the growth of natural gas utilization in the country.

Peter Tertzakian, Chief Energy Economist, ARC Financial Corporation
Tertzakian speaks on the changing face of oil markets particularly in light of the recent Gulf of Mexico disaster.

Michael Economides, University of Houston
Economides looks at the political aspects of the global natural gas market.

Craig Wright, Chief Economist, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
Wright discusses various aspects of the changing market dynamics for natural gas in North America.

1200–1345

Keynote Luncheon

The Role of Government in the Development of a Sustainable Energy Environment

Speaker: Christopher Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oil and Gas, US Department of Energy

The importance of unconventional resources continues to grow in North America, particularly in light of declining conventional supplies.  Government(s) recognizes the opportunities and challenges that this shift towards resource “play” development creates, and is in the process of developing new policies and strategies that address these issues.  The abundance of potential natural gas supply in North America presents both Canada and United States with opportunities for climate change policies to be enacted, but must be balanced with the pace of development of these resources particularly with respect to environmental protection and economic sustainability.  Chris Smith will speak to the role that government has in managing the balance of energy development and environmental protection as the US government moves towards achieving their climate change goals.

Wednesday, 20 October

1200–1345

Keynote Luncheon

Is There a Role for Entrepreneurial Businesses in Unconventional Resource Development?

Speaker: Kevin O’Leary, Entrepreneur and co-host of Shark Tank and Dragons’ Den television series

The continued growth of unconventional resources provides tremendous opportunities for both oil and gas producers as well as service providers. These developments are capital intensive and smaller companies need to think carefully about their ability to participate in this rapidly growing area. O’Leary talks about the challenges that small, junior, or entrepreneurial businesses face and where they can maximize their opportunity for growth and success. O’Leary is a self-made millionaire, entrepreneur, and co-host of the Shark Tank and Dragons' Den television series.

1355–1725

Panel Session: Best Practices in Shale-Core Testing

Moderator: Christopher Clarkson, University of Calgary

Panelists:

Amanda Bustin, University of British Columbia
Chad Hartman, Weatherford Laboratories
John Keller, TerraTek
Carl Sondergeld, University of Oklahoma

This panel session addresses the latest techniques for shale property derivation from core analysis and discusses inter-laboratory comparisons.

Thursday, 21 October

0830–1200

Panel Session: Alberta’s Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Projects

Moderators:

William Gunter, G Bach
Zhihong Zhou, Alberta Innovates

Panelists:

Doug Lammie, Alberta Government
Mark Mackay, TransAlta
Ian Silk, Shell Canada Energy
Doug Shaigec, Swan Hills Synfuels
Susan Cole, Enhance Energy

Join us! Industry professionals present the details of four fully integrated CCS demonstration projects (Shell’s Quest Project, Enhance Energy’s Alberta Carbon Trunkline Project, TransAlta’s Pioneer Project, and Swan Hills Synfuels' In-Situ Coal Gasification Project) that are proposed to each capture and store approximately 1 million tons of CO₂ annually in deep geological formations of the Alberta Sedimentary Basin by 2015. CO₂ sources are oil sands upgrading, coal-fired power, fertilizer, and gas processing plants. The Government of Alberta is providing partial funding for each project from the $2 Billion Alberta CCS Fund. A panel discussion on the technical aspects of these CCS projects follows the presentation. Representatives from the four companies and the Alberta Government make up the panel. Questions from the floor will be used to guide the discussion.

1200–1345

Keynote Luncheon

Advances in Wellbore Completions and Stimulations: Have We Reached a Plateau?

Moderator: Derek Krivak, President and Chief Executive Officer, Stealth Ventures

Panelists:

Chris Hopkins, Vice President of Unconventional Resources, Schlumberger
Ron Hyden, Director of Technology, Production Enhancement Product Service Line, Halliburton
Peter Fontana, Senior Vice President, Western Hemisphere, Weatherford

Technology, particularly multi-stage fracture stimulations, has been a critical element in the emergence of unconventional resource development. E&P producers and service providers continue to enhance stimulation technologies with the goal of improving productivity and EUR while at the same time lowering operating costs. This panel of industry experts from Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, and Weatherford examines trends and advances in completion and stimulation technology. Technical experts from major fracing companies field questions on where the industry is headed and if technologies can continue to improve productivity and cost in a low market price environment for natural gas.