Registration

Plenary & Panel Sessions

Panels will take place in the Utique room

Executive Plenary: Sustainable Oil & Gas for the Future - Meeting Technology Challenges

A paradigm shift during last decades was that “easy oil is over”.  Nothing but true! Though there is something on which we may argue.

Our industry is still concentrating on the technical issues: finding more hydrocarbons in more hostile environments. Peak of production, growth and the nightmare of reserves replacement are the drivers of our actions. We have to be capable to explore better, drill quicker and produce faster, at lower costs, but hasn’t this been possible since Mr. Drake’s first oil spill?

Since then, technology, business rationalisation, resources finding, time to market and economical indexes etc., became the variables we want to control to achieve competitive advantage.

Consequently, the focus of the industry shifted to technical operational challenges we are facing and until today CBM, Gas Shale, Tar Sands and deep and hostile horizons continue to be the gaps that our industry has to fill with viable solutions.

High Tech continuous development is surely one aspect that helps us but what about low tech and thinking more than ever to preserve and prolong the life of existing reservoirs. These reservoirs are existing assets that we sometimes disregard profiting from their residual potential although they represent a non negligible source of energy for our industry.

There is no doubt that all of the above provided us with the technical knowledge and expertise which is our proud know-how, our hardware. However, is that what all our business is about? Sure not!

We were used to market volatility and claimed unsustainable crisis yet we always found answers and solutions. However, during the last few months, challenges increased and therefore, we will need to find different ways to approach business under certain scenarios, since using only the know-how (hardware) is not enough.

Other questions that need to be addressed include:
How much time is lost in building, sustaining or enhancing business relationships with the territory?
How many fields cannot be developed due to non accepted business?
How long should we struggle to reach equitable solutions?
How clear is our perception about the risks we are facing during the negotiation process?

These challenges; the Know-Why or the software have been overshadowed by the technical challenges faced and therefore have been left un-tackled. However, only by addressing both types of challenges will we be able to secure a better and sustainable future by developing our business in way that best serves our industry, environment, communities and people.

Wishing to spare you the trouble of finding out the meaning of “sustainable” from dictionary, it is an adjective driven from the very Sustain, which is indicates an action that can continue independently.

To be successful we must be innovative … not only in some aspects of our business.

Panel 1: Project Financing and Development Strategies

Once an oil or gas discovery is made and field appraisal finalized, engineers will start their work, in order to determine the reserves and will research the suitable way to develop the field for an optimum recovery.
Once the concept is established, costs will be determined for the economists to say if there is a way for making the field development profitable.

The managers will then review the work done and if the green light is secured, the financing issue will be addressed.

Finance managers will consider the various options available to them, and will evaluate them in the light of their company’s strength and previous commitments.

Some will use company funds, while others will rely on loans. Sometimes, it will be a mixture of the two.
Another scheme can also be put in place, where the financing body could be more involved in sharing the risk with the oil company.

The financing issue is crucial for a field development, and we have seen some fields being stranded under a given strategy, and developed once a suitable strategy is put in place.

There are a lot of examples for this successful matching of the right strategy with available financing options.

Panel 2: Competency Management

In today’s highly competitive business context, the ability to deliver experience, competence and know-how is one of the key factors for creating value and competitive advantage.

The complexity and severity of changes in the environment in which we operate makes the performance at work more crucial to business survival and success.

To perform well at work we have to get the right competencies needed and to manage the knowledge in a way that increases performance by conveying efforts to the target; because staff competence would be of low interest if it was not one among the three essential components of performance; the others are the motivation and work environment and they are not the slightest.

Our conference is on Production & Operation Oil& Gas and we will widely talk about technical topics: process, engineering, technology, equipments and finance and project issues ...

But the question for all activities all over the world is: Who is operating and producing? The answer is: people. The second issue is the adequacy of the capability of these people with their tasks; the capability being here the result of competence, motivation and work environment.

The process of recruitment does not however end with application and selection of the right people but involves maintaining and retaining the employees chosen.

For the above reasons we booked a panel for this topic where leaders from different companies will share their experiences and discuss how have they managed such issues that require more interactive discussion than lectures.

Panel 3: New Technology Development – The Roles of Service Companies, Operators, and Technology Facilitators

Technology development has always been crucial to the Oil and Gas Industry.  This is apparent now more than ever as challenges in recovery of oil and gas grow with increasing difficulty in accessing global reserves and as the necessary focus on the environment and sustainable development becomes a priority.  When developing new technologies, operators can choose to go it alone, partner with a service company or consulting group, or form a Joint Industry Project (JIP) with other Operators.  But what are the roles and objectives of the players in this technology development?  As IOCs compete for access to reserves, a unique technology can provide an advantage.  Similarly, service providers can gain a competitive edge with advances in technology.  NOCs can maximize the value of their natural resources.  All these parties have differing objectives when it comes to new technology but there are also synergies where cooperation has the potential to accelerate and optimise development and share the risk. 

NOCs, IOCs, service providers, technology development companies, and technology facilitators all play a part but what is the best way forward for the industry as a whole?  This panel session aims to present the various points of view and discuss the benefits and drawbacks associated with the various approaches towards technology development.