2005 IADC/SPE Drilling Conference

Annual Event Tackles Technical, Practical Challenges

The annual IADC/SPE Drilling Conference gives leading drilling and well-technology specialists an opportunity to address performance challenges and unearth solutions through idea exchange. The conference to be held at the Fontainebleau Resort in Miami Beach, Florida, during 21–23 February will deliver another component—how to meet the expectations of Wall Street. One of the three planned plenary sessions, “Wall Street Performance Expectations,” will be presented on Tuesday, 21 February. True to the conference theme, “Achieving Our Goals: People, Planning, and Performance,” a second plenary session, “People: Training and Retaining Them,” is planned for Wednesday, 22 February. A third session, “Planning for a Successful Future,” is set for Thursday, 23 February.

More than 100 technical presentations are planned under a platform of 15 topics:

Drilling Fluids Technology.
Downhole Tools.
Drilling Management.
Optimization and Bit Technology.
Deepwater Challenges.
Tubulars.
Cementing Technology and Zonal Isolation.
People, Planning, and Health/Safety/Environment.
Deepwater Drilling.
Waste Management and Fluids.
Well-Control Technologies.
Directional Drilling.
Low-Cost Innovation Technologies.
Underbalanced Operations and Managed-Pressure Drilling.
Extended-Reach Drilling and Performance Metrics.

Talks on “Lessons Learned—Technology’s First Attempts” and a separate “Case Histories” category also will be part of the technical agenda.

Plenary Session Details

Dickerson

The first plenary—“Wall Street Performance Expectations”—focuses on the fact that financial performance is not wholly controlled by operations and cost control, but also encompasses such things as severe weather, commodity demand, and decisions made by OPEC. Moderator Allen Parks of Parks, Paton, Hoepfl, and Brown will lead panelists Larry Dickerson, President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Diamond Offshore Drilling; Stephen Haden, Senior Vice President of Devon Energy E&P; Jean-Marc Perraud, Chief Financial Officer for Schlumberger; Frank Bracken, Energy Analyst with Jeffries & Co.; and Pete Miller, Chief Executive Officer of National Oilwell Varco in a discussion on how the rising commodities market is raising the bar for energy-industry financial performance.

Oliver Oliver

A second plenary, “People: Training and Retaining Them,” will examine the people issues that correspond with the stage at which the industry finds itself within its life cycle—how the current “boom” atmosphere and shortage of qualified personnel affects the workforce. Dean Oliver, Director and Eberly Chair Professor with the U. of Oklahoma; Carlos Morales Gil, Director General of Pemex E&P; David King, Halliburton Senior Vice President–ESG Global Operations; Mark Jackson, Senior Vice President and COO for Noble Corp.; Mike Stice, President of ConocoPhillips Qatar; and Kevin Lacy, Vice President of Global Drilling and Completion for Chevron Corp., will explore relevant human resources issues.

Woolie Woolie

The third plenary, “Planning for a Successful Future,” emphasizes the need for contractors and service companies to anticipate industry trends and align themselves to meet operator demands. Moderator Cary Moomjian, Ensco Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary, will lead panelists Don Jacobsen, Shell E&P Director–Global Well Delivery; Scott Sigurdson, BP Drilling and Completions Manager–Deepwater Production; Marion Woolie, Senior Vice President-Operations, GlobalSantaFe Corp.; George Dotson, President and COO of Helmerich and Payne Intl. Drilling Co.; and Mark Phillips, Halliburton Vice President, in dialogue.

Drilling Award

Montgomery

This year’s SPE Drilling Award will be presented to Carl Montgomery, an engineering fellow in ConocoPhillips’ Production Assurance and Optimization Group in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He is responsible for the development and transfer of stimulation technologies for ConocoPhillips’ worldwide operating companies. Previously, he was Chief Completion Engineer and Engineering Fellow, and he held several technical and managerial positions with ConocoPhillips, Phillips, Arco, and Dowell Schlumberger.

Montgomery currently serves as SPE Technical Director for Drilling and Completions. His lengthy involvement with SPE includes Director of the SPE Mid-Continent Section during 1984–85, SPE Distinguished Lecturer during 1998–99, and Distinguished Lecturer Selection Committee during 2002–03. Montgomery has coauthored more than 25 technical papers and holds more than 19 patents. He has been session chairman at several SPE conferences, chaired the first SPE Applied Technology Workshop, and served as Executive Editor of SPE Production & Facilities. He earned a BS degree in biochemistry from Colorado State U. and an MS degree from Ball State U.

The drilling conference also will feature an extensive exhibit showcasing state-of-the-art drilling tools and services. More information on the conference can be found at www.spe.org.