2006 Intelligent Energy Conference: New Conference Showcases Digital-Age E&P Solutions

The first-ever SPE Intelligent Energy Conference and Exhibition, to be held 11–13 April in Amsterdam, will showcase the best and most innovative ideas for improving E&P performance at a technical, operational, and organizational level. Panel and technical sessions—featuring leaders from operating companies, service providers, national oil companies, and academia—will discuss state-of-the-art trends in drilling, field development, production optimization, reservoir management, and other key E&P areas.

The conference, which will be held every other year, aims to offer insight into the future of the industry as it explores the design and implementation of solutions that will lead to increased connectivity and reduced lifting costs. “The challenges and opportunities to deliver hydrocarbon resources in the 21st century imply that the industry will need to develop new approaches to the development and production of oil and gas fields,” says John Darley, Chairperson of the conference executive committee and Director of E&P Technology for Shell Intl. E&P. “The SPE Intelligent Energy Conference will provide the opportunity to shape the industry approach.”

Technical presentations will focus on three major areas:

Technology enablers, including intelligent wells, advanced sensors, process control systems, and other technologies and tools that are improving E&P operations worldwide.
Case histories and proposals for integrating systems and processes across the spectrum of E&P operations.
People and organizational issues, including collaborative models, knowledge management, and industry cultures.

Brave New World

The digital age has opened up a brave new world of potential solutions for the oil and gas industry, while E&P demands have become more daunting. Oil and gas is becoming harder to produce, upstream conditions are harsher and more expensive, and consumption is growing rapidly in developing countries. The industry will need to embrace these advances to rise to a new level of success in technologies and working practices. There is “a constant challenge for the oil and gas industry to remain agile in the face of growing commercial pressures, increasing worldwide demands, and increasingly hostile and marginal environments,” Darley said. Technological advances, innovation, and adaptation are at the forefront of this drive to operate better, faster, and more cost-effectively.

The conference program will address these significant questions:

What has been achieved so far, and what can we learn from it?
What would be possible if we take these concepts even further?
How do we manage the required changes at project, business, and industry levels to realize the full benefits?

Pieter Kapteijn of Shell Intl. E&P is Chairperson of the conference committee. “The time is right to take stock of these fascinating developments and share ideas on their application and business value, as well as to explore how the industry can accelerate and support their rapid deployment,” he said. “Through a series of panel discussions and technical sessions, we plan to bring in global perspectives from both our own and other industries to help us understand the technical and management issues involved.” Representatives from both the oil and information technology sectors will participate in the event.

Plenary Session Topics

The first conference plenary session, “Oil and Gas Production in a Digital Age,” will be moderated by Darley and will feature insights from operators, analysts, technology providers, and government. A second plenary, titled “Stop Procrastinating and Start Acting,” will be moderated by Eric Deliac, President Eastern Hemisphere of Petris, and Peter Goode, Group Chief Executive Officer of Vetco Intl. That session will explore the speed of E&P technology adoption, what the oil and gas industry can learn from other industries, and how human factors affect technology adoption. A third plenary, “Higher Recoveries From Existing and New Fields: How Do We Engage the Xbox Generation To Succeed?,” will examine how the industry should prepare to leverage the talent and technology of a new generation to help develop complex, risky, and hazardous environments to deliver hydrocarbons to the world.

Technical sessions will cover such topics as monitoring and surveillance of wells; closed-loop optimization; integrating technology, processes, and people; information management; asset management; remote operations and virtual training; collaboration centers; model-based optimization; preparing for the big crew change in demographics; and others.

The exhibition will take place in Passenger Terminal Amsterdam, near the edge of the city center. Exhibiting companies will showcase design and implementation solutions that optimize the performance of key E&P processes throughout the value chain, including hardware and software solutions that integrate technologies, skills, and work processes as well as technology that demonstrates a systems approach to performance improvement. SPE and Spearhead Exhibitions, the organizers of biennial Offshore Europe conference in Aberdeen, are joining together to organize this event as well.

For more information on the conference, including updates on the conference program, please visit www.ie2006.com.