Impact Technologies Focus of 2007 Forum Series

The 2007 Forum Series addresses nine areas in which technology development can make a significant impact on the industry. SPE Forums bring together technology leaders to explore the future of E&P operations. Forums are forward-looking events, featuring discussion on what the industry will be like and what technology will be needed in 5 to 10 years.

Forums emphasize interaction and discussion and are held off the record, with extensive note taking prohibited. Attendance is limited to 75 to 85 people. Participants are selected from applicants for their knowledge of and experience in the Forum’s subject. Forums are held over 5 days in an informal atmosphere.

"The Forum Series has provided me with an opportunity to step away from daily obligations and effectively focus for several days on a topic that directly relates to my work," said Ron Hinn, Knowledge Management Lead, Worldwide Engineering & Technical Services, Occidental Oil and Gas Corp. "The collaborative environment is enriching. You're surrounded with peers who share your same interests within their organizations."

"The discussion environment is unlike any other SPE meeting," agreed Chet Ozgen, Technical Director, Nitec LLC.

Each Forum seeks to stimulate thought and accelerate technology development. Lengthy presentations are discouraged, while the reporting of new, unpublished, and incomplete results is encouraged. "If a professional is really interested in understanding in great breadth and depth a particular topic, SPE Forums can achieve that," said George Vassilellis, Senior Technical Adviser, Gaffney, Cline & Assocs. "Even for professionals with long exposure through direct experience and contribution, the gain is invaluable."

"SPE Forums keep me on top of my game for many years after they occur, more than any other industry event," said Frederic Santarelli, Technical Director, Oilfield Geomechanics Intl. A/S. "Attending Forums has allowed me to remain what I am and have been for more than 20 years—a nonconventional thinker."

The 2007 Forum lineup continues the series tradition of addressing a broad range of specific challenges and issues facing the industry.

Stranded Gas: The Next Challenge, 6–11 May 2007, Phuket, Thailand; Cochairpersons Mark Howard, BP plc, and Vice Chairperson Hunter Watkins, Halliburton

The Forum will focus on how to unleash stranded gas to meet future energy needs. Approximately 60% of 5,000 Tcf of proven natural gas reserves in the world can be categorized as remote or stranded gas. Driven by economic growth, energy demand in the next 2 decades is expected to increase by 50%.

"This is a good time for SPE to assemble the world’s best in our industry to discuss the potential for worldwide stranded gas exploitation," said Norm McMullen, Senior Adviser Flow Assurance, BP, Forum Series Implementation Committee member. "Energy consumption in Asia is growing rapidly, and the region has reached a crisis point with the spiraling energy prices worldwide. Access to stranded gas is one possible source to address this demand."

The Future of Profit Prediction, 3–8 June 2007, Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.A.; Chairperson Ellen Coopersmith, Decision Frameworks; Vice Chairperson Paul McNutt, ConocoPhillips, and Frank Koch, Chevron

This Forum will examine current gaps in economic prediction methods and will envision appropriate alternatives. Whether a 1-day workover for a few thousand dollars or a field development that spans decades and costs billions, prudent investment decisions depend on accurate economic predictions of profit.

"In upstream, we work to answer three big questions: Is it there? How big is it? Will it make money?," said Tarek Ghazi, Technical Director, Geoknowledge U.S.A. Inc., Forum Series Implementation Committee member. "We have made respectable progress in improving our answers to the first two questions, but the pace of improvement in profit prediction has not been as brisk. Also, asset portfolios are shifting toward unconventional resources, where the critical risks and uncertainties mostly lie in the economics. That is why this Forum is so timely."

Unconventional Gas Resources, 3–8 June 2007, Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.A.; Chairperson Stephen Norris, Encana Oil and Gas (U.S.A.); Vice Chairperson George Vassilellis, Gaffney, Cline & Assocs.

Unconventional resources will play a major role in meeting the natural gas demand in the U.S. and North America for the next 10 to 20 years and probably will be a significant factor in meeting world energy demand as well. As the quality of the resource decreases, as in the case of tight gas, coalbed methane, contaminated low-Btu gas, and shale gas reservoirs, the importance of advanced technology increases. This Forum will explore the use of advanced technologies to recover unconventional resources in an economically attractive manner.

"Gas production from unconventional gas resources could be considered the highlight of the last decade of U.S. production if rig count disposition is considered," said Vassilellis, Forum Vice Chairperson. "A similar trend is already established in Canada and could extend to other industrialized regions of the world seeking secure and predictable gas supplies. Expanding the knowledge of unconventional gas development will be a key factor for making that happen."

Challenges in Unconsolidated Reservoirs, 26–31 August 2007, Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada; Chairperson David Yale, ExxonMobil; Vice Chairperson Brad Todd, Halliburton

This Forum will explore the complexities of understanding, modeling, and managing reservoir and well performance of soft formations through an understanding of the geomechanics of unconsolidated reservoirs. The deformation that unconsolidated reservoirs undergo during fluid-pressure changes affects well performance not only through well-integrity and near-wellbore-flow changes, but often through widespread changes in the flow properties of the reservoir. Geomechanics and reservoir modeling can help understanding of the interactions between fluid pressure, deformation, well integrity and performance, and reservoir performance, but the integration of geomechanics into full-scale reservoir-performance modeling is still lagging.

70% Recovery—A Dream or Reality: From Smart Water to Microbes, 9–14 September 2007, Dubrovnik, Croatia; Chairperson Adolfo Henriquez, Statoil

The average recovery factor globally is 32%. This means that at abandonment, two-thirds of the reserves are still in place in basins such as the North Sea. This Forum will focus on novel and upcoming techniques for extracting and producing hydrocarbons from maturing fields. The topics will range from smart waterflooding, which may bring the recovery factor up to 40%, to polymerflooding and the use of surfactants and microbes, which may increase the recovery even further.

The Evolution of Mud Systems in a Changing Drilling World, 23–28 September 2007, Dubrovnik, Croatia; Cochairpersons Mark Aston, BP, and Reagan James, ConocoPhillips

Drilling mud has seen a real evolution over the past 10 years. This Forum aims to review the mutations now occurring and those that will be needed in the future to meet industry goals. The key question of the Forum is whether mud is mutating fast enough in the ever-faster-changing drilling world.

"The industry has also long recognized that mud optimization was a multidisciplinary process involving engineers with several technical backgrounds and requiring the need for balance between contradictory needs. But this Forum is particularly timely today because the environment in which drilling takes place is ever-changing as the industry targets increasingly difficult reserves," said Frederic Santarelli, Forum Series Implementation Committee member. "Each environment—subsalt reserves, ultradepleted reservoirs, deep water, permafrost—poses specific problems to which mud must adapt to provide adequate technical solutions."

Real-Time Production Optimization, 16–21 October 2007, Cascais, Portugal

Sustaining and optimizing production along with reserves replacement are key performance drivers for any successful E&P company of the 21st century. This Forum will focus on real-time management and optimization of production and will define requirements to improve current practices and, consequently, to achieve sound business decisions. The goal is to gain an understanding of where the industry is and what areas require immediate attention to meet the ever-increasing challenges of meeting targets and sustainable production into the next 10–15 years.

The Heavy-Oil Challenge: Com-pletion Design and Production Management, 9–13 February 2008, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

This Forum will focus attention on well construction, completion, and lifting of oil to the surface. The implications for surface facilities will be considered, from energy sources for steam generation to local upgrading before entry into the pipeline.

Reservoir Modeling for Asset Teams, 21–26 October 2007, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Chairperson Omer Gurpinar, Schlumberger; Vice Chairperson Alejandro Albertoni, Nitec LLC

This Forum will provide a discussion environment for improving the benefits and use of reservoir models in managing oil and gas assets. The forum will address recurring problems in workflow efficiency and improving accuracy from the asset-team perspective, concentrating specifically on the problems associated with the development of reservoir models through the integrated processes.

"This SPE forum will be the first industrywide gathering where the technology developers, the application specialists, and the asset managers will jointly seek the way forward to bridge the gap between the construction of reservoir models and the asset teams’ needs," said Gurpinar, Forum Chairperson. "Despite the recent advances in the integrated modeling technologies, there is still considerable room for improvements, especially from the perspective of the effective utilization of the reservoir models by the asset teams," added Albertoni, Forum Vice Chairperson.