Topical Luncheons

A Close Peek Into the Reality of Peak Natural Gas and Oil

Matt Simmons, Chairman, Simmons and Company International

Supported by the best and most recent available data, Matt Simmons will illustrate how close to sustained peak oil and gas supply the world really is, the impact that high prices have had on more supply and less demand, and the paradox of unaudited proven reserves estimates that continue to be reported in ever-increasing amounts, without any indication that production ever decreases the proven reserve numbers.

Simmons will address the studies now underway to address peak oil, and the lack of urgency to address peak gas and how this will impact the overall global economy. He will also discuss ways in which the world needs to cope with peaking of fossil fuels.

Speaker Profile

Matt Simmons, Chairman, Simmons and Company International
Matt Simmons is chairman of Simmons & Company International, a specialized energy investment banking firm that he founded in 1974. Today the firm is one of the largest energy investment banking groups in the world. His recently published book Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy has been listed on the Wall Street Journal’s best-seller list. He has also published numerous energy papers for industry journals and is a frequent speaker at government forums, energy symposiums and boardroom meetings of many leading energy companies around the world. Simmons graduated cum laude from the University of Utah and received an MBA degree with distinction from Harvard Business School. He served on the faculty of Harvard Business School as a research associate for two years and was a doctoral candidate.
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Meeting the Quest for Dynamic Offshore Drilling in the Energy Frontier

Mark Jackson, President and CEO, Noble Corporation

Sponsored by

This address will focus around the business features of offshore drilling at the time of the 2007 conference. That is, the business and operational nature of the current and near-term offshore drilling industry will be addressed with limited but relevant details of a technical nature.

Among the issues to address are

• The expansion of the offshore drilling industry through both new-build units and upgrades at a time when this activity dominates offshore construction
• The deployment of offshore drilling vessels throughout the world
• Rig capability to meet requirements for enhanced drilling technologies such as extended reach operations
• The ability of the offshore drilling industry to meet the needs of operators and governments throughout the world
• A look ahead

Speaker Profile

Mark Jackson, President and CEO, Noble Corporation
Mark A. Jackson is president, chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Noble Corporation. He joined Noble Corporation in September 2000 as chief financial officer and was named chief operating officer in February 2005. Jackson was named president in February 2006, and he was added to the board of directors in July. He became chief executive officer in October 2007. Jackson has more than 25 years of experience in corporate management, finance and accounting, primarily in the energy industry. Previously, he held senior-level finance positions with Santa Fe Snyder Corporation and Snyder Oil Corporation, prior to the merger of the two companies. In addition, he held consecutively the positions of vice president and controller, vice president of finance, and vice president and chief financial officer of Apache Corporation, beginning in 1988. Jackson holds a BS degree in accounting from Oklahoma Christian University.
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Exploration and Development Opportunities In Nova Scotia, Canada – What's New on the Energy Scene for 2007/08

Rodney MacDonald, Premier of Nova Scotia

Rodney MacDonald, Premier of Nova Scotia, will present an update on current petroleum projects in Nova Scotia as well as key initiatives being undertaken by the Government of Nova Scotia to attract additional investment in both the petroleum sector and the renewable energy sector. Initiatives include work in the areas of geoscience, data access, rights issuance, infrastructure and will include new research and development in wind and tidal energy.

Needing the Right Data: Exploration and Well Testing – A Global Market Perspective

Trevor Burgess, Group Director Marketing and Technology, Expro International Group

Sponsored by

"Needing the right data" is today a demand of shareholders, government regulators and management as reserves predictions play a significant part in an international oil company’s stock valuation. Capturing and providing accurate reservoir characteristics underpins statements to investors, making this topic both prominent and current.

Cost-effective formation testing is also a vital part of modern oil and gas operations. As production companies pursue reserves in high-cost, high-risk environments, formation testing plays an increasingly prominent role in development decision making. Complete understanding of reservoir properties and fluids is crucial from the first exploratory well to wells drilled for enhanced recovery in any field.

Testing provides confirmation, detailed fluid properties, accurate pressure measurements and production evaluation. Formation testing is the final evaluation step before the well is put into production and provides essential information to design the well completion and production facilities.

Burgess will describe the history of well testing (particularly during the last two decades) giving coverage of the key technologies and trends, with their drivers and impact. He will conclude his presentation with a projection of future market requirements and citing possible solutions, giving luncheon attendees an enlightening and thought-provoking presentation.

Speaker Profile

Trevor Burgess, Group Director Marketing and Technology, Expro International Group
Trevor Burgess is the group director of marketing and technology at Expro International Group, which is based in Aberdeen. After earning a PhD degree in geo-statistics from Oxford University, he spent 19 years with Schlumberger, starting as a well test engineer in Africa and then progressing to marketing and technology management roles based in Europe and the USA. He was a vice president of Baker Hughes for five years and president of Hughes Christensen. Burgess has been an active member of SPE for 25 years.
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Confessions of an Offshore Technology Geek: Lessons Learned the Hard Way

Peter Marshall, Proprietor, Moonshine Hill Pty. (MHP) Systems Engineering
(2006 OTC Outstanding Achievement Award)

Marshall is an original author of many parts of RP 2A, and he is a member of the API Hurricane Evaluation and Assessment Team (HEAT). He received the OTC 2006 Distinguished Achievement Award for individuals. He will provide a full account of how dealing with risk has been an essential part of the offshore industry in general, and his 45-year career in particular. His presentation will include first-hand descriptions of oil spills, blowouts and fires, collisions, hurricane survivals, structural failures, and technological blunders. Attendees will learn how industry-consensus standards extracted valuable lessons from these events and continue to do so today.

Speaker Profile

Peter Marshall, Proprietor, Moonshine Hill Pty. (MHP) Systems Engineering
Peter W. Marshall has 32 years of experience designing offshore platforms for Shell and achieved the company’s highest technical level while serving as a consultant civil engineer. His design work and criteria development helped improve the reliability of fixed offshore platforms and enabled the expansion of offshore development into challenging environments. From 1993–1996, he was professor and chair of marine design and construction for the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Since 1993, Marshall has been proprietor of Moonshine Hill Pty. (MHP) Systems Engineering, working as a specialist consultant to offshore design firms and oil companies. He holds BS and MS degrees in civil engineering from the University of Florida and a PhD degree in architecture/structures from Kumamoto University, Japan. He received the OTC 2006 Distinguished Achievement Award for individuals in 2005.
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Technical Staffing: Supply and Demand Challenges

Timothy Parker, Senior Vice President Exploration and Production, Dominion E&P

One of the most fundamental challenges facing the E&P industry is the rapid "graying" of our workforce. While the impending "big crew change" has been widely recognized and discussed, the source and training of the new generation of geologists, geophysicists, engineers, landmen, techs and so forth has not been so commonly recognized as a problem. However, not only are there currently insufficient numbers “in the pipeline,” but there are also many candidates unwilling to work in our industry. Consequently, it is by no means clear that the "pipeline" is large enough to train sufficient workers to fill the jobs that will need to be filled over the next 10 years. How do we address the problem? How do we improve the demographics of our industry? How do we attract a more diverse population of young professionals to join in the search for and production of essential energy resources? Through technology, can we do more work with fewer workers? Will market forces alone solve the problem in a timely fashion? Can companies that successfully find solutions to these problems produce higher levels of "shareholder value?" The talk is designed to explore these issues and give the author’s perspectives on what solutions might work and which ones are destined to fail.

Speaker Profile

Timothy Parker, Senior Vice President Exploration and Production, Dominion E&P
Timothy S. Parker is senior vice president of Dominion Exploration & Production, responsible for the oversight and coordination of operations, capital programs, commercial projects and business development in Canada, the United States and the Gulf of Mexico. Parker joined the company in 2001 as senior vice president and general manager of offshore operations in the New Orleans office. He moved to his current position in Houston in January 2003. Prior to joining Dominion Exploration & Production, Parker spent more than 22 years with Santa Fe Snyder Corporation and its predecessors, where he acquired experience in many domestic and international basins and settings. Beginning his career as a geologist, he eventually served as president of the international division of Santa Fe Snyder Corporation, responsible for exploration and production activity in 8 countries and stewardship of more than 30 international blocks and projects. He is an active member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Independent Petroleum Association of America and the American Petroleum Institute. Parker holds MS and BS degrees in geology from Stanford University in Stanford, California.
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Booming Offshore Oil and Gas Construction Business of China Fosters International Cooperation

Xizhao Jiang, President, CNOOC Engineering

Sponsored by

China is the world’s 2nd largest oil consumer and one of the major oil producers. To sustain its rapid economic development and national energy security, China’s national oil companies (NOCs) – as well as foreign companies – have been investing heavily in offshore oil and gas E&P in Chinese waters. (CNOOC alone will invest $15 billion for E&P in 2006–2010). At the same time, China’s NOCs are expanding their businesses internationally and moving to deeper waters quickly.

With over 2 million square meters of yard spaces existing and more yards planned to meet the increasing demand for additional offshore barges, vessels, platforms, etc., China is striving to be a new center of engineering and construction service for the global offshore oil and gas industry. These bright future prospects create opportunities for foreign companies, such as projects for deep water fields, large floating production storage and off-loading facilities, liquefied natural gas facilities, etc.

Jiang will introduce the outlook of China’s offshore oil and gas industry, show business opportunities, share insights of China’s offshore E&P and construction business, and how to work well with Chinese companies.

Speaker Profile

Xizhao Jiang, President, CNOOC Engineering
Xizhao Jiang is the president of China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC, or CNOOC Engineering), which is the key subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and the only Chinese EPCI contracting company for offshore oil and gas E&P projects. He joined the CNOOC R&D Center of CNOOC Group as chief economist in 1997, later became the business development manager, and then was president until 2003 when he was sent to take executive MBA training at The University of Texas at Arlington. After finishing his training, Jiang first took charge of the development of downstream business of CNOOC, and then became the president of COOEC. From 1992–1995, Jiang was project manager for the construction of the gas terminal in Hainan, China, for the Y13-1 gas field in the South China Sea for ARCO. Jiang obtained his bachelor’s degree from China Ocean University in 1982.
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A Technical Challenge for the Greater Gorgon Project: CO2 Geosequestration

Dorine Bosman, Technical Services, Shell Development
Enrique A. Carballido, Gorgon Development Geologist, Shell Development

Producing liquefied natural gas from the multi-Tcf Gorgonfield poses the challenge of disposing of large amounts of CO2 underground in such a way as to significantly limit greenhouse gas emissions. Gorgon field gas (14% CO2) will be transported via a 65-km pipeline to Barrow Island where the CO2 will be removed from the gas stream and re-injected into a reservoir 2.5 km deep beneath the central-eastern coast of the island. Geosequestration of CO2 underground will be needed for the entire life of Gorgon’s production, currently expected to be around 50 years. Compared to other geosequestration projects in operation or planning worldwide, the Gorgon CO2 injection project represents by far the largest amount of CO2 that will be injected underground, making it a world-class project.

Speaker Profiles

Dorine Bosman, Technical Services, Shell Development
Dorine F. Bosman currently heads up the technical services department of Shell Development Australia and has had close involvement with the Gorgon project since 2005. She has worked in the oil and gas sector in the UK, US and Australia in various technical and commercial positions. Bosman holds an MSc degree in geophysics from Delft Technical University (Netherlands).
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Enrique A. Carballido, Gorgon Development Geologist, Shell Development
Enrique A. Carballido is the lead development geologist for Shell Development in the Gorgon Project, a joint venture between Chevron (operator), Exxon and Shell. His roles in the project include oversight of all aspects of subsurface technical evaluation and operator proposals for field development, including the CO2 sequestration project.

Carballido has a 14-year career with Shell E&P on projects in the US Gulf of Mexico, onshore China, Russia Sakhalin and Australia. He holds a PhD degree in geology from Tulane University and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the National University of Mexico.
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Energy and Geopolitics

Michael Economides, Professor, Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston

There is a substantial imbalance in the location of energy producers and consumers – an imbalance that has precipitated world conflicts and one that will likely cause future upheavals. Prominent among these areas is the Middle East where five of the six countries with 75 billion barrels of reserves are located. The Straits of Hormuz through which one third of all oil world trade passes is a geopolitical choke point. Other areas such as Venezuela, Nigeria and Indonesia have also caused or are causing difficulties. Russia’s recent ascendancy in the energy world has been an important counterbalance to the power of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. However, recent events surrounding Russia’s energy industry have exposed fissures within the economic and political makeup of the country.

Several professionals have concluded that energy limits should be a genuine concern not only for the developed world, but more importantly, for the time when the rich/poor gap between countries is finally narrowed. Consider that about 2 billion people (one third of the global population) have no access to energy sources of any kind outside of charcoal, wood and animal dung. One obvious bright spot for the future is that energy consumption in the generation of wealth and the form of primary energy sources have not been constant throughout the last two centuries. Instead, the process has been dynamic; technology has played a considerable role, and nations have and will “leap frog” in status by adopting technologies and efficiencies developed elsewhere without having to repeat “the” or “any” painful processes of pioneering nations such as the United Kingdom and the United States. Globalization of the economy will certainly aid the process further.

Of considerable significance is the change of fuels from wood to coal and then oil, currently to natural gas, and eventually to hydrogen and electricity. The de-carbonization of fuels is an extra-ordinary evolutionary process, and natural gas is viewed as the compelling next fuel of choice worldwide and as a necessary stepping-stone towards the next stages.

Speaker Profile

Michael Economides, Professor, Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston
Michael J. Economides is a professor at the Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston, and the managing partner of a petroleum engineering and petroleum strategy consulting firm. He is also the editor-in-chief of the Energy Tribune. Previously, he was the Samuel R. Noble Professor of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University and served as chief scientist of the Global Petroleum Research Institute. Prior to joining the faculty at Texas A&M University, Economides was the director of the Institute of Drilling and Production at the Leoben Mining University in Austria. Before that, he worked in a variety of senior technical and managerial positions with a major petroleum services company. Economides does a wide range of industrial consulting, including major retainers by national oil companies at the country level and by Fortune 500 companies. He has written extensively on a broad range of issues associated with energy, energy economics and geopolitical issues. Publications include authoring or co-authoring 11 professional textbooks and books, including The Color Of Oil and 200 journal papers and articles. Economides appears regularly as a guest and expert commentator on national and international television programs.
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A Thousand Barrels a Second

Peter Tertzakian, Chief Energy Economist, ARC Financial Corporation

The past few years have been exhilarating for the energy industry. It’s hard to think of a prior time when changes in oil and gas prices have been so amplified by political rhetoric, geopolitical intrigue, war, the weather, supply constraints and the global economy all at once. And it’s all happening at a time when global oil consumption has just exceeded a thousand barrels a second!

Peter Tertzakian provides a unique analysis of shifts in energy trends, describing how past critical junctures – what he call energy “break points” – developed, evolved and shaped nations; changed consumer behavior; and launched or ruined businesses. In the context of current events, Tertzakian will review where we are in the “energy evolution cycle” and what the implications are to the global oil and gas industry.

Speaker Profile

Peter Tertzakian, Chief Energy Economist, ARC Financial Corporation
Peter Tertzakian is the best-selling author of A Thousand Barrels a Second and the chief energy economist for ARC Financial Corporation, one of the world's leading energy investment firms. His background in geophysics, economics and finance, combined with his entrepreneurial spirit, helped him rise from the trenches of hands-on oil exploration fieldwork to become an internationally recognized, top-ranked expert in energy matters. Often seen and heard through media outlets around the world, Tertzakian has been a featured guest on many high-profile radio and television shows, including the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He has been featured in US News and World Report and has contributed editorials to widely read publications such as the Globe and Mail and Forbes.com. He also writes a weekly column, ARC Energy Charts, and is a sought after public speaker. Tertzakian has an undergraduate degree in geophysics from the University of Alberta and a graduate degree in econometrics from the University of Southampton, UK. He also holds an MS degree in management of technology from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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The Sakhalin II Phase 2 Project

David Greer, Project Director and Deputy CEO, Sakhalin Energy Investment Company

Sponsored by

This presentation describes the history behind this landmark undertaking, the great progress achieved to date, the technically challenging solutions developed for this frontier, the harsh environment, the contracting strategies employed as well as the many venture management, HSE, commercial, resourcing and sustainable development challenges that are currently being pioneered by Sakhalin Energy Investment to successfully transform this exciting frontier project on the beautiful island of Sakhalin from a vision into a reality for the benefit of all stakeholders.

Speaker Profile

David Greer, Project Director and Deputy CEO, Sakhalin Energy Investment Company
David J. Greer is a chartered engineer with over 27 years of experience with Shell. He is currently assigned to Sakhalin Energy Investment and acts as the deputy CEO and project director of the second phase of the landmark Sakhalin II project. Prior to this assignment, he was director of Shell EP projects, which he helped establish in July 2002 as a global center of excellence for major Shell exploration and production projects. Greer also directed the execution of Shell’s Malampaya deep water gas to power project in the Philippines, which was awarded the UN Sustainable Development Award by the World Business Council in Johannesburg in August 2002. In recognition of his work on the Malampaya project – and in particular in the sphere of sustainable development – Greer was awarded an OBE in the 2003 UK New Year Honours list.
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OTC will also host a luncheon series that addresses topics from operator’s perspectives and features industry leading executives from international operating companies discussing how their organizations are using technology and business strategy to address today’s global market issues. The luncheons are US $35 each. Because seating is limited, participants are encouraged to purchase tickets with advance registration.

Monday, 30 April

A Low Carbon Future: Is This Achievable in the Oil Patch? A View from the UK

Lord Peter Truscott, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy

Sponsored by

Speaker Profile

Lord Peter Truscott, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy
Lord Peter Truscott was appointed the parliamentary under-secretary of state for energy on 10 November 2006. Truscott of St. James’s is a Labour peer. He is a former member of the House of Lords European Union Committee, Sub Committee C (foreign affairs, defence and development policy), and a former departmental liaison peer to the Ministry of Defence. In the European Parliament, he represented Hertfordshire (1994–1999), and was Labour’s Foreign Affairs and Defence spokesperson, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and vice-president of the Security Sub Committee. He was also a member of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with the Russian Federation. In addition to being rapporteur and shadow rapporteur for a number of European parliamentary reports (including future strategy towards Central Asia and the association agreement with Estonia), he formally contributed to the UK’s “Strategic Defence Review.” Following his doctorate from Oxford University, he has written extensively on foreign and security policy. An expert on the former Soviet Union and European security, he was the visiting research fellow with the Institute for Public Policy Research during 1999–2000. He was recently an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. His major publications include Russia First (1997), European Defence (2000), Kursk (2002) and Putin’s Progress (2004). He has regularly appeared as a political analyst on the BBC, CNN and Sky TV.
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Wednesday, 2 May

Opportunities and Challenges in Offshore India

A.K. Jain, Joint Secretary (Exploration) of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India

Speaker Profile

A.K. Jain, Joint Secretary (Exploration) of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India
Shri A. K. Jain is the Joint Secretary (Exploration) of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. Since joining ONGC in 1985, he has specialized in pressure-volume-temperature studies and geochemistry. His current interests include source rock evaluation and oil-source correlation. He has published a spreadsheet program to optimize kinetic parameters.

Jain holds a master's degree in chemistry and an M. Tech degree in analytical chemistry.
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