Arctic Breakfast
ARCTIC CHALLENGES
0730–0900, Wednesday, 6 May, Reliant Center, Level 2, Room 204
Speaker: Jim Bowles, President, ConocoPhillips Alaska
Based on current estimates the Arctic regions may contain around 20% of the yet-to-be-discovered oil and gas reserves. Exploration for and production of Arctic oil & gas is not new. In 1789, Alexander McKenzie found oil at what is now Norman Wells and a refinery was built there as early as 1937.
Development of the North Slope, Alaska oil fields, goes back over 40 years. The initial discovery was made in 1968 and production started in 1977 when the Trans Alaska Pipeline was completed.
Some exploration has already been undertaken in the offshore waters of the Beaufort Sea, the Chukchi Sea, in the Canadian Arctic Islands and the Barents Sea. These areas hold great potential and future exploration and production is likely.
Operating in the Arctic, whether onshore or offshore, holds many challenges. There a long periods of darkness, the air temperatures are low, the logistics chains are fully extended, and most importantly, the environment must be protected.
Jim Bowles will discuss the future of Arctic development in the context of the ongoing challenges—adapting what we have learned over the past several decades to new opportunities to explore and develop offshore resources.
Jim Bowles is president of ConocoPhillips Alaska, a position he has held since 2004. Bowles started his career with Phillips Petroleum Company (predecessor to ConocoPhillips) in 1974 and has held positions in planning and budgeting, drilling, and production, as well as gas gathering and processing, in locations including Texas, Oklahoma, Montana, and Norway.
He serves on the board of directors for the Nature Conservancy of Alaska as well as the Foraker Group governance board. He has held officer positions with the American Petroleum Institute and the National Ocean Industries Association boards.
Bowles graduated from the University of Arkansas with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and completed the Kellogg School of Management’s Advanced Executive Program.
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