AAPG Home : Education : Hedberg Research Conferences : Past : Banff, Alberta, Canada

Heavy Oil and Bitumen in Foreland Basin -- from Processes to Products

Sponsored by AAPG Research Committee

Conference Conveners

Dr. John R. Suter

ConocoPhillips

SubSurface Technology

ConocoPhillips

PO Box 2197

Houston, TX 77252-2197

Phone: (281) 293-5913

Email : john.r.suter@conocophillips.com

Dr. Dale Leckie

Nexen Inc.

Dr. Steve Larter

University of Calgary

Dates and Location:

September 30-October 3, 2007, Banff, Alberta, Canada, with optional pre-meeting field trip and optional post-meeting core workshop

Conference Goals:

This Hedberg Research Conference was organized by AAPG to convene geoscientists and engineers worldwide who are working in heavy oil and bitumen deposits in foreland basins. Workers from various disciplines, including geology, geophysics, reservoir and drilling engineering, participated in this conference to discuss state-of-the-art concepts, methodologies, case histories, and the future direction of research in heavy oil and bitumen accumulations.

Themes:

The conference focused on three major topics:

• Geological setting of heavy oil and bitumen in foreland basins, with an emphasis on the western Canadian (Athabasca Oil Sands) and Eastern Venezuelan (Faja Petrolifera del Orinoco)
• Reservoir characterization of heavy oil and bitumen reservoirs
• Towards sustainable recovery processes - origin and fluid property variations of heavy oils and bitumen

Each day was divided into morning and afternoon technical sessions, followed by evening poster and discussion sessions. Oral sessions were highlighted by keynote speakers whose task was to address the current understanding of the topic and indicate future directions of research.