European Region
2005-2006 Annual Report
by John Brooks, President
Pictured from left to right - Sigrunn Johnsen (Past
President), Francois Roure (2004/2006 Treasurer/
Secretary), Vlastimila Dvorakova, (2006/2008
Treasurer/Secretary), John Brooks (President),
István Bérczi (President -Elect), Stuart Harker
(EC Advisor).
This has been a year of attempting to structure and organise ourselves into an archetypal Region of the AAPG.
To function efficiently, we identified that the European Region (ER) needed to be incorporated, have insurance, a bank account, plus office premises from which to operate.
Next we needed to define the boundaries of the Region and to ensure that there were a number of events being planned within Europe. We also recognised the need to ascertain if the AAPG organization could identify with the region as well as it does with the U.S. Sections and have the staff that could facilitate our needs. We also wanted a way of communicating with our members in Europe so that in each country we could encourage activity with the objective of doubling membership in 5 years.
A corollary of all this was to make a Business Plan for both the Region and the Office. We also wanted to ensure effective representation on AAPG committees and to have plans for succession.
To date we have come quite a long way. European Region Council (ERC) has met (physically) every three months, most recently in Budapest, Hungary, and this has enabled the Council to act more as a team. These regular gatherings will continue in different countries of Europe.
Incorporation has proved a lengthy process. Necessary for the office, it has still (as at 8th August) not been finalised. Insurance for events and the necessary Bank Account within the UK will follow; meanwhile our account is held in Tulsa.
It is intended that the office will be based in Imperial Collage London and that initially we shall recruit a part-time administrator who will be trained by the Association. Steve Veal, lately (VP), will manage the office which will have a role for both the centre and for the Region. The Region is grateful to Steve for his putting together the necessary business plans.
During November 2005, I was very fortunate to be asked to accompany Pete Rose on a seven-country tour of Europe –Norway, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Austria. Perhaps I found the tour enjoyable because I came to know Pete well at the DTI in London, but perhaps also because he is the quintessential activist, full of ideas, a listener and always willing to act. It is my personal view that no other president has done as much for the organisation as he has in recent years, which is saying a great deal considering the quality of his predecessors!
A lot of things emerged from speaking to the members in the countries we visited; more visibility for the Region, recognition of the potential in the Region, and in Russia, its desire to be a single country within the Europe Region.
In Houston in April 2006, Asia-Pacific and European Regions proposed that Russia be combined within its de facto boundaries within the European Region. This was passed by the EC and the House of Delegates and is in effect, and we are trying to grow membership and relationships. John Dolson, now VP, has been a tower of strength and advice in achieving a better understanding and cooperation with our Russian counterparts. The organisation undertook a recruitment campaign for a Regions/ Sections Director, on which Board I sat, and Carol McGowan commenced work on 5th July. A warm welcome to Carol!
A Vice President /Sections and one for international has been proposed to the membership, with a concomitant change to the by-laws, by the ERC and voting is in progress. This change alone demonstrates that AAPG is genuine in its intent to attract members world-wide.
In term of meetings, the Region held a Carbonate Conference in Mallorca, Spain in April 2006 which was highly successful, combining presentations with fieldwork. (See report in the June issue)
Work is currently going on to create an effective regional and international conference in Athens in November 2007, which includes contributions both from the Middle East and African Regions. Geir Lunde and his team are extremely active in this endeavour and we have been fortunate in engaging Bruce Lemmon (ex- AAPG and organizer of the Mallorca event) to assist in putting this together. A person of his talent is essential to managing meetings of this sort, just as AAPG itself does under Diana Free and Randa Biggs.
Sub-regional meetings are currently under consideration and we encourage members to arrange meetings themselves in their various countries.
The ER has a major role in APPEX (Chairman is Steve Veal) the international deal fair held in London in March. Mike Lakin, Charles Speh and Richard Hardman, together with his colleagues, notably Pete Stark, and many others come together very effectively. In addition, the ER participated in the Leadership meeting in Galveston in February and at the Annual Convention in April 2006. It also organised a ‘Reserves Reporting’ event in London in February at the Energy Institute’s IP Week.
In June I was invited to join Lee Billingsley and Rick Fritz on a visit to Norway, Russia and the EAEG conference in Vienna, which included a meeting with Opec.
In Norway we sailed with members in the Oslo fjord and in Russia, organised by John Dolson (TNK-bp) and Christian Bukovics (Shell), met with representatives of many Russian institutions and with local representatives of SEG and SPE, who have already set up offices in Moscow and elsewhere in Russia. This was most useful and we are optimistic for a conference in Russia and participation in the Athens meeting
In Vienna we attended the EAEG annual meeting and met with their council under Gareth Williams, and again showed our willingness to co-operate with them in meetings within Europe and indeed also with SEG and SPE, who were present. An interesting meeting was held at Opec where Rick Fritz presented the latest data initiatives set up by the organisation.
Thanks to the initiative and drive displayed by Carol Lucas and Sigrunn Johnsen the ER put out its first Newsletter in June, and initially we anticipate an edition every three months.
There are only five members of the European Council: Mike Lakin (Vice President), István Bérzci (President-Elect), Francois Roure (Treasurer), Stuart Harker (Advisory Committee), and Sigrunn Johnsen (Past President); it would be hard to find a more engaging and inclusive group to work with and they make my job as President extremely satisfying.
So for all of us on the European Region Council, this has been a busy and quite rewarding year. Many outcomes and results are not yet fully visible, but Council is committed to establishing the Region as a viable and successful entity within the organisation for the benefit of AAPG’s European members.