‘3P’ will tap polar regions
Conference Eyes Arctic Potential
The Arctic is hot!
AAPG and RosGeo are joining forces to provide arctic explorers with a unique experience. The inaugural Polar Petroleum Potential Conference – “3P,” for short – will be held Sept. 28-30, 2009, in Moscow.
3P will be a geological/geophysical-focused conference dealing with the circum-arctic basins that are found through the Russian, Norwegian, Greenlandic, Canadian and Alaskan onshore and offshore regions.
The conference’s main themes will include:
- Resource Potential and Exploration Overview of Petroleum Provinces Within Russia, Canada, Norway, Denmark-Greenland and Alaska.
- Tectonic and Paleogeographic Evolution of the Arctic in the Phanerozoic.
- Circum-Arctic Plate Tectonic Models.
- Geodynamic Modeling of the Arctic Margins.
Organizers of the historic three-day conference are planning to offer more than 250 technical presentations, a plenary session, 2 ½ days of three concurrent oral sessions and three days of poster sessions.
Also in planning stages are:
- Arctic-focused short courses.
- Russian field trips.
- An entertainment program.
- A exhibition hall featuring companies that are focused on Arctic technologies.
“This is going to be a fabulous conference for geoscientists who work the Arctic,” said John Hogg, AAPG vice president-Regions and 3P conference general co-chair. “You see lots of Arctic conference announcements, but none of them are focused on exploration or geology, and that’s what we want this conference to focus on – the basins and the rocks.”
All Arctic explorers are being invited, and Konstine Kleshchev, the Russian general co-chair, is expecting to see a significant number of Russian petroleum geoscientists attending this three-day event.
“We have a significant interest in the Arctic petroleum potential and we welcome the opportunity to share our ideas and learn about the other Arctic regions from the Delegates,” Kleshchev said.
Ashton Embry, of the Geological Survey of Canada, and Sergey Drachev, with ExxonMobil Russia, are co-chairs for the Technical Program Committee and already are working diligently to arrange the technical program for the conference.
“Regional geology and petroleum systems are two fundamental elements to explorationist,” said Embry, a 2008 AAPG Public Service Award winner.
Drachev added: “This conference will showcase the future potential of all Arctic basins, with the top arctic researchers and explorers discussing the potential.”
“We see this as an ongoing event,” Hogg added. “The plan would be to move this conference every two or three years to another host country.”