AAPG
EXPLORER

HOME / EXPLORER / Archive / March 2009 / New Reserve Rules Focus of GTW

Session set Sept. 9-11

New Reserve Rules Focus of GTW

by RICHARD NEHRING

AAPG’s first Geoscience Technology Workshop (GTW) to be held in North America, “Geoscience Aspects of Estimating Petroleum Resources and Reserves,” will be held Sept. 9-11 in Houston.

The GTW will focus on the contributions, challenges and responsibilities of geoscientists in estimating resources and reserves – important areas in light of the new definitions and guidelines for estimating reserves provided by the recently adopted Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS).

PRMS was jointly developed by the SPE, AAPG, WPC, SPEE and the new Securities and Exchange Commission guidelines for reserve disclosure.

Now, geoscientists need to understand the type and quality of the technical work that is required for estimation, how their contributions are used in the estimation process, and the professional and ethical requirements of resource and reserve estimation.

Eleven sessions are currently planned for this 2 ½-day workshop:

• The first two will address the PRMS definitions and guidelines and the general role of the geologist in resource and reserve estimation.
• The next four will address specific aspects of geoscience contributions to estimation: petrophysical, geophysical, geologic mapping and geocellular modeling.
• The subsequent four sessions will cover engineering aspects, estimation of unconventional resources/continuous accumulations, quantifying uncertainty and ethical/professional issues in estimation.

The workshop will conclude with discussion of the key issues identified in the preceding sessions.

To facilitate discussion, attendance at the workshop will be limited to 70-80, chosen both by invitation and by application. Instructions for application will be provided in an upcoming EXPLORER and on the AAPG Web site.

The GTW program has been developed to provide a timely means of providing practical information on the latest applications in geoscience. The emphasis of the GTWs will be on sharing information regarding a specified topic of high interest among professionals knowledgeable in that topic.

The organizing committee for this GTW includes:

• Chair – John Sneider (chair, AAPG Reservoir Development Committee).
• Vice chair – Creties Jenkins (EMD president).
• Delores Hinkle (chair, SPE Oil and Gas Reserves Committee).
• Richard Nehring (chair, 2006 AAPG Hedberg Conference on Global Resource Evaluation).
• John Ritter (chair, AAPG Resource Evaluation Committee).
• Pete Rose (AAPG past president).