AAPG
EXPLORER
EXPLORER
The fast-approaching AAPG International Conference and Exhibition in Milan will showcase – in association with EMD – a comprehensive unconventional resources program with global scope, ranging in scale from the nanopore to the petroleum system, exploring the latest in applied geoscience and engineering.
The Milan ICE will be held Oct. 23-26, under the general theme “Following Da Vinci’s Footsteps to Future Resources: Innovations from Outcrops to Assets.”
The unconventional program is the emphasis of ICE Theme VI: “Dynamic World of Uncooperative Reservoirs – The Geoscience of Unconventional Resources,” which will feature a topical, integrated and multidisciplinary treatment of oil and gas shale, tight reservoirs and coal bed methane.
The program will kick-off with an update on coal bed methane exploration and breaking developments in Australia, India, UK and Germany; move on to high-potential tight rock plays in China and Germany; and then introduce an exciting “super-mature” gas play concept in South Africa.
Shales will then increasingly become the oral session focus and start with an examination of rock properties, geomechanics, impact of regional stresses and hydrocarbon maturation on fracturing, the prediction of reservoir pressure from fracture types, and gas generation at very high “can not happen” maturities.
Geophysics is used to improve petrophysical reservoir characterization – which, in turn, is input as a primary driver in the modeling of optimized massive hydraulic fracture stimulations.
Subsurface challenges faced in the development of shale gas reservoirs also will be described, and insights will be shared regarding:
The unconventional oral sessions will conclude with “Shale Oil and Gas Case Studies: The Toolbox to Assets (I & II)”, in which 16 papers will cover lessons learned, risk assessment techniques and results, and practical exploration and development tips from shale plays across Europe as well as the United States’ Bakken and Niobrara; Canada’s Horn River Basin; Russia’s Bazhenov; and China’s Ordos Basin.
The Theme VI organizing committee set criteria that demanded authors to demonstrate that the paper or poster would be geoscience- or engineering-focused, current in either the research or the concepts being presented, would add to the specific session assigned and, critically, be relevant to industry geoscientists.
“We ended-up with a killer program,” said Paul Basinski, with Ardent Exploration and the EMD ICE co-chair, “with examples from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and North America, including 40 oral and 24 poster submissions, featuring an outstanding field of industry-leading experts, where cutting-edge insights will be shared that can help unlock these vast but very challenging resources.”
Basinki, who was the driving force behind the three EMD-oriented themes for the 2011 Houston AAPG ACE, observed that the shale-related sessions there had record attendance.
Given the terrific authors, depth and breadth of fresh insights, and differential program that the ICE Theme VI team has worked so hard to create, he believes Milan will represent another “must-attend” event – especially for those focused on the white-hot world of global unconventionals.
Theme VI is just one of the seven technical themes set for Milan (see story, pager 14) – but it definitely will hold its own by bringing in some of the top researchers in the field with the most up-to-date results of their research and field investigations.
That, combined with the committed service providers on the exhibition floor, will give everyone a great opportunity to better acquaint themselves with the leading-edge of these complex and challenging reservoirs.
We know this is a program that will challenge some concepts of unconventional reservoirs, and we look forward to sparking discussions that even Da Vinci would approve of.
We hope to see you in Milano! 
Theme VI co-leaders for the upcoming AAPG ICE in Milan are Paul Basinski, with Ardent Exploration and the EMD ICE co-chair, and Vlastimila Dvorakova, with the Czech Geological Survey and also the AAPG European Region president-elect.
Their organizing team included Neil Fishman, with the U.S. Geological Survey and also the EMD ICE co-chair and EMD Gas Shales Committee chair; Erdem Idiz, Shell; Jeff Aldrich, Greenpark Energy; and Ravi Misra, ONGC – all of whom help solicit, thoroughly screen and organize submissions from around the world.
Online registration is available for this year’s AAPG International Conference and Exhibition – and registering now can help you save hundreds of dollars in fees.
This year’s conference will be held Oct. 23-26 in Milan, Italy.
Members who register before either of the “early bird” deadlines (Aug. 3 and Sept. 21) can save hundreds of dollars off registration fees.
Also available online are housing details and complete information on this year’s technical program, which is built on the theme “Following Da Vinci’s Footsteps to Future Energy Resources: Innovations From Outcrops to Assets.”
General chair Jonathan Craig said the meeting will celebrate and aspire to the creative vision and spirit of innovation historically associated with Milan and the region.
The technical program focuses on seven specific technical themes:
♦ Carbonate Reservoirs: From Pores to Production – Aspects covered will include the stratigraphic analysis and sedimentology of carbonate sequences, plus the latest developments in the seismic imaging and modeling of carbonate reservoirs and sequences.
♦ Where Africa Meets Eurasia: Exploration and Production in the Alpine-Himalaya Fold Belt and Foreland Basins – The tectonic evolution of the Alpine-Himalayan chain and its influence on sedimentation, discussed using a variety of technologies, outcrop analogs and case studies.
♦ Rifts and Deltas – Focus will be on rift to drift tectonics, crustal stretching and heat flow, pre-salt plays, continental and lacustrine reservoirs and delta systems from shelf to basin floor.
♦ Advances in Integrated Geoscience Applications – A session on all aspects of geoscience and reservoir engineering as applied to conventional and unconventional resource plays with emphasis on the value of integration of disciplines.
♦ Reservoir Management: From Outcrops to Assets – A look at new technologies, work models and world-class reservoirs.
♦ Dynamic World of Uncooperative Reservoirs: The Geoscience of Unconventional Resources – What makes these reservoirs special? (Story on this page.)
♦ Leading-Edge Technologies and the Future of E&P – The challenges of carbon management, new and leading-edge technologies in geoscience and reservoir engineering and future technological developments in the E&P industry.
To register or for more ICE details go online to aapg.org/milan2011.