PRESIDENT'S COLUMN

By PATRICK J.F. GRATTON

OTC An Important Venue for Geologists

PATRICK J.F. GRATTON
2004-05 AAPG President

The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), held annually each spring in Houston, is probably the largest E&P convention most of our members have as an opportunity to attend -- and to benefit from in more than one way. This year OTC runs May 2-5.

OTC was organized in 1968 by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) under the initiative of executive secretary Joe B. Alford following a stimulating article by Lewis G. Weeks in t he June 20, 1967, Offshore magazine (E.R. Turner, 1994, in "A History of AAPG 1965-1991"). AAPG joined SPE and eventually 10 other sponsoring scientific, engineering and professional organizations in conducting the first conference in Houston in 1969.

Starting from a 4,200 attendance, the event has grown with over 50,000 registrants in 2004. Six supporting and two endorsing organizations also help build participation. Currently Susan Cunningham serves as our representative on the OTC board of directors.

AAPG's OTC Technical Program Committee, chaired by Dan L. Orange of AOA Geophysics, is responsible for the highly regarded geoscience program in cooperation with the Society of Exploration Geophysicists.

On Sept. 23, 2004 I took time out (skipped the golf game!) from the AAPG Trustee Associates meeting in the Carmel, Calif., area and visited Dan at his office in Moss Landing. We picked up Technical Program Committee vice-chair R. Craig Shipp, of Shell International, on a teleconference and discussed their well-developed plans for geoscience sessions to be held every day from Monday, May 2 through Thursday, May 5, at Reliant Center in Houston (see 3-D visualization).

I was impressed with what they had in store, including a 3-D visualization course, with special glasses available for the audience.

In 2004 the geoscience program at OTC was THE outstanding session by all accounts.

You can understand why you have to see OTC! Please go to www.otcnet.org/2005 for more details including registration and lodging options.

Oh, by the way, I did write "members ... benefit in more than one way." By attending OTC as an AAPG member and noting that on the registration form you can demonstrate AAPG's support of the OTC program.

In 2004 our share of the OTC surplus made it possible for the Executive Committee to indirectly pay for several major initiatives without drawing on dues revenues.

So, AAPG attendees benefit from the learning and networking experience and generate substantial funds for several of our outreach programs.

I hope to see you there!