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International Bulletin Board column for February

Adelaide Hedberg Gathering

Good Time Was Had by All

Editor's note: AAPG recently held a Hedberg conference in Adelaide, Australia, called "Seals Down Under." AAPG Vice President Peter Lloyd attended, and filed this review.

Abstracts from this meeting are available for your review.

The recent "Seals Down Under" Hedberg conference in Adelaide, Australia, was a great success, as 85 invited participants collaborated in a technically powerful and extremely interactive and enjoyable meeting.

Co-conveners John Kaldi, Peter Boult, Mike Badley and Bill Almon did a superb job in putting together the technical program.

Past Sidney Powers awardee Robert Sneider, who has tackled capillary pressure and seals issues since being under the tutelage of Gus Archie in the mid 1950s, gave an insightful and motivational keynote speech, and also wrapped up the conference by looking to the future. Having Bob and several "wise men" who had attended Hedberg "seals" conferences since the early 1980s gave a great sense of continuity and direction.

The conference's diversity was impressive -- 50 different papers addressed laboratory measurements, field observations, electric log and image responses, 3-D seismic, structural modeling (faults, fractures and reconstructions), fluid migration (charging leakage and cross fault flow), rock mechanics, sequence stratigraphic implications, numerical analysis and modeling, risking and petroleum economics. And everything was presented in the context of some fascinating case studies.

Despite this huge diversity of subject matter, the organizers and session co-chairs did a superb job of keeping everyone's focus, and assuring the thread was followed throughout.

The participation was equally diverse. Of the 85 participants, 45 were from outside Australia, and five of the six AAPG international regions were represented. Some excellent examples were presented from Africa, from which we sadly had no registrant. There was a broad mix of university, service and oil company attendees.

This conference really did exemplify what a Hedberg is all about.

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