It's a great place to make a deal — and
it's a great place to learn how to make your deals better.
"It" is APPEX 2002, AAPG's second annual Prospect
and Property Expo, which will be held Aug. 27-29 at the George R.
Brown Convention Center in Houston.
The theme, according to organizers, says it all about
the event's importance: "The Right Time, The Right Place, The Right
People."
AAPG, SIPES and the Houston Geological Society are
the sponsors for an event designed to be both geoscientist and prospector
friendly — a place to display ideas, plays and properties to a
large crowd at the time of year when most buyers are developing
their budgets for the coming season.
"One booth last year sold five prospects," said Chuck
Noll, chairman of APPEX 2002. "Another showed his prospect to more
than 35 interested viewers and commented that he should have brought
an assistant."
That same participant "remarked that there would
be no way that he would have thought to access potential investors
as far away as Denver or Pittsburgh for a Gulf Coast prospect,"
Noll added.
Noll is hoping to have 400 booths operating for APPEX
this year — a size that would double last year's inaugural effort.
"It reminds me of my Amoco years, when we could walk
around the 20-40 fellow geologists' offices and trade and discuss
ideas," Noll said of the prospect and property concept and design.
"You can't afford not to attend and utilize a booth
if you desire that 'maximum exposure' this year," he added.
And as was the case last year, APPEX will feature
a "Dealmakers Conference," which will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday,
Aug. 27, offering a variety of talks and sessions to help both independents
and majors.
Some of the sessions already confirmed are:
Sourcing Capital Sessions, featuring speakers from EnCap, Duke Capital,
Deutsche Bank, Fleet Boston Financial and Frank Weisser of Weisser,
Johnson & Co., speaking on "Private Financing in Turbulent Times."
A special presentation by John Hogg, vice president for EnCana,
who will offer an overview of the new "super independent" company's
organization and its high risk deep water exploration portfolio,
including its North Sea operations.
An E&P session, with talks on:
- "Maverick Misterios — A New Fascinating Discovery."
- "Strategies for Successfully Managing an Independent E&P
Company in a Volatile Commodity Price Environment and the Expansion
into Deep Water Plays and Gas Plays Onshore."
- "Building a Producer-Focused Midstream Competitor."
Concurrent sessions on "Innovative Exploration" and "Support Systems
for Exploration."
The Expo itself will kickoff after the Dealmakers
Conference with the Tuesday night Icebreaker, with access to the
APPEX booths at that time.
A mini-breaker within the expo hall also is planned
after Wednesday's full day of prospecting, followed by "International
Night," featuring talks on the redevelopment of several abandoned
fields on the UK North Sea Shelf via horizontal drilling and modern
3-D and 4-D seismic definition.
Speakers will include Iain Murray, the British Consul
in Houston, and Gene Van Dyke, Vanco Energy, who will recount Vanco's
success as an independent in the North Sea and offshore West Africa.
APPEX continues on Thursday, Aug. 29.
More than 1,500 people participated in last year's
inaugural APPEX, and Noll is hoping — and planning — for twice
that number this year.