Industry and technical experts discussed the Gulf of Mexico’s pre-salt potential at AAPG’s first-ever Hedberg Conference held in Mexico in February.

Poster session

The AAPG Hedberg Research Conference, Geology and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Circum-Gulf of Mexico Pre-Salt Section, took place at the Hotel Marquis Reforma in Mexico City on 4-6 February 2020.

The program was developed by the following event conveners: Jon Blickwede, Teyra GeoConsulting;

Samuel Eguiluz, Consultant; Natalia Amezcua, Mexican Geological Survey; José Rafael Barboza Gudiño, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí; Timothy Lawton, University of Texas at Austin; and José Guzman, Equinor.

Cristian Moya, CNH Commissioner, addressing the opening ceremony

Event sponsors included Shell, C&C Reservoirs, Equinor, TGS, Ecopetrol and Teytra GeoConsulting, LLC.

The 3-day conference covered a variety of themes related to pre-salt in the GoM and analogous areas and included 29 oral presentations and 10 posters from 16 organizations and 9 universities.

The opening ceremony included words of greeting from Pemex, the Mexican Hydrocarbon Commission (CNH), the Mexican Geological Survey and event conveners. The closing keynote featured a presentation by Rodrigo Hernandez, Director of Exploration Opinions at CNH.

Question and answer session

The event concluded with a roundtable discussion between event conveners and participants, who expressed interest in continuing the discussion through virtual communication and future workshops.

The 101 conference participants came from 9 countries and represented 34 companies, two professional associations, four government institutions and 12 universities.

While in Mexico City, AAPG organized one additional activity to reach students and young professionals in the area. Jim Pindell delivered the lecture Tectonic Evolution of the Gulf of Mexico and Flanking Region: What We Know and What We Don’t, which 105 people attended.

We at the AAPG Latin America and Caribbean Region expresses our sincere appreciation to those who helped to make this historical event a success.

Thanks to our conveners for your leadership planning an exceptional technical program, to Jim Pindell for attending speaking to our young people and to YP Mexico Chapter Idalia Cruz for coordinating a team of fantastic volunteers.

We look forward to seeing all of you in future events.