For the first time in its history, AAPG has hosted a Geosciences Technology Workshop (GTW) in Saudi Arabia. The Integrated Emerging Exploration Concepts workshop took place on 2-4 December 2019 at the Kempinski Al Othman Hotel in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. For the occasion, we received 47 attendees from 14 different companies and 9 different countries.
The first morning opened with welcome remarks delivered by Anwar Al Beaiji, AAPG Middle East President (2019 - 2021) followed by an inaugural keynote speech by Misfir AzZahrani, Executive Director - Exploration, Saudi Aramco.
This three-day workshop also included 20 oral presentations, 6 poster presentations, 5 breakout sessions and an optional field trip that took place on the second day. The event emphasized the importance of identifying new thinking and approaches to develop exploration concepts.
The technical sessions were as follows:
- Session 1: Existing Best Practices of Exploration
- Session 2: Under-Explored Concepts
- Session 3: The Role of Modeling in Integrated Exploration Concepts
- Session 4: Innovative Geophysical Techniques for Generating Exploration Prospects
- Session 5: Case Studies of Integrated Multi-Disciplines
On the second day of the event, Salvatore Di Simone, Saudi Aramco, guided the field trip participants to the Prosperity Well and Dammam Dome, where attendees had the chance to trace back the footsteps of the geologists who first surveyed Dhahran in search of oil, back in the 1930’s. They were also able to discuss the history of oil exploration in Saudi Arabia and see firsthand Cenozoic carbonate formations.
We would like to take this opportunity to express our most sincere gratitude to our sponsors, Saudi Aramco as the Platinum Sponsor and Schlumberger, as our Gold sponsor. Thank you for the great contribution and commitment and for making this event possible. We would also like to thank the Dhahran Geoscience Society for their support. We hope to see you all again in Dhahran for our upcoming AAPG Stratigraphic Traps of the Middle East GTW, to be held on 26-28 October 2020!