Final preparations are under way for UK '99 -- the 1999 AAPG international conference and exhibition, to be held in Britain's Second City, Birmingham, Sept. 12-15.
This annual event of AAPG this year incorporates the broadest possible spectrum of UK-based geoscientific society involvement, with the Geological Society as financial partner and the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain (PESGB) as co-host.
JAPEC is co-sponsoring short courses with the AAPG as well.
If there was any "wait and see" attitude about this important conference early on, that wait is apparently ending, with a late surge in pre-registrations reported in late July.
(You may have time yet to take advantage of pre-registration fees. The pre-registration deadline is Aug. 9.)
Now the AAPG and Geological Society staffs are gearing up for busy on-site registration traffic. It is anticipated that many will come up from London (an hour and a half by train or car) or down from Aberdeen (a short plane flight) for a day or two to concentrate on specific topics encompassed by the three-day event.
Tuesday, for example, will focus on deep-water South Atlantic margins as well as new challenges in North Atlantic exploration, while Wednesday's slate will offer risk management, environmental challenges and practices, and integrated geoscience techniques.
However, all eyes will be focused on the "heavyweight" sessions of Monday, as top exploration and industry executives will come together to share with the audience their vision of the future challenges and potential solutions facing exploration and production in the next decade and beyond.
Sir John Browne, group chief executive of BP/Amoco, will deliver the keynote presentation, "Oil, Gas and the Environment," at 9 a.m. Monday.
Browne asserts that the key to addressing challenges is not to wait until one has the whole solution: the key is to begin the process. He believes that in the case of environmental challenges facing the industry, the starting point is technology, which applied in a rational and progressive approach can and will produce positive results.
In addition to the science and technology the industry can bring to the table, government also must play a critical role in the form of incentives. Browne will offer his viewpoint on what he considers some of the more regressive tax measures currently being considered as a way to fund compliance with emissions targets agreed to at the Kyoto Summit.
All attendees -- even those coming to Birmingham for less than the entire conference -- can benefit from:
- The technology being displayed in the sold-out exhibition.
- The many social events, which include an "Icebreaker" in the exhibits hall Sunday night (tickets available at the registration counter), a hosted civic reception at Birmingham City Hall late afternoon Tuesday (limited to the first 450 who claim tickets on site), and an end-of-the-day reception on Monday, mixed throughout the exhibits and poster displays.
- The many networking opportunities that abound.
- The "Kingmaker Feast" at Warwick Castle on Tuesday night.
- Golfing at Belfry.
- Local field trips, including a city-center building stones tour.
In short, any time spent in Birmingham will be time well spent. Make plans now -- whether for one, two or three days -- to be part of AAPG's final conference of the millennium.