In overcoming the technical challenges of oil exploration in the Arctic, are we making the most of a strategic resource or heading for an environmental and political minefield?
The vast Arctic region is probably the last remaining unexplored source of hydrocarbons on the planet. In the past three decades of oil exploration in the Arctic, more than 200 billion barrels of oil have been discovered. Ultimate resources are estimated at 114 billion barrels of undiscovered oil and 2,000 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. If these estimates are correct, these hydrocarbons would account for more than a fifth of the world’s undiscovered reserves. This great prize, in a world of diminishing resources, has stimulated both governmental and industry interest in areas such as the US and Canadian Beaufort Sea, East and West Greenland and the Kara Sea.
Balanced against this are the considerable technical challenges of exploring and producing hydrocarbons in areas where sea ice is present for more than half the year, as well as the underlying threat of damage to a pristine Arctic environment.
Harnessing the considerable resources of the ‘final frontier’ is going to be fraught with many technical, political and environmental challenges that will engage many minds, both scientific and political over the next half century.
David Bamford is a geophysicist by background and an explorer by recent history, and is well known as both around the oil & gas industry. In addition to acting as a director or advisor to several small companies, including his own consultancy, he writes regularly for journals such as OilVoice, ROGTEC etc, and has recently co-founded OilVoice Forums as a vehicle for on-line communication in the oil & gas industry.
He is a non executive Director of Tullow Oil (since 2004, and is a member of the Audit, Nominations and Remuneration Committees).
With a PhD in Geological Sciences from the University of Birmingham, he has had over 23 years exploration experience with BP where he was Chief Geophysicist from 1990 to 1995, General Manager for West Africa from 1995 to 1998, and acted as Vice President, Exploration, directing BP's global exploration programme, from 2001 to 2003.
New Eyes Exploration
New Eyes Exploration, founded by David Bamford, explores new ways to discover Oil and Gas.
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Professor Alastair J. Fraser has recently (June 2010) been appointed to the newly created post of EGI Chair in Petroleum Geoscience. He holds a BSc from Edinburgh University (1977) and a PhD from Glasgow University (1995), both in Geology. Al previously worked for BP as a Petroleum Geologist/Exploration Manager for over 30 years. His career in petroleum exploration, has taken him to most corners of the world including N. America, Europe, Africa, Middle East and the Far East. Following the BP Amoco merger, he led the team which made the significant Plutonio discovery in Block 18, deepwater Angola. He is the author of many papers on the petroleum geology of extensional basins most notably on the North Sea Jurassic and northern England Carboniferous.
Imperial College
Consistently rated amongst the world's best universities, Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research.
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ExxonMobil is one of the largest publicly traded companies by market capitalization in the world, having been ranked either No.1 or No. 2 for the past 5 years. Exxon Mobil's reserves were 72 billion oil-equivalent barrels at the end of 2007 and, at then (2007) rates of production, are expected to last over 14 years. With 37 oil refineries in 21 countries constituting a combined daily refining capacity of 6.3 million barrels (1,000,000 m3), Exxon Mobil is the largest refiner in the world, a title that was also associated with Standard Oil since its incorporation in 1870.
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Talk Description.
This presentation is by KADME, and Acona. |
KADME and Acona will present this talk.
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Talk Description.
The First IODP Expedition to the Central Arctic: Drilling the Lomonosov Ridge
Robert Gatliff and David McInroy
ECORD Science Operator
E-mail: eso@bgs.ac.uk
Web: http://www.eso.ecord.org/
The ocean geoscience research community has long wished to core deep holes in the Arctic Ocean seabed to start unravelling the geology, resources and environmental changes of the least understood ocean basin in the world.
The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) is the most recent version of the ocean research drilling programme which follows the DSDP and the ODP. Under IODP, there is for the first time the option to charter vessels other than the JOIDES Resolution, which opened up the possibility to core in the central Arctic Ocean. In August-September 2004, the Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX) became both the first IODP mission specific platform Expedition, and the first IODP Expedition to the central Arctic Ocean.
The greatest challenge faced by ACEX was the requirement that the drillship hold position in continuously moving sea-ice while coring. This required the support of two icebreakers, the Oden and the Sovetskiy Soyuz, to break up the sea-ice sheets as far as possible to protect a third ice breaker, the ice-strengthened Vidar Viking, specially converted to undertake the drilling and downhole logging program.
The ice conditions heavily influenced the operation, both en route and at the selected drill sites. Tremendous efforts were devoted to understanding, predicting and possibly controlling the ice conditions near the proposed drill sites. A detailed ice management plan, prepared by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat (SPRS) and an international panel of experts, was implemented to allow the Vidar Viking to remain on station for up to 10 days at a time whilst the ice was broken up to pass around the drillship. The success of the Expedition is largely attributed to the high quality of the ice management expertise.
The small drillship and the support icebreakers had none of the usual laboratory facilities associated with IODP Expeditions; hence the initial analysis of the cores was undertaken by the Scientific Party at the IODP Bremen Core Repository in Germany. ACEX recovered cores from up to 428 m below the sea floor in waters around 1300 m deep, and thus achieved the first deep coring in the central Arctic Ocean. The results of the Expedition have been spectacular, and have been published in several high impact journals.
The total cost of the Expedition was around US$11M. The budget allowed for an Expedition duration of 38 days, and smooth transits in both directions between Tromsø, Norway, and the sites resulted in 24 days of operations.
In the new phase of IODP (2014-2023), it is hoped that several more Arctic coring expeditions will be undertaken.
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ECORD, the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling, is a management structure of 16 European member countries and Canada for scientific ocean drilling within the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP).
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Talk Description.
The talk will demonstrate the ability of surface geochemistry to define hydrocarbon phase, gas or liquids, in reservoirs. Examples from Russian and Canadian Arctic regions will be shown |
Founded in 1958, W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. is a privately-held company headquartered in Newark, Delaware, USA. For more than 50 years, Gore has built a worldwide reputation for ethics and integrity in its dealings with customers, suppliers, and employees, and for taking a long-term view when assessing business situations.
Today, Gore has approximately 9,000 employees, called associates, located in 30 countries worldwide, with manufacturing facilities in the United States, Germany, Scotland, Japan, and China, and sales offices around the world.
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Talk Description.
Polarcus/Phil Fontana will illustrate that with our Ice-Class 1A X-Bow design vessels, our efficient sources, our use of emissions reducing technology and our DnV audited Arctic procedures we offer a truly holistic approach to acquiring 3D seismc in the Arctic environment.
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Phil has over 32 years of experience in the field of marine geophysics. During that time he has held several senior level technical positions in marine seismic data acquisition at Western Geophysical, WesternGeco, Veritas DGC, and CGGVeritas. Prior to joining Polarcus in December of 2008, Phil held the position of Geophysical Manager for CGGVeritas' marine acquisition product line. Phil holds a BS degree in Geology and a MS degree in Geophysics from the University of Connecticut in the USA.
Polarcus
We have a pure play strategy focusing on the marine towed streamer seismic acquisition business, coupled with a strong commitment to minimize our environmental impact in the performance of our work. This clear strategy will ensure that our extensive experience and resources will be fully focused on the successful execution of seismic surveys, whether proprietary or multi- client, 3D or 4D, whilst leaving the lowest possible environmental footprint.
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Dr Clint joined Sanford C. Bernstein in 2004 and was part of the Energy Team with Neil McMahon covering the Global Integrated Oil sector.
Currently he is the Senior Research Analyst covering the European E&P and Russian Oil & Gas sectors. The Bernstein Energy franchise has become well known due to both the provocative commentary on the commodities and oil stocks, as well as the innovative research that forms the core of their frequent publications. Previously, he worked as an accountant and consultant for KPMG covering energy, gas, and chemical sectors. Dr Clint received his PhD in Geophysics from University College London where he specialised in sub-surface rock physics and is also a Chartered Accountant.
Bernstein Research
Sanford C. Bernstein is widely recognized as Wall Street's premier sell-side research firm. Their research is sought out by leading investment managers around the world, and they are annually ranked at the very top of acknowledged arbiters. In independent surveys of major institutional clients, Bernstein's research is ranked #1 for overall quality, industry knowledge, most trusted, best detailed financial analysis, major company studies, most useful valuation frameworks, best original research, and most willing to challenge management. In Institutional Investor's 2008 annual client survey, the leading survey by which analysts in our industry are evaluated, 100% of our U.S. Analysts were recognized as among the best in their respective fields -- more than any other firm on Wall Street.
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