The upstream oil and gas industry has a unique window of opportunity to transform the way it does business through the continued adoption and implementation of intelligent energy solutions. Digital enablement has already dramatically altered the landscape as to what is possible in the Exploration & Production sector, and it continues to lead the way in enhancing today’s processes and solutions.
This year’s SPE Intelligent Energy International 2012 conference and exhibition will be held from 27-29 March in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and will be the fourth edition since its launch in 2006. The overall theme is ‘Transformation – Time for Decisive Action’, with the two conference co-chairs being Derek Mathiesen, President of Products & Technology at Baker Hughes, and Edwin Verdonk, Vice President of Subsurface Expertise and Technology Deployment at Royal Dutch Shell. Both are keen to drive the debate forward as the industry heads towards full upstream intelligent energy adoption, saying there is a “unique window of opportunity” for the industry.
“While it is clear that our industry has started along a path of transformation, it is also clear that we do not yet share a common direction or charter,” they said in a joint statement. “Operating and service companies developing the world’s resources today are all at very different stages of digital enablement. Many see digital enablement as an intrinsic part of their technological future but still struggle to articulate the business benefits and make a case for investment and transformation. In this environment, we have a unique window of opportunity to transform the way we conduct and represent our business – before public opinion or government regulations make those decisions for us.
“The 2012 Intelligent Energy Conference will be an important event in this transformation, as we explore what the evolving digital hydrocarbon industry will look like and how we can accelerate the pace of implementation of intelligent solutions.”
‘Industry using smart technologies to tackle major industry challenges’
The event will focus on how the industry is using smart technologies as it tackles major challenges such as producing from deeper waters and harsher remote environments, while maintaining the safety and operational integrity of facilities. All this must be done at a time when it is also dealing with skills shortages and the demographic change to the next generation of its workforce, the increased importance of cyber security in a digital world, and increasing regulatory scrutiny and requirements.
The opening session at the conference will see the two co-chairs set the scene for hundreds of delegates themselves, while daily plenary sessions will feature leading experts from within the oil and gas industry but also tap into the experiences of other experts from outside industries. The interactive plenary session on day 1 – ‘Searching For Identity or Preparing To Meet The Grand Challenges?’ – will see presentations by speakers including Gerald Schotman, Chief Technology Officer at Royal Dutch Shell; Satish Pai, Executive VP Operations at Schlumberger; and Dr Nabeel I Afaleg, Manager, Southern Area Reservoir Management at Saudi Aramco.
On day 2 the plenary session entitled ‘The Digital Engineer’ will feature speakers from BP, Chevron, Baker Hughes and the University of Southern California; while on day 3 the plenary session ‘Intelligent Energy in the Assets: What’s Working For You Today and What Do You Need Tomorrow?’ will see presentations from companies including ConocoPhillips, Chevron, Saudi Aramco, Petrobras and Halliburton.
There is also a comprehensive technical conference programme with parallel sessions such as ‘Creating Value At Scale – Experiences and Future Directions’, ‘Improving Drilling Performance’, ‘Case Studies: Delivering A Sustainable Impact On Production’, ‘Developments In IT Capabilities’, ‘Production Surveillance’, ‘Greenfield Projects’, ‘Approaches To Metering & Measurements’, and ‘Case Studies: Production Optimisation At Scale’. Other sessions include: ‘Data Standards – New Developments and Implementations’, ‘People & Process’, ‘New Sensors and Measurements’, ‘Learning From Other Industries’, ‘Health, Safety and Environment’, ‘Smart Wells’, ‘Predictive Analytics & Artificial Intelligence’, ‘Collaboration’ and ‘Change Management’.
Leading companies who will participate in the exhibition or as sponsors include BP, Chevron, Aramco Overseas, Baker Hughes, Schlumberger, Weatherford International, Halliburton, Tessella, IBM, Petrotechnical Data Systems, ABB, Honeywell Process Solutions, Tendeka, SAIC, HP Oil & Gas, FMC Technologies and Siemens.
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