The 2006 AAPG International Meeting at the remote venue of Perth, Australia, proved as prolific as the petroleum geology of the region with a record-setting 2,650 registrants, the largestever for an AAPG international gathering.
The meeting’s opening session attracted a large crowd to the Perth Convention Center, featuring welcoming addresses from AAPG President Lee Billingsley, PESA President David Cliff, meeting General Chairman Agu Kantsler and Alan J. Carpenter, the premier of Western Australia, who delivered an upbeat assessment of his region’s on- and offshore potential.
Carpenter also emphasized the significant contribution of petroleum exploration and development to the economy of the region and the country.
Speakers at the opening technical session reviewed the 500-million-year geological history of Gondwana, and some history of exploration in the region.
Exploration in Australia began in 1892, with discoveries to date of seven billion barrels of oil and 170 trillion cubic feet of gas, yet significant potential remains. Speakers forecast the eventual rise of Australian LNG production to place it in the top five nations.
The Monday morning plenary session echoed the conference theme, “Reunite Gondwana -- Realize the Potential, and attracted a large crowd estimated at over 1,500 attendees.”
The Perth meeting topped the previous AAPG international meeting high attendance mark of 2,214 set in 1998 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
AAPG Executive Director Rick Fritz said, “the Perth meeting was one of the highest quality technical sessions AAPG has produced. The technical sessions and venue drove record attendance.”
Perth was the 18th designated “international meeting” for the Association, with the average attendance for those 18 meetings being 1,528. However, the last five meetings have drawn an average of 1,977 registrants, indicating the growing global participation in the Association.
A complete Perth report will be included in the January EXPLORER.