The International
Pavilion (IP) Committee invites all AAPG members and attendees to visit
the IP March 10-13 during AAPG's 2002 annual meeting in Houston.
We are very excited at the
early response of countries interested in participating in this year's
pavilion and the support of the oil and gas companies in their sponsorship
of this event. The AAPG IP is the premier venue for international companies
to meet and discuss opportunities for investment in the oil and gas
sectors in their countries.
With the convention located
in Houston, the opportunity for interaction between countries and international
business development groups of companies is tremendous. At time of printing,
Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Equatorial Guinea, Falkland Islands, Greenland,
New Zealand, Peru, Senegal, South Africa, Suriname, Uganda and Ukraine
already have reserved their booth space.
Corporate awareness and
sponsorship of the IP over the past few years have continued to make
this venue a great success with participation growing exponentially
since its original appearance in 1994. Both corporate and individual
contributions have allowed us to gather under one roof, representatives
from more than 40 countries, offering potential international oil and
gas opportunities around the world.
More companies are seeing
and realizing the benefit of sponsoring this successful addition to
the AAPG's annual meeting, with new and old companies vying for visibility.
For the past couple of years we have seen companies aggressively pursuing
the West African nations. This year has been no exception, with early
contributions from companies interested in country sponsorship. Other
indirect or general contributions allow participation by additional
countries that offer the most potential for oil and gas opportunities.
At Houston, all sponsors
and international IP delegates are invited to participate in the Global
Forum and IP reception.
- The reception, an evening
of mixing, mingling and networking with each other, will be held Monday
evening, March 11. A contribution of $100 is a patron sponsorship
and includes an invitation for one person to attend the reception.
If you haven't already become a sponsor this is your opportunity to
participate.
- Also in Houston, on the
afternoon of Sunday, March 10, the second Global Forum
will be held, where many delegates of the state organizations exhibiting
at the IP, together with representatives of their sponsoring companies,
will attend this exclusive workshop.
A very firm foundation was
established at the first forum organized during the Denver 2001 AAPG
annual meeting. The baton has been passed to Jonathan Green, IP country
coordinator, and yours truly.
A panel of influential speakers
comprising key decision makers and analysts of the international energy
industry is being established to lead what promises to be a very lively
debate focusing on investment, technology and business issues in the
highly competitive and risk adverse global E&P sector.
At the time of writing,
confirmations to speak have been received from the VP of exploration
of a major Latin American national oil company; a former deputy secretary
of oil and gas in the U.S. Department of Energy; a senior manager of
global exploration in one of the super majors; the vice president of
technology of a large intermediate; the CEO of a small U.S. independent;
and the president of a firm of global energy consultants.
To facilitate information
exchange, an online International Pavilion will be available before,
during and after the convention. The IP Web site contains background,
geologic information and investment opportunities on each country, plus
something new: information regarding the seismic data that is available
in various countries. We trust that this added feature will be of benefit
to both the countries and the companies reviewing opportunities. Visit
the AAPG Web site and check out the IP link.