Undiscovered and recoverable oil and natural gas that has yet to be found on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf is estimated at more than 68 billion barrels of oil and more than 229 trillion cubic feet of gas, according to a 2021 assessment by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
Yet, the Biden administration’s proposed five-year leasing program slated to begin in 2024 included only three lease sales during the 2024-29 period – the lowest number in the 45-year history of the program.
“Demand for affordable, reliable energy is only growing, yet this administration has used every tool at its disposal to restrict access to vast energy resources in federal waters,” said Ryan Meyers, the American Petroleum Institute’s senior vice president and general counsel, after challenging the program in court.
As proposed, “the administration is limiting access in a region responsible for generating among the lowest carbon-intensive barrels in the world, putting American consumers at greater risk of relying on foreign sources for our future energy needs,” Meyers continued.
We can definitely do better.
And it’s not just the United States that has tremendous potential. Worldwide offshore discoveries continue to make headlines, from Guyana and Suriname to Brazil, Namibia and Senegal, from the eastern Mediterranean and Egypt to Malaysia, and even in mature provinces like the North Sea. The regions continue to deliver energy resources essential to meeting global demand.
Offshore Technology Conference
The science and technology needed to find and produce these resources takes center stage in Houston this month with the 2024 Offshore Technology Conference.
The event began in 1969 when 12 engineering and scientific organizations – AAPG among them – banded together to respond to “the growing technological needs of the global ocean extraction and environmental protection industries.”
OTC has grown with the industry and the times. The exhibition is the heart of OTC where innovative companies showcase their latest products and services available to offshore operators. More recently, the exhibition has expanded to include offshore wind. And the energy transition pavilion on the show floor provides a way to communicate advances in carbon capture, wind and hydrogen.
In addition to the exhibition, the OTC member organizations have worked diligently to craft a technical program that will educate and inspire.
The executive sessions will cover a variety of topics:
- Abdellah Merad, executive vice president for SLB will talk about the company’s vision of the future offshore energy market.
- The CEO of Petrobras, Jean Paul Terra Prates, will talk about his company’s strategy for navigating the e nergy transition: “producing low carbon oil and preparing for the future.”
- Erik Oswald, long-time AAPG member, and vice president of advocacy and policy development at ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions will discuss offshore CCS challenges and opportunities.
- The importance and potential of state policies on hydrogen will be covered by the United States Hydrogen Alliance founder and CEO Roxana Bekemohammadi.
- Chevron Vice President Chris Powers will describe how to accelerate “lower-carbon solutions in a complex global energy system.”
- Celine Gerson, group director, Americas and president of Fugro USA looks to the future of the energy industry and how she and her company are pursuing the opportunities therein.
- Attilio Pisoni, chief technology officer of oilfield services and equipment at Baker Hughes will discuss the future of innovation and technology investment as the energy system evolves.
- Tom Albanese, the former CEO of mining giant Rio Tinto, will talk about critical minerals and assess the influence of seabed minerals on global supply.
These executive sessions are just a small sample of the many topics and sessions available to conference participants.
OTC is led by a Board of Directors, chaired by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists’ board member Alex Martinez of ExxonMobil, along with vice chair Dan McConnell who is the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration’s board member. AAPG is ably represented on the Board by James (Jamie) Allan of Falls Church, Va. who recently retired from the federal government where he was directly involved with the multinational International Ocean Discovery Program.
AAPG’s Role
The AAPG Technical Program Subcommittee is chaired by Huyen Bui of Shell and she is joined by her fellow committee members:
- Joseph Batir of Teverra
- Kevin Bradford of Shell
- Daniel Doolittle and Yosmel Sanchez of Fugro
- Kimberly Faulk and Christopher Madere of Gems
- Claudia Ludwig, a consultant
- Oluwayomi Oyedele of Advisian
The committee’s work is supported by Dr. Susan Nash, AAPG’s director of innovation and emerging science/technology. Thanks to each of you for your dedication to AAPG and to OTC.
Unleashing the potential of the offshore, both in the United States and abroad, relies on the ingenuity and technology that you’ll witness firsthand at OTC this year. I hope you can attend. If so, please visit the prominent IMAGE ’24 stand at OTC – it’s where you can find the AAPG and SEG teams, along with a special guest making his first appearance at OTC: GeoRex, the dinosaur.