Riding high on the success of last year's initial experience,
the creators of APPEX 2002 are expecting this year's event to be
not only twice as big but twice as successful as well.
This year's annual AAPG Prospect and Property Expo will be held
Aug. 27-29 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston,
using as its theme "APPEX: The Right Time, The Right Place, The
Right People."
AAPG, SIPES and the Houston Geological Society are the sponsors
for an event designed to be both geoscientist and prospector friendly
— it's a chance to display ideas, plays and properties to a large
crowd at the time of year when most buyers are developing their
budgets for the coming season.
Last year's inaugural APPEX earned rave reviews from buyers and
sellers alike; several prospectors reportedly sold up to five deals
during the event, and early sign-ups have indicated a good chance
of filling this year's 400-booth floor-plan.
And as was the case last year, APPEX will feature a "Dealmakers'
Conference," which will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 27,
offering a variety of talks and sessions to help both independents
and majors. The program will include sessions on:
- Capital Sourcing.
- Acquisitions.
- Divestitures.
- New Exploration/Production Strategies.
Several major acquisitions and mergers will be featured that day,
including a special session on the merger of Pan Canadian and Alberta
Energy, which created EnCana, the largest independent in the Western
Hemisphere.
Special emphasis will be EnCana's eastern Canada and offshore
activity, with additional information concerning their large North
Sea discovery.
The Expo itself will kickoff with the Tuesday night Icebreaker,
with access to the APPEX booths at that time.
A mini-breaker is planned after Wednesday's full day of prospecting,
followed by "International Night," featuring talks on the redevelopment
of several abandoned fields on the UK North Sea Shelf via horizontal
drilling and modern 3-D and 4-D seismic definition. Speakers will
include Iain Murray, the British Consul in Houston, and Gene Van
Dyke, Vanco Energy, who will recount Vanco's success as an independent
in the North Sea and offshore West Africa.
APPEX continues on Thursday, Aug. 29.
More than 1,500 people participated in last year's APPEX, and
general chairman Charles "Chuck" Noll is hoping — and planning
— for twice that number this year.