Geoscience Australia and 2008 APPEA Conference

Geoscience Australia has once again played a major part in the annual Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) Conference and Exhibition. Held in Perth, the 2008 conference was attended by more than 2500 delegates, making it the largest gathering of Australia's oil and gas exploration and production industry in the southern hemisphere.

The Hon Martin Ferguson AM MP, Minister for Resources and Energy, speaking at the 2008 APPEA Conference and Exhibition (Copyright the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association)

Themed Energising Change, the four day conference involved plenary sessions, a technical and commercial program, and networking events. It provided delegates with information on the latest challenges, developments and opportunities facing the industry, including the role of government in opening up exploration frontiers.

The conference also featured the annual release of acreage for bidding by petroleum exploration companies. As with previous years, Geoscience Australia supported the acreage release through the provision of precompetitive data outlining the geology of each area.

During his opening address the Minister for Resources and Energy, the Hon Martin Ferguson AM MP, noted Geoscience Australia's role in the annual acreage release.

"Geoscience Australia's current pre-competitive work is highly respected by the petroleum exploration industry for its provision of leading-edge, low cost, high-quality information", Minister Ferguson said.

'We are committed to Geoscience Australia's continuing work in this area and it will form part of the exploration incentives package I have asked my department to prepare in consultation with the industry and the Treasury", he said

Geoscience Australia also sponsored the technical program, Frontier Potential, and presented papers on onshore seismic data, the offshore energy security program, the oil and gas potential of old basins and the assessment of seepage studies in Australian waters.

More information on the 2008 APPEA Conference and Exhibition, can be found on the conference website.

Source : http://www.ga.gov.au/