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People
Caught Doing Things Right
On
behalf of PESA members – THANKS to the:
• Out-going PESA national officers: John Carmody (President), Max
Williamson (Treasurer), Gaz Bisht (Secretary) and Ahmad Tabassi (past
President). We have retained your contact details, so you are not completely
off the hook.
• PESA Branch, Publications, Education and Symposium/Conference committees
for their sustained muscularity. PESA's relevance to members relies on
local stewardship and excessive exuberance provided by PESA's many volunteers.
Intro
To The Newbies
I am pleased to introduce PESA's incoming national officers:
• President – Barry Goldstein: Phillips, IEDC/KUFPEC, consultant,
Bridge Oil/Parker & Parsley, Santos, PIRSA (Past VP Federal Exec,
past President PESA SA, Past VP PESA SA Branch)
• VP – David Cliff: Exlog, Agip, Bridge Oil/Parker & Parsley,
Burdett Buckeridge & Young, consultant, Woodside (Past President WA
Branch)
• Treasurer – Mike Hanzalik: Bridge Oil, Elf-Aquitaine, SAGASCO,
consultant, Santos (Past Treasurer PESA SA Branch & past PESA NSW
Committee member)
• Secretary – Bronwyn Camac: Wiltshire, Boral/Origin, consultant
(Past Secretary SA Branch).
Our
experience spans a robust spectrum of petroleum E&P and PESA endeavours.
Traditions
Started As Successful Innovations
Staying relevant to members is the mission. The vision is sustaining our
traditional, exemplary services and successful implementation of additional
high value and sustainable services.
• What is – An informal survey confirms PESA's luncheon
lectures are the most highly valued service to members. After that, opinions
diverge: PESA News, basin symposiums / conferences (and associated proceedings),
website access to information and distinguished lecture / workshop program
are all 'number 2s'. Support for petroleum geoscience students, deal-days
(farmin symposiums) and providing annual recaps of the upstream petroleum
E&P industry at APPEA conferences also make the short-list of sustainable
and highly valued PESA initiatives.
• What should be – Pilot sustainable expansion of PESA's
website services to include membership renewals, pre-payment for events,
and online access to PESA, APPEA and other publications are in progress.
Pilot use of a professional
organiser has commenced for PESA distinguished lecturer / workshop programs.
• What goes around comes around – vibrant upstream petroleum
E&P industry is vital to the well being of PESA members. Most recently
– wearing both my PESA and PIRSA hats – I chaired APPEA's 'Junior
Company Forum' (2-5 pm session on Tuesday March 25th 2003). That event
provided small to medium sized petroleum E&P enterprises an opportunity
to articulate their needs and get instant feedback from their peers, financiers,
brokers, insurers and government regulators. As follow-up, one of our
two Perth-based PESA Board Members (Alex Kaiko or David Cliff) will make
a presentation at the May 20th 2003 forum: Tools to Inform / Attract Investors.
PESA will present generalised characteristics of E&P professionals
who have achieved credibility with their peers, investors and financiers.
The assessment concludes there is no cook book, but characteristics of
credibility are discernable. Well-educated and vastly experienced professionals
with drive and high moral fibre have demonstrated their worth to the market.
There is nothing so valuable as a good reputation. Those who kindly provided
their CVs for this assessment were thanked at the conclusion of this Junior
Company Forum i.e. Bruce Phillips (AWE), Eric Streitberg (ARC), Paul Underwood
(TAP), John Doran (ROC), Ted Ellyard (Hardman), Reg Nelson (Beach) and
Howard Brady (Mosaic). The punch line is they are also all PESA members.
About
PESA
An articulation of the Society's purpose and activities is posted on our
website and worth communicating in hard copy, too.
PESA's purpose – The Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (PESA)
is a national, not-for-profit organisation representing the interests
of all professionals and practitioners in the upstream petroleum industry.
The purpose and objectives of the Society are:
• To promote professional excellence in the upstream petroleum industry
throughout Australia. This is fostered by providing forums to communicate
innovations and lessons learnt to individuals on a national basis;
• To present views and facilitate discussion of technical and professional
matters pertinent to the upstream petroleum
industry;
• To foster and provide continuing education for the benefit of PESA
members and students progressing towards a career
choice;
• To nurture the spirit of research on matters pertinent to PESA
members and their upstream petroleum industry colleagues and;
• To maintain a high standard of professional conduct on the part
of its members.
The
emphasis of the Society is primarily geoscientific although most aspects
of the upstream industry are catered for. The Society is governed by a
Federal Executive with local branches for Queensland/Northern Territory,
New South Wales, Victoria/Tasmania, the ACT, South Australia and Western
Australia responsible for much of the organisation of events.
What
we do around here – PESA's key services for members include:
• Monthly luncheons and evening seminars with notable and topical
speakers at locations convenient and attractive to branch members, commonly
run in collaboration with key universities and cognate professional societies
(such as SPE, ASEG and SPWLA affiliates);
• Publication of a timely and topical bi-monthly newsletter (PESA
News) under the management of PESA's Publication
Committee;
• Maintaining PESA's website (www.pesa.com.au) which features highlights
from PESA News, a petroleum E&P industry training calendar, contact
lists for PESA Branch and Federal Executive officers, notice of university
scholarships available from PESA, price lists for PESA publications with
instructions for purchases, employment opportunities, and instructions
to authors wanting to submit articles and papers for PESA publications.
PESA's Publication Committee currently manages the website. The website
functions have expanded to a point where a separate PESA Website Committee
is contemplated for creation in 2003.
•
Convening the most focused technical symposiums and conferences for petroleum
E&P in Australia. Proceedings of PESA Basin Symposiums represent essential
references for petroleum exploration and development in Australia. Key
traditional events are:
• West Australian Basins Symposium (WABS) - held once every four
years, late in the calendar year, in Perth. Last
held in October 2002. The next WABS is scheduled in tandem with the AAPG
International Conference in 2006.
• Eastern Australasian Basins Symposium (EABS) - first held in Melbourne
in November 2001. The next EABS is
scheduled for Adelaide, September 19th - 22nd 2004. The content of EABS
extends to Australian, NZ and PNG
basins not addressed by WABS.
• Queensland Symposium run by PESA Qld/NT every September to focus
on topics of particular interest to E&P in
Queensland. In September 2004 - the Queensland Symposium will be part
of EABS II.
The
once every two years publication of PESA's WABS and EABS proceedings form
a sustainable means for PESA's members and peers to find and publish well-respected
technical papers.
PESA
also regards inter society collaboration as an important means of providing
relevant technical forums for its membership.
•
PESA (WA Branch) is providing organisational assistance to the Timor Sea
& Bonaparte Basin Symposium, being convened by the Northern Territory
government at the Carlton Hotel, Darwin, June 19th - 20th 2003.
• PESA and ASEG are jointly organising a major technical conference
and exhibition to be held in Sydney from August 15th to 19th 2004. The
theme of the conference is: Integrated Exploration in a Changing World,
and the venue for the event is Darling
Harbour.
PESA's
approach to E&P conferences in any particular year is to collaborate
and differentiate - to mitigate timing and topic overlaps.
• Convening 'Farmin Seminars' or 'Deal Days' at both APPEA Conferences
and PESA's WABS and EABS. These have
grown in stature to become the premier events for marketing and gathering
information on Australasian investment
opportunities.
• Continuing education courses - to deliver cost-effective, world-class
training to PESA members at least four times per year. Some of the experts
educating PESA members at low prices over the last four years include:
• 1999: Mac Al Chalabi (UK based Consultant - Depth conversion),
Roger Morgan - (Consultant - Biostratigraphy),
Ken McClay (Royal Holloway - University of London - Interpretation of
extensional structural systems), Roger
Slatt - EDL (Colorado School of Mines - Reservoir characterisation)
• 2000: Claus Otto and Jim Undershultz (CSIRO - Hydrodynamics),
Tom Loutit (SRK - Structural basement interpretation), Steve Flint and
John Howell - (University of Liverpool - Sequence stratigraphy), Craig
Beasley - EDL (Western Geophysical, Houston - 3D acquisition design and
processing), Roger Slatt (Colorado School of Mines - Reservoir characterisation)
• 2001: Les Magoon (USGS - Petroleum systems), Kevin Hill
(VIEPS - Structure), Gary Mavko (Stanford University - Rock
physics), Paul Weimer - EDL (Colorado School of Mines - Deep water facies),
Paul Crevello (Consultant - Carbonates),
Robbie Gries (Priority O&G LLC and AAPG President - Thinking 'Out
of the Box')
• 2002: Peter Behrenbruch (University of Adelaide School of
Petroleum Engineering - Reservoir engineering for geoscientists), Kevin
Bohacs - EDL (ExxonMobil - Lacustrine plays) Mike Schoenberger (US based
consultant - Seismic imaging of geology), Sal Bloch (ChevronTexaco - Reservoir
prediction), Bill French (Curtin University - Innovation in petroleum
E&P), John Doveton (University of Kansas - Petrophysics)
• 2003: John Kaldi (NCPGG, Reservoirs, seals and pay), Martin
Landro - EDL (Seismic methods: AVO, 4C and 4D), Gordon Knox (ex-Shell
/ Consultant - Risk and uncertainty), Dick Murphy (ex Esso / Consultant
- South East Asian
petroleum plays - to be confirmed)
Multi-year
training priorities are re-established on an annual basis by the PESA
Education Committee (EdCom). The EdCom has a diverse membership representing
all PESA branches, key employer organisations through their PESA members
and liaisons with cognate societies (ASEG/SEG, SPE, AAPG and SPWLA / FESWA
/ FESQ). The four key annual events are PESA's Distinguished Australian
and Visiting Lectures (PDAL and PDVL) and collaboration in the AAPG International
Distinguished Lecture (AAPG IDL) and the Esso Distinguished Lecture (EDL)
programs. Mitigating topic and timing overlaps and securing leverage on
costs are additional responsibilities for the EdCom.
• Presenting PESA's Annual Industry Review at each APPEA Conference.
This annual report covers significant technical,
environmental and legal activities and breakthroughs in Australian exploration
and development. The report is published in the APPEA Journal.
• Local social functions for members and their guests, including
participation sports events and annual galas.
Support
for the future of petroleum exploration
• PESA provides an aggregate of circa $50,000 per year in the form
of scholarships, financial awards, gratis training, gratis first year
membership and subsequent half-price membership for full-time students
enrolled in geosciences degree programs at Australian tertiary institutions.
Natalie Sinclair (ANU) received the 2002/3 PESA Federal Post Graduate
Scholarship. This issue of PESA News contains the call for applicants
for the 2003/4 award.
• PESA has from time-to-time engaged high school science teachers'
associations to focus support for earth science in public school curriculums.
• PESA is the regional affiliate of the American Association of Petroleum
Geologists (AAPG) - the peak international
profession association for petroleum geoscience. PESA frequently gains
leverage by collaborating with AAPG;
APPEA; SPE; ASEG; SPWLA affiliates and universities to deliver education
to its current and future members.
Membership
PESA has 1,655 members spread across Australia and affiliated with the
various branches plus circa 150 overseas members associated with branches
of their choice. In 2002, PESA opted to grant one year gratis membership
to university geoscience students.
Second-To-Last
Word
I leave you with two quotations that I have found useful in recent presentations:
• "Chance favors the prepared mind"
• "It's only when the tide goes out that you can see who's swimming
naked"
The
Last Word
Should be from you. Email me at Goldstein.barry@saugov.sa.gov.au
Cheers
Barry A Goldstein
President, PESA Ltd
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