UK Operators to Reveal Activity in Unconventionals

Key players in U.K. unconventional oil and gas extraction will come together to share their insight and current developments with delegates at Unconventional Gas Aberdeen 2014.

Among the operators speaking at the event are Dr Harry Bradbury, CEO of Five-Quarter, Andrew Austin, CEO of IGas, and Douglas Bain, UK Country Manager at Dart Energy. They will discuss tapping the unconventional resource in the UK region and the challenges and opportunities this presents.

Graham Dean, Managing Director of ReschCSG, will look at oil shale in the West Lothian region in Scotland, and Connie Jump, Senior Technical Director at Chevron Onshore Europe, will provide a technical overview of the company’s Eastern Europe shale plays.

The aim of the conference is to highlight barriers to development and present practical solutions based on academic research or experience from energy or related industries. Former Yale professor Dr Harry Bradbury will discuss the potential of Five-Quarter’s clean, pioneering and proprietary method of extraction called Deep Gas Winning.

“There is a strong emphasis on shale, but not all roads have to lead back to one particular rock,” said Dr Bradbury. “There are significant remaining coal reserves offshore and while there is a lot of debate around onshore exploration, we see it that Britain doesn’t stop at the coast and offshore development shows huge promise.

“Unconventionals isn’t just about pulling gas out of the ground and Deep Gas Winning is a different technique which would convert the rocks into gas in-situ deep underground in the U.K. Continental Shelf. This process is similar to key-hole surgery; drilling of narrow boreholes around 8.5” in diameter up to 2km below the seabed. Oxygen and steam are then injected into the boreholes with no other added chemicals. We aim to revive North and Irish Sea developments, making use of existing infrastructure and supplementing it where needed.

“It is also essential to utilize the existing skills pool in the offshore oil and gas industry because there will be global competition for people and equipment. If we can’t move quickly then countries such as the US and China will soak up the talent and equipment. We cannot underestimate the size of this potential.”

The update from unconventional gas operators supplements a high caliber program for the third year of this event. Dan Byles, MP and leader of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Unconventional Oil and Gas (APPG UG), will address hundreds of delegates at the conference. 

He will be joined by other distinguished speakers including Duarte Figueira, head of the Office of Unconventional Gas and Oil at DECC and Ken Cronin, CEO of UK Onshore Operators’ Group.

The Unconventional Gas Aberdeen 2014 conference and exhibition will take place at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre on March 25-26 and will focus on themes such as supply chain, technology, planning, and the social license to operate.

For example, in the technical arena, a presentation by Andrew Foulds of Petrafiz will look at ‘Unconventional resources petrophysical fundamentals – properties and reservoir characterization’, while in the regulatory session Uisdean Vass and Kevin Gibbs, Partners at Bond Dickinson, will focus on the topic of ‘Beginners guide to planning and ancillary rights for onshore development of hydrocarbons’.

The meeting is supported by sponsors ASCO, Halliburton, Schlumberger (SLB), Corpro, Chevron and Bond Dickinson. The 2014 speaker program can be viewed at www.unconventionalgasaberdeen.com