7,000 delegates attend Geologists Convention in Denver

DENVER, Colo., June 17, SPA -- Technology and the value of people in
meeting the industry’s challenges played a central role in
discussions at this year’s American Association of Petroleum
Geologists (AAPG) Annual Convention and Exhibition, held recently in
Denver.

Saudi Aramco and Aramco Services Co. (ASC) teamed up to support the
company’s activities during the conference (From June 7 to 10), which
drew 7,000 attendees.

At a management forum titled “Challenges for Global Energy Demand —
Short-term Variability and Long-term Solutions,” Saudi Aramco vice
president of Exploration Abdullah A. Al Naim presented views on the
strategies and challenges of meeting the world’s increasing demand
for energy. Other participants were executives from BP, Shell, Exxon
Mobil, Apache, CGG Veritas and the Turkish Petroleum Corp.

Al Naim, in his address to an audience of about 200 industry
professionals, described Saudi Aramco’s commitment to exploration in
frontier and under-explored areas, and how scientists and engineers
are applying and developing innovative new technologies to help
address the complex geology of many of these areas.

“New technological advances are critical to our exploration
activities and will continue to support Saudi Aramco in its efforts
to ensure reliable supplies of energy to the world,” Al Naim said.

He also emphasized the importance of developing professionals to
their fullest potential and encouraging students to pursue careers in
science, especially geosciences and petroleum engineering.

“Participation in the AAPG conference is an opportunity to support
petroleum geology as a science and a profession, and also to continue
to build our knowledge of emerging technologies in exploration,” said
Abdulkader M. Afifi, a Saudi Aramco geologist and AAPG president of
the Middle East Region.

At the company’s exhibit booth, technical presentations by Saudi
Aramco geologists and geophysicists drew standing-room-only crowds.
George A. Grover talked about geosteering the company’s reservoirs.
Duffy Russell presented productivity in the Arabic-D reservoir. Bob
Lindsay discussed Jurassic outcrop reservoir equivalents. Craig
Phillips presented petrophysical rock typing of carbonate reservoirs,
and Khalaf Temimi discussed sequence stratigraphy in the Harmaliyah
Field.

Company representatives also gave presentations during the
conference’s technical sessions, according to a report carried today
by Saudi Aramco's web-site.

A session titled “Mixed Carbonate/Evaporite Successions — Case
Studies and Analogues for Exploration and Reservoir Development,”
which was co-chaired by Aus Al-Tawil, included presentations by Saad
Al-Awwad, Raed Al-Dukhayyil, Ghazi Al-Eid, Yousef Mousa and Khalaf
Temimi. Other conference sessions featured presentations by Mohammad
Faqira, Shaun Hayton and Craig Phillips.

“A high level of cooperation and teamwork once again characterized
our attendance at the AAPG conference, and it was evident in the many
successes from presenting at forum and technical sessions to the
interest by booth visitors in learning more about Saudi Aramco as a
world-class employer,” said Abdulwahab M. Al-Abbas, manager of ASC
Industrial Relations.

--SPA