New Delhi 1996 : A review

The Society of Petroleum Geophysicists (SPG) organised its First International Conference & Exposition on Petroleum Geophysics, at Hotel Ashok, New Delhi from 9th to 11th February 1996. Approximately 450 delegates, from USA, Malaysia, Jordan, England, France, Singapore and India participated in this Conference. 85 technical papers on different topics of exploration and petroleum geophysics were presented in the oral session. About 30 distinguished geoscientists from national oil companies, private/multinational oil companies, universities and research institutes as well as pioneering geoscientists delivered invited lectures on important topics. 

Over 50 papers were put up in the poster session. Oil and Service sector companies exhibited latest technologies in the exposition, housing about 30 stalls. 

Inaugurating the Conference, Capt. Satish Sharma, Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas called for fast action in establishing additional reserves for increasing oil production. The Minister emphasized that no effort should be spared in mustering the financial, technological and managerial resources required to accelerate progress in this direction. This was imperative in view of the yawning gap between demand and supply of oil products which is widening to alarming proportions. 
The first issue of SPG quarterly bulletin 'GEOHORIZONS' was released at the Conference by Capt. Satish Sharma. Speaking on the occasion, CMD, ONGC and Chief Patron of SPG, Shri B.C.Bora said exploration in India is entering a new era. He described the measures initiated to boost the indigeneous production, which stands at about 55% of the demand, substantially in the near future. The success of national oil companies in globalizing their activities will depend to a large extent on the excellence in the field of exploration. He urged the explorationists to speed up the conversion, of about 15 billion tonnes of yet to be proved hydrocarbons, prognoisticated in Indian basins, to reserves. 

The key note address on "Exploration in the 21st century" delivered by Dr. S.Srinivasan, Director(Exploration), ONGC, listed the measures initiated by the Government of India and ONGC to reverse the trends of slow reserve accretion in the recent past. Emphasising the role of technology in the new phase of exploration, he unfolded the schemes of ONGC for upgrading geophysical data acquisition, processing and interpretation systems. He underlined the need for total synergy and effective networking of different exploration disciplines for continued success of exploration in the 21st century. Sh A.G.Pramanik, President SPG emphasised the role of exploration and the fast changing macro economic scenario of the country. He suggested that societies like SPG have a vital role to play in promoting excellence and technological advancements in geosciences, geoscientific R&D and large scale integration of expertise and resources from among industry service companies, academia and research laboratories. 

Over 80 technical papers were presented in the different technical sessions on: 

• Economics' risk analysis in hydrocarbon exploration:. 

• Advancement in Gravity, EM and Thermal techniques. 

• Advancement in data acquisition technology. 

• Advancement in signal processing. 

• Advancement in 3D seismic and case histories. 

• Development & Production geophysics. 

• Advancement in Borehole geophysics, VSP, well logging. 

• Data evaluation and interpretation. 

• Emerging technologies. 

There were four special lectures by eminent geoscientists on Neural Computing, Geological Inversion, Geophysical Research, and Gas Hydrates. More than 50 interesting presentations were included in the poster session. 

A Business Interactive Group Session (BIGS) was arranged during the different sessions. This was done to bring representatives from Govt., national oil companies, private and multinational companies as well as service sector to discuss across the table, issues of development of the industry. Dr.A.N.Saxena; Joint Secretary and Financial Advisor to Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Govt. of India chaired the session. 

Some of the latest geophysical softwares on sophisticated work station platforms were on display in the 30 stalls of the well organised exposition. The award for the best display went to the stall put up by M/s CogniSeis. Awards were also given to the best papers in oral and poster sessions. 

The first International SPG Conference and Exposition offered an opportunity to share new technological ideas and explore the creative and innovative ways required to take on future challenges. The technical sessions featured a variety of papers which hopefully would spark off interest in planning effective exploration and development. It is to the credit of Sh.A.G.Pramanik, the President of SPG and his organisers that the First Conference and Exposition at New Delhi turned out so splendidly.