3rd APG Conference & Exhibition

Third APG conference and exhibition was held in Hotel Ramada Caravela Beach Resort, Salcette, Goa from September 21st to 24th, 2006. The conference was inaugurated by Hon. Shri Digambar Kamat, Minister of Power, Govt. of Goa. Prof. N. P. Zapivalov from Russian Academy of Natural Sciences was the guest of honour. Shri R. S. Sharma CMD, ONGC, Shri A. K. Hazarika, Director (Onshore), ONGC, Shri U. N. Bose, Director (T&FS) and Shri D. K. Pande, Director (Exploration), ONGC graced the inaugural session. jointly organized by APG and SPG. Shri Apurba Saha, President SPG also graced the inaugural session. The theme of the conference was “Exploring Exploration-Mind over Machine”. The conference was divided into eight technical sessions viz. 

(1) Looking beyond established fields, 
(2) Deep water processes and plays, 
(3) Revisiting outcrops for exploration and exploitation, 
(4) Discovering future giants, 
(5) Creative mind for difficult oil and gas, 
(6) Innovations in exploration technology, 
(7) Bridging the energy gap: Alternate resources, and 
(8) Exploring deeper pays and basement. The conference was attended by more than 500 delegates including around 30 over sea delegates from USA, UK, Canada, Russia and Australia. 
 
There were nine key note addresses, twelve invited lectures, fourteen oral presentations and ninety nine poster presentations covering all the sub-themes of the conference. In addition to scientific deliberations a quiz competition was held for students on first day of the conference. Further, the students who had submitted papers on the themes, viz. Role of field geology in hydrocarbon exploration, Reservoir Geology and Sedimentary modeling, were invited and financially supported by the APG. Additionally, a separate session was held on Academia Industry interface which was chaired by Shri D. K. Pande, Director (Exploration), ONGC and was attended by distinguished academicians and leaders from the oil industry. Following decisions were taken during the meeting: 

(1) APG should act as a nodal agency for providing courses related to petroleum geosciences, 
(2) The petroleum industry should contribute developing industry related syllabi for post graduate courses, and (3) Industry should contribute by providing faculties for taking up 3-6 months courses in the universities. 
  
The APG also organized four pre-conference short courses on the topics: 

(1) Reservoir Geology (Faculty: Dr John Kaldi, University of Adelaide, Australia), 
(2) Balancing Structure Cross Sections – An Essential Tool for Hydrocarbon Exploration (Faculty: Dr. D. K. Mukhopadhyay, IIT, Roorkee), 
(3) Extensional Basins: “Back to Basics” Course to find more Oil and Gas (Faculty: Dr John R. Conolly, Chairman, Rawson Resources Ltd., Australia, Dr David Hobday, Advisor, Molopo, Australia and Shri C. Mahapatra, GEOPIC, ONGC, India) and 
(4) Sequence Stratigraphy : Principles and Applications (Faculty: Dr Octavian Catuneanu, University of Alberta). 
 
Fourteen exhibitors participated in the conference. The best exhibitors award was shared by ONGC and Schlumberger Ltd. The best oral and poster presentation awards were given to Mr Sourab Saha of IIT, Mumbai and Mr J. K. Samal of ONGC, respectively. In the student’s category, the first prize was given to Miss Lorela Cornelius, Miss Rupsa Bose both of IIT, Roorkee and Mr Deepak Goswami of DBS PG College, Dehradun under the category Role of Field Geology, Reservoir Geology and Sedimentary Modeling, respectively. The life time achievement award was bestowed on Shri P. K. Chandra, Former Vice Chairman ONGC which carried a cash prize of Rupees two lakhs, a silver plaque and a citation. During the conference three books entitled “Sequence Stratigraphy: Rewarding Concepts for Hydrocarbon Exploration and Development (Authored by Shri R. S. Bansal and R. N. Chakraborty, ONGC), “Geological Settings and Petroleum Systems of India’s East Coast Offshore Basins” (Authored by Shri Ravi Bastia, Reliance Industries Ltd.) and “Structural Geology for Petroleum Geoscientists” (Authored by Prof. D. K. Mukhopadhyay, IIT, Roorkee) were released. 
During the valedictory function while appreciating the efforts put in by the outgoing executive body of the APG, a new executive body nominated by the Advisory Council was announced by Shri James Peters, Secretary which comprises of:

1. Shri Jokhan Ram, ONGC, – President
2. Shri D. P. Sahasrabudhe, ONGC, - Vice President
3. Shri James Peters, ONGC, – Vice President
4. Shri Anand Sahu, logy), ONGC, - Secretary
5. Dr Jagmohan Singh, ONGC, – Joint Secretary 
6. Dr A. S. Kale, ONGC, – Treasurer
7. Dr S. S. Rathore, ONGC, – Editor

The next APG conference will be held sometime in September-October 2008. 

Photogallery

Dr Theo Kortekaas, President European Association of Geologists and Engineers and Shri R. S. Sharma, CMD, ONGC inaugurating the Exhibition.	Shri Jokhan Ram, President, APG lighting the lamp during inaugural function of Exhibition. Also seen in the picture is Dr Joseph Lambiase, Vice President, Asia Pacific Region of AAPG and Dr James Peters, Vice President, APG.
Shri R. S. Sharma, CMD, ONGC receiving the Chief Guest Hon. Shri Digambar Kamat, Minister of Power, Govt. of Goa. Shri D. K. Pande, Director (Expl.) accompanying the Chief Guest.	The Chief Guest with Shri Jokhan Ram, President, APG, Dr James Peters, Vice President, APG and other dignitaries of ONGC.
A scene from the inaugural session	CMD, ONGC receiving the Chief Guest
Valedictory function	Shri P. K. Chandra, Former Vice Chairman, ONGC receiving the life time achievement award from the Chief Guest.
Academia-Industry Interface meet	Prof. N. P. Zapivalov from Russian Academy of Natural Sciences releasing the book on Sequence Stratigraphy written by Shri R. S. Bansal, Chief Geologist of ONGC.
Shri D. K. Pande, Director (Expl.) welcoming Dr Joseph Lambaise, Vice President, Asia Pacific Region of AAPG.	A view from the exhibition
Quiz competition for school children in progress	Guests enjoying Indian classical dance
Ms Nandita Puri, an exponent of Indian classical dancer, enthralling the audience.