The idea of creating a common platform for all petroleum geologists of the country was mooted in 1998 during an informal discussion with the Vice Chairman, AAPG International liaison committee.

The Association of Petroleum Geologists (APG) was formed with the objectives of advancement of the Science of Petroleum Geology and Promotion of technology in exploration for finding and producing these materials in economically and environmentally sound manners.
APG is affiliated to American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), USA and has its regional chapters at Vadodara, Mumbai, Jorhat and Chennai besides the Student Chapters in IIT, Roorkee, Kurukshetra, BHU, and Dehradun.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. James Peters, Basin Manager-Frontier Basin and Vice President, APG informed the house that earlier, it was planned to make this feature of APG a biennial affair but seeing the enthusiasm of the participants it will be an annual affair now.

Dr. Peters cautioned the participants to take all necessary precaution during the field trip as oxygen level in the valley is low. He also informed that all the necessary arrangements viz. oxygen cylinder etc have been taken care of. He said the course has been redesigned this year and participants will get a chance to lay their hands on geological mapping and understanding the structural and stratigraphy of the Spiti Basin. Besides the participants will also get a chance to collect fossils.
Dr. Peters introduced the faculty members to the participants. He informed that, Dr. O N Bhargava, former, Director, GSI and visiting Prof. of Vienna University has done pioneering work in this area and has answer to each and every geological aspect of this area. He further introduced Dr. D K Mukhopadhyay, Prof. at IIT, Roorkee, an expert in balancing cross section in structural Geology, Mr. Rajeev Bhoj, who has done marvelous work in this area using Remote Sensing data and Dr. Bijay Prasad who has worked on the biostratigraphy of Spiti Valley.

Later he made a presentation, informing the participants about the course contents and general geology of Spiti and Pin Valley.

Field Expedition - Spiti Valley
 
On 3rd September 2007 a team comprising participants from ONGC, Reliance Industries Ltd and ENI was led on an Expedition in Spiti Valley by Mr. Rajeev Bhoj CG and Mr. S. Uppal, SG. The faculty for field work included Dr ON Bhargava, former Director GSI and Prof. Dilip Mukhopadhaya from IIT, Roorkee. Enroute to the campsite the Paleozoics exposed in Tandi section of Lahul Valley was visited. The participants were given an overview of the Geology of Spiti Valley and an opportunity to carry out field mapping for the first time in the Spiti Valley camping at Takcha village. The field work was carried out in the Proterozoic to Devonian sections. Subsequently the camp was shifted near Kaza village and four sections were shown. These included Tabo, Ratang Nala, Pin valley and Kibber-Giumal sections covering the entire stratigraphy of Spiti Basin from Devonian to Cretaceous.