EXPEC ARC Hosts Technology Quest Symposium

HOUSTON, November 24, 2009 -- Leading technologists from around the world gathered here Nov. 2-4 for a unique opportunity to meet with representatives from Saudi Aramco’s EXPEC Advanced Research Center (EXPEC ARC). The “2009 Saudi Aramco Technology Quest: Upstream Innovation Symposium” was held to seek partners in the development of new upstream technologies that will help advance EXPEC ARC’s research and development efforts

Hosted by Aramco Services Co. (ASC), the event drew about 150 technologists from 10 countries, representing 24 universities, 66 technology and service companies, and independent consultants.

his year’s event was the second of its kind. The first Quest, also hosted by ASC, was held in Houston in 2007

“EXPEC ARC’s main goal is to help Saudi Aramco expand its oil reserves from 742 to 900 billion barrels and to increase oil recovery from 50 to 70 percent in major producing reservoirs,” said EXPEC ARC manager Samer S. AlAshgar during the opening session. “The focus of this Quest is to find key partners to support our progress in meeting that goal.” While Saudi Aramco is an industry leader in upstream technology development, he said, “We are constantly looking for ways to chart new territory in the search for additional breakthroughs.

Ali A. Abuali, ASC president and CEO, presented an overview of world oil market predictions and talked about Saudi Aramco’s role in meeting future energy demand. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts, he said, “Oil will remain the dominant fuel for the foreseeable future, and it will be critical to meeting the world’s energy needs for decades to come.” He added that Saudi Aramco is “continuing to invest with a long-term perspective and a steadfast commitment to remain a reliable supplier.”

Dr. Kwaku Temeng, director of ASC Upstream Research, served as moderator, setting the stage for the three-day event. “We look forward to hearing from you and exchanging ideas on how to solve upstream technology challenges,” he said.

Members of EXPEC ARC’s six research technology teams also spoke about their respective research areas and outlined their technology challenges. Speaking were Dr. Ali A. Al-Yousif with Reservoir Engineering Technology, Dr. Timothy H. Keho with Geophysics Technology, Dr. Dave Cantrell with Geology Technology, Dr. Ali H. Dogru with Computational Modeling, Dr. Ghaithan A. Al-Muntasheri with Production Technology, and John T. Allen with Drilling Technology.

During his presentation, AlAshgar expounded on EXPEC ARC’s commitment to remain on the cutting edge of technology and briefly described promising technologies under development. They are: the industry’s first giga-cell simulation (GigaPOWERS TM), which uses billions of computer cells to produce super high-resolution reservoir models; reservoir nano-agents (ResbotsTM), which would use nano-agents 1/1,000 the size of a human hair for deployment into the reservoir as swarms to collect information; extreme reservoir contact wells, which feature lateral branches that would extend into many more reservoir compartments and be controlled with “smart valves” that could selectively shut off water and optimize the flow of oil into the main wellbore; and Virtual Near Surface Replacement, which reduces distortion of near-surface images with better imaging models that remove false structures.

Twenty non-Saudi Aramco attendees gave 10-minute overviews of their research collaboration ideas. On the second and third days of the event, members of the EXPEC ARC Technology Teams gathered in breakout rooms to conduct small group, in-depth discussions with attendees. Throughout the Quest, one-on-one meetings were scheduled with the most promising candidates.

“We ended up scheduling 120 one-on-one meetings between EXPEC ARC representatives and candidates who offered the best ideas for possible collaboration,” said AlAshgar. “This was an incredible number, which clearly reflected the percentage of high-caliber professionals participating in our event.”More than 70 requests for proposals were extended to candidates as the next step to explore partnerships for technology development.

“I appreciated the opportunity to learn about Saudi Aramco’s research challenges and accomplishments, and to be among the special group of people gathered in Houston,” said Sergey B. Fomel, associate professor at the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin.

Bob Radtke, president of Technology International Inc., said, “I was honored to be invited to participate in the 2009 Quest. … The courtesies extended by the people of Aramco made the meeting enjoyable as well as constructive.”