14AGEN - Technical Agenda

1 of 2

http://www.spe.org/events/14agen/pages/schedule/agenda.php

TheEconomics,Financing,andRiskManagementofPetroleumProjects

1820March2015
Geneva,Switzerland|StarlingGenevaHotel

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UncertaintyAppraisingtheInvestmentOpportunity

Technical Agenda
SPE Meeting Calendar

Session Chairs: Fiona Macmillan, Palantir Solutions and Madhav Kulkarni, Marathon Oil
The valuation of upstream investment opportunities is inherently risky because it depends on: (i) the
estimation of reserves and resources guided by indirectly measured subsurface parameters with
different levels of risk and uncertainty, (ii) assumptions about market conditions and the business
environment that are subject to change. This session will explore how to identify, evaluate and quantify
risk and uncertainty in every day oil and gas economic situations. It will also review the development of
practical tools and methods that are applicable to companies of all sizes.

EconomicsandSustainabilityintheOilfield
Session Chairs: Cristina Robinson, Addax Petroleum Ltd and Carolina Coll, BG-Group
Among the key corporate and social responsibility themes, the sustainability agenda has gained ground
in corporate circles and public perception alike. Although doing the right thing comes at a price and is
often regarded as an overheadnot only are there social and environmental benefits, it still often
comes as a surprise to find that it makes sound economic sense to build and operate oilfield businesses
along sustainability objectives. This session will explore the economics of sustainability projects.

Geopoli cal,MacroandMicroEconomicFactorsaec ngPetroleum

Projects
Session Chairs: Reggie Boles, DeGolyer and MacNaughton and Gurcan Gulen, The University of
Texas
Direct and indirect linkages between global and local economic factors will be explored in this session
aimed to connect the dots. A broad spectrum of influencing factors will be covered, ranging from macro
factors such as employment rates, GDP rates, or inflation rates along with their associated geopolitical
wildcard effects, micro factors reflecting on end consumer decision making, and finally effects on
hydrocarbon commodity prices that ultimately determine the accounting and economics of petroleum
projects.

ReservesandResourcesSpotlightonRepor ngStandardsand
Requirements
Session Chairs: Wayne Thompson, DeGolyer and MacNaughton and Fiona Macmillan, Palantir
Solutions
Reserves and resources estimates are the foundation on which petroleum economics are based, and
understanding the major reserves and resources international classification systems is essential. This
session will explore the differences in reserves and resources classification under various regulatory
and technical definitions, contrast the specific reporting requirements of the major international
regulatory agencies, and discuss how the financial community views and values reserves and resources
in making investment and funding decisions.

Conven onalvsUnconven onalPetroleum,Characterizingthe

EconomicDis nc on
Session Chairs: Surya Rajan, Baker Hughes and Carolina Coll, BG-Group
The economics, financing, and decision-making for petroleum projects has changed dramatically with

1/2/2015 2:19 AM

14AGEN - Technical Agenda

2 of 2

http://www.spe.org/events/14agen/pages/schedule/agenda.php

the advent of unconventional petroleum. Not only has the up-front exploration component undergone a
facelift as we deal with massive areas of prospective resources, the development and production at
sustained levels is contingent upon a continuous investment program and the need for continuous
appraisal unlike conventional projects. In search of methodologies to optimize the project economics
and to provide a flexible and dynamic system for business planning and evaluation in unconventional
petroleum projects, this session will aim to cover:
Technical evaluation challenges for unconventional resources
Limitations of traditional (conventional oil and gas) economic techniques applied to unconventionals
Unique aspects of project planning in unconventional reservoirs
Integrated economic evaluation and assessment techniques for unconventional projects

Fiscal
Session Chairs: Cristina Robinson, Addax Petroleum Ltd
In this session we will examine the levers available to Governments in attracting investment through
their fiscal regimes. We will discuss the key drivers from both company and Government perspective.
We will discuss what companies are doing to evaluate fiscal regime uncertainty and consider how stable
we can expect countries to be. Finally we will discuss the potential influence that companies may have
over fiscal terms in different jurisdictions.
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1/2/2015 2:19 AM