The selected finalists will be invited to attend the conference and the gala dinner on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at the Grand Hyatt in Denver.

For more information, please visit our website on: http://www.oilandgasawards.com/rocky-mountain-2013/
Or contact us on +210 591 8471

PHOTO: OVERLAND AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

The Bakken-Three Forks Shale Oil Innovation Conference & Expo will feature presentations on cutting-edge research and industry work designed to optimize several facets of the Bakken and Three Forks shale plays.

The Bakken-Three Forks Shale Oil Innovation Conference & Expo taking place February 10-12 in Grand Forks, N.D., announced its preliminary agenda this week. The sessions will showcase 100+ industry experts who are currently utilizing or developing new technologies, innovations and approaches to yielding greater efficiencies in the Bakken-Three Forks shale formations. In addition, attendees will learn upstream and downstream advancements in the Williston Basin that are impacting shale oil E&P and logistics globally.

There are three program tracks available to attendees during the three-day event:

– Track 1: Drilling, Retrieval & Production Optimization

– Track 2: Product, Service & Resource Utilization

– Track 3: Logistics & Downstream Infrastructure

“We are excited about the high quality of presentations submitted for this event,” says Luke Geiver, Editor and Program Director of the conference. “Because the speakers who submitted are extremely knowledgeable, we are able to showcase the techniques, strategies and technological know-how accelerating the retrieval and movement of remote Williston Basin crude oil from resource to refinement. We are bringing together high-level oil and gas professionals from every segment of the industry to discuss the latest technologies that will be used to extract oil out of shale plays. This show will offer a glimpse into the next wave of technology.”

Geiver later adds, “We are also developing a poster session where college students and researchers can showcase their cutting-edge research to oil and gas executives attending the event.”

The expo hall has already been expanded from the original estimates and BBI International is looking to possibly expand again, due to the high level of interest. “Exhibitors have identified this conference as a powerful platform to share their latest technologies and services with industry decision-makers who are looking for solutions to the challenges they face in one of the most extreme climates,” says Geiver. “More importantly, these solutions are not just limited to the Bakken play — they are critical to the success of oil recovery from every shale formation across the globe. Much of the agenda is geared towards drilling, operating and completion companies who are looking for new efficiencies to make their process more efficient,” Geiver adds. “One of the panels I’m most excited about is the panel titled, Finding the Next Innovation: Cutting-Edge Research Revealed. The speakers will offer a glimpse into the future of the play, and where the next innovation will come from.”

The event is in collaboration with the University of North Dakota College of Engineering & Mines and the Harold Hamm School of Geology & Geological Engineering and will be held at theAlerus Center in Grand Forks, which was the recent site of the North Dakota Petroleum Council’s Annual Meeting. “We decided to hold the conference in Grand Forks for a number of reasons,” says Joe Bryan, CEO of BBI International, the company that owns and operates The Bakken magazine and has 30 years’ experience in managing conferences. “The Grand Forks community is extremely supportive of the developments in the Bakken play and has shown strong support for new and existing businesses that are looking to get involved in North Dakota’s growing oil industry. Second, the facilities in Grand Forks are world-class. The Alerus Center and new surrounding hotels help create a very positive experience for conference attendees.”

To view the agenda or if you are interested in learning more about The Bakken-Three Forks Shale Oil Innovation Conference & Expo please visit www.BakkenOilConference.com.

By Antonio Garza

Mexico took a giant leap toward a new economic future in December 2013 with Congressional passage of a remarkably bold energy reform bill. Both euphoria and hand wringing ensued as Mexico observers and the Mexican people began contemplating the significance to the country of opening its long-protected oil and gas industry.

These emotional reactions, though deeply felt, will soon subside; giving way to the realization that there’s much hard work ahead and that the road to reform is long and potentially strewn with obstacles.

But there’s every reason to believe that President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration is attuned to the challenges. After all, there’s been quite a lot of discussion-albeit largely of the academic sort-about how to revamp the sector. And Mexico surely stands to benefit from the examples of previous reform efforts in the hemisphere and beyond, namely in Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Norway.

The measure that emerged from Congress last week barely resembled the initial, cautious, proposal presented in August by the governing Party of the Institutional Revolution (PRI). That middle-of-the-road effort, which would have introduced profit-sharing agreements, was judged unappealing by the foreign firms whose investment and expertise Mexico’s energy sector desperately needs to overcome its woes.

And so a new, more transformative piece of legislation was produced by what is known as “the art of political compromise.” It’s a craft that has been evident throughout Peña Nieto’s first year in office, facilitated by the three-party accord known as the Pact for Mexico. But with the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) unwilling to negotiate meaningful change for the energy sector, the Pact inevitably dissolved. The PRI and the conservative National Action Party (PAN) remained at the bargaining table and together produced a reform more far-reaching than many analysts had thought possible.

The approved legislation reforms Mexico’s constitution by ending the oil and electricity monopolies (PEMEX and CFE, the Federal Electricity Commission); allowing private oil companies to explore for and produce oil and gas under a variety of contracts, including services, production or profit-sharing, and licenses; creating a sovereign fund to manage oil revenues; and, revising the nature and governance of the PEMEX board.

It took less than a week for the constitutional changes to be ratified by a majority of state legislatures: 17 of Mexico’s 31 states approved the reform within five days of its Congressional passage. Senate recognition of the state actions and the President’s signature will soon follow.

The proximate step will be far more challenging: translating constitutional reforms into workable policies. This secondary legislation, also called implementing laws, will stipulate the policy framework and legal processes required to carry out the reform.

These measures are highly anticipated and potentially will set the stage for as much as $20 billion a year in new investment in the sector. They must clarify roles (for all actors in the sector, from private companies and regulators to PEMEX, CFE and other government entities) and establish the mechanisms and procedures by which the country’s energy resources will be developed and distributed. Among the details to be addressed are which oil and gas blocs will be developed, when, and under which terms and how costs will be established and recuperated.

Adding to this daunting task is an aggressive time frame stipulated in the reform for developing the follow-on laws and regulations, and pressure from continued political opposition from the left can’t be dismissed as a potential complication.

Still, Mexico has taken the crucial first step toward reforming its energy sector. The arduous work of building a framework and policies that can bring Mexico’s energy sector into the modern era and enable the country to realize its great economic promise is underway. The excitement of this moment is real, for Mexico and anyone concerned about this hemisphere’s future.

Antonio Garza is a former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. Ambassador Garza is Counsel in the Mexico City office of White & Case and serves as chairman of Vianovo Ventures. Online at www.tonygarza.com. Twitter @aogarza