Unconventional Energy Resources:
Making the Unconventional Conventional

29th Annual GCSSEPM Foundation Bob F. Perkins Research Conference

DECEMBER 6 – 9, 2009, HOUSTON, TEXAS

“Several times in the past we have thought that we were running out of oil, when actually we were running out of ideas.” - University of Tulsa Petroleum Geology Professor Parke A. Dickey, September 1958

The United States and other countries of the world are endowed with substantial unconventional resources that could be produced and converted to fuels and other forms of energy such as heat and electricity. New ideas are leading to the development of new world-class energy resources in places long overlooked as unproductive and economic research follies. Today coal beds and shale units ignored for more than a century during drilling for conventional reservoirs represent the future of the North American natural gas industry. These new natural gas fields are among the most prolific in North America and are close to no longer being considered an unconventional resource. Tar sands, oil shale, geothermal, coal-derived liquids, new enhanced recovery techniques, and gas hydrate systems represent unconventional resources that form the current and next wave of new energy resources. The increases in unconventional resource production have raised questions as to how to mitigate the long-term impact of such activities as heavy oil developments within a possible carbon-managed world.

The aim of the 29th annual Bob F. Perkins Research Conference is to discuss the geoscience involved in the discovery and economic production of unconventional resources within framework of social and environmental responsibility. This conference is sponsored jointly by the GCSSEPM Foundation and the Energy Minerals Division of the AAPG. Authors of accepted papers will be required to submit a manuscript for a short paper of no fewer than 4 published pages (including illustrations) for publication on the CD-ROM proceedings of the conference. We do not anticipate setting a maximum page limit. Animations or movie files can be used to illustrate the papers in addition to static images. All authors should also prepare a poster for the conference poster session in addition to their presentation.

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