“Future Approaches in Subsurface Chemistry and Physics” on 13th-15th November 2007
More than 60 leading scientists met at Shell in Rijswijk, The Netherlands this week to discuss new applications of chemistry and physics in the subsurface.
The 2007 symposium brought 30 independent researchers and scientists from leading universities and institutes in more than 10 countries, together with Shell scientists and technical experts. In an intimate and collegial setting, attendees considered subsurface approaches boosting oil recovery, enabling the sequestration of CO2 and H2S, and findings and utilization of unconventional oil and gas deposits.
Building on the success of last year’s symposium – which yielded numerous cooperative projects and patent investments – this collaborative event examined approaches to technologies that could help economically produce tomorrow’s energy from challenging hydrocarbons in a CO2-constrained world.
Why this topic? Because the world’s energy needs could increase by half in about 25 years - that is the equivalent of perhaps 100 million barrels of oil extra a day. This must be managed together with cutting the carbon dioxide emissions from energy. At Shell we want to leverage our technical capabilities to:
- Create platforms for long-term growth that address society’s future energy needs and respond to the challenges posed by climate change,
- Maximise the recovery of oil and gas from existing resources, and unlock new resources, and provide new, cleaner and greener transport fuels.
To encourage collaboration, the conference was closed to the public. The format was a majority of presentations by academics and scientists, as well as a handful of presentations by Shell researchers. The numbers of participants was limited in order to allow discussions to fully develop. Key note speeches were interspersed with opportunities for informal discussions and exchanges. Theses dialogues, combined with the many resources of Shell - human, scientific and technical - ideally will lead to future collaboration, driving research in new and exciting directions.
Related information
Webcast on the subject Carbon Capture and Storage Paradox: 'If it's so great why ain't it happening?' featuring Charlie Williams, Chief Scientist, Well Engineering and Production Technology.