The 17th IOR/EOR conference will be held in St. Petersburg. The technical programme has now been set and includes a wide variety of interesting topics pertaining to improved and enhanced oil recovery. Oral presentations and posters from professionals representing Russia, the CIS, Europe, and the Middle East have been selected which are sure to stimulate good discussion and a wealth of knowledge sharing.

Improved oil recovery methods have leapt into the mainstream of project planning in recent years as large, highly productive, conventional reservoirs have become more difficult to discover through exploration. Our industry colleagues in the commercial sector are starting to understand that a huge prize exists within the volume of remaining oil-in-place from reservoirs that have already been discovered and may have, long ago, reached mature development stage. Development of ultra-low permeability reservoirs and source rock are also going forward, as a result of implementing new technology. Even governments with which we work are more amenable to providing tax breaks, effectively sharing economic risk in piloting novel IOR/EOR methods which show promise in the laboratory. Therefore our theme, “From Fundamental Science to Deployment”, continuously takes on more importance for the future of our upstream oil and gas industry.

Make preparations now for participation in St. Petersburg during April, 2013 where we will continue the theme. In addition to the technical programme (oral and posters), the symposium will also have an opening session with leaders from the area and a social event to enable interaction in a relaxed atmosphere.

Andy Haas
Chair, 2013 IOR Saint Petersburg local committee