Up to 450 people could be converging on the Odessa Marriott Hotel and Conference Center Sept. 20-22 for the West Texas Geological Society Fall Symposium.
The keynote speaker for the event, titled “Return of the Vintage Plays,” is Alex Epstein.
Dave Cannon, senior vice president of geoscience and technology at Diamondback Energy and president of the West Texas Geological Society this year, said Epstein is a “self-titled energy expert and philosopher.”
“He’s a great advocate for our industry and he really puts together very well-appointed arguments on the importance of our industry the importance of hydrocarbons within our society. We’re pretty excited about having him come out and be the keynote Wednesday morning,” Cannon said.
There will be about 20 speakers all together. The others will be geoscientists or engineers present case studies and new and interesting technology.
Cannon said this allows attendees to learn more and potentially apply it to their own work.
Last year, there was a combined total of 350 to 450 registered participants and exhibitors. Cannon said they are hoping to draw the same amount this year.
Most attendees will likely be from Odessa and Midland, but Cannon said he expects people on the exhibitor side to be coming in from Houston, Dallas and Denver.
He added that there are 36 exhibitors signed up and they targeted 40.
Cannon said there are two short courses on either side of the symposium that will include students from UTPB.
“Sometimes we’ll get students at Sul Ross (State) University and I think this year … we might even have a couple from New Tech,” Cannon said.
“We encourage students to attend. We provide them with a lower cost for the symposium to encourage them to come in. It’s a great way for them to see not only what the industry is doing, but then also network with potential future employers,” he added.
Those attending can find out about new technology and what’s going on mainly in petroleum geology and subsurface analysis.
“In order for us to hone our craft, if you will, not only finding the best resource within the rock below our feet but also the most economically recoverable resource,” Cannon said.
He said there was a talk recently focusing on induced seismicity at the UTPB Engineering Building attended by about 100 people. It was put on by the Bureau of Economic Geology at UT Austin.
Cannon said it is still a “pretty hot topic around here.”
“Everybody here feels it, myself included. It seems like there’s been some work done through regulatory action and then self-imposed action by the operators … and I think that’s the reason we’re seeing kind of a wane of seismicity, especially close to Midland and Odessa,” Cannon said.
“We really needed to attack that problem. I think we’ve come up with a pretty tenable solutions,” he added.
The West Texas Geological Society has close to 600 members, most of whom are from the Odessa-Midland area.
There are others from Dallas and Houston, or who continue their membership when they move on to other opportunities.
