Since the first days of shale exploration in Canada, CI Energy Group has consistently brought together leading industry experts to share their experiences, expertise, ideas, and insights. Over the years, the Shale Oil & Gas Symposium has become the premier Canadian event of its kind, and it addresses the key challenges and opportunities facing the shale industry. CI Energy Group’s 10th Annual Shale Oil & Gas Symposium, on January 28-29th, 2014 in Calgary, features an unparalleled mix of practical technical sessions and essential business-focused presentations delivered by the industry’s leading experts and thought leaders. Ensure your organization is positioned to take full advantage of the enormous opportunities available in the rapidly expanding unconventional development industry.

This year’s agenda will equip you to:

• Examine the technical and environmental concerns inherent in doing business in foreign countries
• Explore exciting new advancements in completion design
• Discover effective strategies for reducing costs and increasing production
• Learn how to provide accurate reserve estimates in resource reservoirs
• Examine innovative strategies for minting your social license
• Assess the most effective techniques for frac water recycling, treatment and disposal
• Explore how North American experience can be used to advance shale development globally
• And much more!

A Few Key Keynote Speakers

John Hunter, Senior Drilling Engineer, Apache Corporation

Can you please provide delegates with a bit of background regarding your current role and responsibilities?

I’m currently a Senior Drilling Engineer at Apache Canada looking after the Kaybob & Willesden Green areas. In Kaybob, I have three rigs drilling Bluesky laterals, and I have one rig drilling Glauconite wells in Willesden Green.

It makes perfect sense everyone is trying to maximize reservoir contact while cutting costs at the same time. Can you briefly explain why these new drilling techniques are effective at accomplishing both tasks?

With a lateral well bore, you can achieve hundreds/ thousands of meters of reservoir contact as opposed to drilling a vertical or deviated well where reservoir contact would be limited by its thickness. Horizontal drilling will get you more reservoir and hopefully more reserves. Obviously, there will become a point where if your ROP is down at 2m/hr and you’re tripping for kit every 50m, then the economics probably aren’t there anymore, and you may need to re-evaluate your strategy.

Lateral lengths are very project specific. What are some of the things that people should consider before moving forward?

All things being equal, the longer we can stay in the zone, the greater the well will produce. That, of course, is assuming the reservoir will produce equally all the way along the lateral. You have to decide what lateral design will best drain your reservoir and what lateral length will best achieve that too. We have drilled laterals that curve round sections to maximize reservoir section drilled.

In a nutshell, what can delegates expect to take away from your session on Extended Reach Lateral Drilling Techniques on January 28th?

I will talk about the wells I’ve drilled and technology I’ve run, what’s worked and what hasn’t. It’ll be real life experiences from what I’ve done. Basically, I’ll run through any changes I’ve made to improve performance based on what I’ve seen. If the delegates have used different kits successfully (or not), then I’m here to learn too and will be keen to learn from their experience.

Richard Moorman, Executive Advisor, Acceleration Resources LLC

Can you provide delegates with a bit of insight into your current roles and responsibilities?

At Acceleration Resources, I evaluate investment opportunities in the form of joint ventures, working interests, royalties, equity, or credit within projects in the United States, Canada, and several other countries.

Your presentation on January 29th, 2013 focuses on groundwater contamination, which is one of the most controversial aspects of Shale development. Can you please explain why this has become such a public concern and if the fear is indeed valid?

Groundwater contamination is naturally a substantial concern for residents living near oil and gas developments of any sort. In my opinion, the fear is valid. If conducted improperly, oil and gas operations certainly have the potential to negatively impact groundwater. The potential for groundwater contamination is a serious environmental concern and requires a robust effort from regulators and operating companies to ensure contamination does not take place.

What are some of the strategies that are currently being used to eliminate the threat of water contamination?

Most importantly, operators need to ensure their cement bond is absolutely preventing any flow between the well bore and groundwater formations as well as preventing any flow between porous underground formations of any type. The best strategy is to check the cement bond on each and every new drill before even considering fracture stimulating the well. Additionally, it’s important to check the quality of the groundwater before drilling any wells as naturally occurring methane does exist in some groundwater reservoirs. No operator should be so reckless as to drill into such formations without first testing the water for the very good reasons of reducing corporate liability and showing community responsibility.

Without giving away too much, can you please provide delegates with a sense of what they should expect to take away from your presentation?

My goals are to effectively share several important reasons to protect groundwater and to voice my personal belief in our critical professional responsibilities to minimize potential risks to people, wildlife, and the environment while developing essential energy supplies.

Bruce Edgelow, Vice President, Energy ATB Financial, Corporate Financial Services

Can you bring delegates up to speed with respect to your current role and responsibilities?

As VP Energy for ATB Financial, I have the pleasure of leading a dedicated team of Energy Lenders involved in E&P, Midstream, Pipeline, Utilities, Alternative Energy, and Oil Field Services primarily out of Edmonton, Red Deer, and Calgary. We have private and public clients dealing with us across the entire spectrum of micro, junior, intermediate, and senior players.

Foreign investment appears to be driving a large portion of local shale projects these days. Apart from successfully generating initial interest, attracting reliable foreign investment seems to be the other major hurdle. What are some best practices for achieving success?

We’ll chat about the different investment philosophies coming out of the Canadian, US, and Asia Private Equity markets. They are different for their own reasons. As such, the hurdles may vary based on one’s investment thesis (return or ownership model). However, in almost all cases, the individuals looking to attract outside investment must have a plan that is achievable in the near term and a team that is fully capable to exploit the expensive technology to make it all happen. On the flip side, we’ll explore ideas to help vet those who may seem willing to come in to our market and yet may not have all of the needed attributes to achieve investment success.

A number of people seem to believe it is near impossible to go full cycle these days without some form of outside investment. What are your thoughts on this?

The possibility of going full cycle without outside investment largely depends on whether the company is gas or liquids weighted. Again, we’ll explore why it is different for each commodity and what the market players have been able to achieve in the past 2 – 3 years. Can you please describe what practical information delegates will be able to take away from your presentation on January 29th? We’ll take a look at a few producer’s, JV participants, and private PE firms who have transacted in the past few years, what it took to get the deal done, and how things are going since the transaction(s) closed (a forensic look under the hood so to speak). For more information visit shalegassymposium.com