Interview with Charlotte Sullivan, Chairperson,
Development and Production Forum 2010

1. What is particularly exciting to you about hosting/chairing this meeting?
My rather long career has involved many of the domains of carbon sequestration: EOR in carbonates of West Texas; calibration of volumetric seismic attributes for improved reservoir imaging; helping to write the siting and scoring criteria for the original FutureGen project; evaluating and modeling sequestration potential of both regional and specific sedimentary and reactive basalt storage sites; and more … So I have a keen interest in sequestration risk and the technologies involved in geologic sequestration. Getting to chair this meeting is a not‐to‐be‐missed opportunity to bring experts together to take a hard look at where national labs, academia, technology companies, and the fossil fuel industries are in relation to where we need to be to operate and monitor large‐scale sequestration sites. It’s exciting to spotlight what is still missing, and to set up a venue for technical experts and students to vocally question everything. How often do you get to have that much fun at work?

2. What is different about this year's meeting?
There has been almost an overabundance of technical meetings on EOR and CO2 sequestration. Many of those meetings have done a great job of summarizing state‐of‐the‐art technologies and best practices, and have reviewed knowledge gaps. This is the first meeting where we go forward from that point. We have assembled a program committee of experts in reservoir engineering, geophysical imaging, geomechanics, geochemistry, modeling, risk, and more ‐‐ and elicited their candid thoughts on the most poorly understood aspects of large‐scale CO2 EOR and CO2 sequestration. This is what we will explore and probe.

3. Can you describe what it's like to chair?
It is a lot of work of course, but it’s a fun challenge. Canaan Rice (SEG meeting planner), Michael Payne (SEG D&P chairman), and past SEG Forum chairpersons including Mike Wilt in Abu Dhabi, along with other SEG and SPE members continue to provide me with practical advice and good insights. But it’s the members of our phenomenal program committee who are making sure we do not overlook anything. They are tapping global talent, technology, and experience to ensure we have the right combination of dynamic people and underexplored hot issues for the Forum.

4. What would you say to someone who is debating whether to invest the time and resources to attend this meeting?
This Forum will take a hard look at technical issues and risk that may be inadequately addressed for very large‐volume, commercial‐scale EOR/CO2 sequestration. Bring your deepest unanswered CO2 questions and your insights and find the answers and ideas that you have been looking for.

5. What are the top three reasons our members, students, and industry professionals should attend?

• Take advantage of the opportunity to meet with the leading experts in CO2 reservoir research and operations and find out what technical issues of future large‐scale operations worry them.
• Probe the limits of current CO2 technologies and the potential of new technologies.
• Stimulate your own creative technical abilities through frank and vigorous discussions with bright graduate students and experts in reservoir engineering, geochemical and geophysical technologies, and systems risk.

6. Any additional comments and/or thoughts?
We are looking for a lot of excitement and a little controversy at this Forum. We expect the antithesis of the “Death by PowerPoint” type of meeting! In regard to logistics, we are pleased with the Boston venue and look forward to greater international participation than is often feasible at more inland locations.

Charlotte Sullivan, Chair
 

SEG meeting planner

Canaan Rice