The 25th Annual International Conference and Exhibition of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) ended on Thursday, 15-Nov-2007. The 4-day conference which started on Monday, 12-Nov-2007 with the theme "The Future of Oil and Gas: World Outlook" was declared open by the President, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.

President Yar'Adua stated that the rising oil prices in the international market were not in the best interest of the Nigerian economy. "The increase in oil prices will be beneficial to us, the oil producing countries, in the short term. But it is a greater danger in the long term as this will fuel recession and also bring reduction in demand." The President who was represented by the Minister of State for Energy (Petroleum), Mr. Odein Ajumogobia (SAN); said the theme for this year's conference was very appropriate, noting that stability, security in the global oil market and addressing environmental concerns, were key for the oil industry.

Earlier in a message at the conference, NAPE President, Dr Emmanuel Enu advised International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria not to be discouraged by the disappointing results in deepwater exploration in recent times. Dr. Enu said unless deepwater exploration was intensified and more discoveries made, Nigeria might not attain its set target of 40 billion barrels of oil reserves by 2010. He said oil had dominated the global energy portfolio for the past four decades and looked set to continue, pointing out that there was an equally growing demand for natural gas.

"Natural gas is now becoming a great asset to the global energy industry hence the demand for natural gas is projected to increase significantly. Our past studies and recent modelling confirmed that the Niger Delta is gas prone. Thus, the search for gas has to be stepped-up through focused gas exploration in order to meet this growing demand," Dr. Enu said.

Various papers were presented during the conference, with Total being the cynosure of all eyes. Messrs J. Fruehn, J. Arnaud, G. Cha and T. Akinmusire of the Total Group jointly presented a paper on "Anisotropic 3D PreSDM Offshore Nigeria", while Messrs O. Busari, A. Onyia, V. Delhaye-Prat, E. Insalaco and C. Seyve made a presentation on "Detailed Sedimentary Architecture for Enhanced Reservoir Management in Niger Delta, Nigeria." As part of the conference, Mr. Ajumogobia toured the various exhibition booths erected by participating companies. At Total's Booth, the Minister, who was accompanied by the Executive General Manager, GSR, Dr. Kingsley Ojoh; NAPE President, Shell's Managing Director, Mr. Basil Omiyi and others; was shown round by Mr. Kunle Ajayi, an Operations Geologist and Manager, Abuja Administration, Mr. Azu Azuike.

The photographs below complete the story.