Welcome to URTeC

Dear Colleague:

On behalf of the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTeC), it’s Sponsoring and Supporting Organizations and Technical Program Committee, we welcome you to the fourth edition of URTeC, the preeminent global event in unconventional resources. This year's offering has a high number of papers (601) as well as several plenary and special sessions to highlight recent and emerging technologies in unconventional resources. Topics include geology, geophysics, geochemistry, petrophysics, drilling engineering, production engineering, well stimulation, reservoir engineering, HSE and material science.

The Sponsoring Organizations — the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) recognize and appreciate that the current economic climate has greatly affected the exploration and exploitation of unconventional resources, but the potential contribution of these resources has never been higher. The technologies developed today to explore and exploit unconventional resources will define the hydrocarbon extraction industry of tomorrow.

This year, we have expanded our collaborations with the addition of several Supporting Organizations including the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), Association for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME), Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (SPEE), Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts (SPWLA) and the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS). These important groups bring both depth and breadth to the technical base of URTeC and we welcome their collaboration and contributions for 2016 and beyond.

For URTeC 2016 we have the following program and event components:

The Opening Plenary Session is typically the keynote event of the URTeC program, and 2016 is no exception. This year the panelists include:

• Scott D. Sheffield, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pioneer Natural Resources
• Dan O. Dinges, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation
• Gary N. Ross, Executive Chairman and Head of Global Oil, PIRA Energy Group, Inc.

The "State of the Industry" theme from the Opening Plenary will be followed by a discussion among three additional panelists regarding the mosaic of independent variables that control both the utilization and pricing of global energy. These three subject matter experts will present distinct points of view on supply and demand, new technology, changing perspectives on environmental policy and the role of producers in North America as marginal suppliers to the global market. This panel includes:

• Roger Aines, Fuel Cycle Innovations Program Leader, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• Michelle Foss, Chief Energy Economist and Program Manager, Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin
• Mike Lynch, President, Strategic Energy and Economic Research Inc.

On behalf of the sponsoring and supporting organizations and the Technical Program Committee; we are pleased to have you attend and participate in URTeC 2016.

Sincerely,

Technical Program Co-Chairs