West Texas Geological Society
Hosts the
2009 Southwest Section

"Building the Bridge to Our Energy Future"

The Southwest Section of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists welcomes you to Midland and to the 2009 Annual Convention. This year our theme is :"Building the Bridge to our Energy Future." In times of lower commodity prices and economic downturn, we as Geologists need to focus on plays and concepts that make economic sense. We invite you to take the time to join us for some excellent talks, learn about new technologies and plays, and network with other industry professionals. The committee has worked hard to get a convention together for you to come and enjoy.

In addition to our technical program, we will have a short course on Cisco and Lower Wolfcampian Sequence Stratigraphy of the Eastern Shelf, given by Dr. Frank Brown. Scott Tinker, current AAPG President and BEG Director, will be our All Convention Luncheon Speaker. His talk, "The Impact of Energy Myths, Sound Bites, and Dogma on US Energy Policy" is one we will all want to attend. BEG Distinguished Lecturer Dr. LesliWood will be the speaker at our All Division Luncheon. She will tell us about "Deltas on Mars", a lecture that is part of the BEG’s Centennial Lecture Program.

An Annual Convention would not be complete without evening activities. After the Sunday short course, we will have the ever popular Icebreaker to kick things off. Monday evening we will venture to Citibank Ballpark for an informal evening of baseball, burgers, and "beverages". What better way for geologists to spend Monday evening that watching the "Rockhounds." On Tuesday evening, get our your coat and tie for dinner and dancing at the Midland Petroleum Club.

I want to personally thank the committee for all of their hard work on putting together a great convention. See you in Midland!

Lenny Wood

2009 SWS-AAPG General Chairman

Welcome to Midland and the Annual Convention of the Southwest Section of the AAPG! Our theme this year is "Building the Bridge to our Energy Future". With the dramatic drop in oil prices from a high of $147 in July 2008 to a current price of $42 less than a year later, we need to adjust our plans for the future. And building that bridge to the future is the way to do it. Don’t view the drop in oil prices as something bad, but as an opportunity to plan for tat future. This is the time to look at new and old deals, to work on field studies, to build up drilling location inventories, and most especially to generate some creative thinking in how to work in this environment. So sit back and enjoy the talks –maybe they will get you thinking creatively.

Planning and executing a convention is a difficult endeavor. It takes time and lots of hard work which is all done by volunteers –in this case volunteers from the West Texas Geological Society. Even in this time of low prices and possible layoffs, there are geologists who feel the need to give back to their profession. Thanks to WTGS and the many volunteers that helped make this convention a reality.

Debra Osborne

President SWS-AAPG