Introduction

The Applied Petroleum Technology Academy (APTA) is designed to provide specialized training and technology transfer for the oil and gas industry. The primary intent of this organization is:

• Develop specific technology training topics and modules of applied oil and gas technology in the Permian Basin including the newest innovations. Only innovations that are actually in use will be included; new unproven methods will be avoided.
• Transfer the topic and module technology to the oil and gas industry both nationally and internationally, through a series of summary presentations, workshops, seminars, or in-depth schools.

Until now, innovative technology was primarily transferred throughout the industry by “word-of-mouth” - an inefficient method. APTA was created to provide a much more professional and systematic way for specific oil and gas technology topics to be dispersed throughout the industry.

Origin

In June, 1991 Jim Henry, CEO of Henry Petroleum, traveled to Dongying, China as a member of the Midland Sister City delegation. While in Dongying, an oil town much like Midland, Jim visited the Shengli Oil Field. The visit revealed that while the Chinese oil industry is far advanced in theory, it has a pressing need for learning applied petroleum technology. Out of this visit, the seeds for APTA were planted.

Structure

APTA is a private sector (non-government) non-profit 501c(3) corporation formed to provide practical training in the management of mature oil and gas producing fields. Oversight of the organization rests with a Board of Directors with day-to-day management provided by an Executive Director.

Two standing committees comprised primarily of board members carry out the important work of curriculum development and program promotion.

• The Curriculum Committee is responsible for developing the specific technical training topics and modules. The Curriculum Committee works with the Marketing Committee to customize training needs for individual foreign company’s request.
• The Marketing Committee is utilized to promote APTA’s program availability to Permian Basin oil and gas operators, and to recruit foreign oil and gas employees.

Why the Permian Basin?

The Permian Basin of West Texas and Southeast New Mexico is rightly known as "the applied petroleum technology capitol of the world." It is one of the oldest producing basins in the world, with a well-established infrastructure of roads, pipelines and service companies. It is also one of the largest basins in the United States, offering:

• More CO2 projects
  
• More waterflood projects
  
• Other advanced recovery projects
  
• Cutting edge of 3D and 4D Seismic horizontal drilling.

The Permian Basin has undergone a systematic evolution from primary production in the early- to mid-20th century to a very active waterflooding area in the 1960s and a tertiary flooding (carbon dioxide miscible flooding) in the 1980s through the present. It now has more light oil advanced recovery projects than any other basin. Because of the large number of independent producers, a few major oil company operators, the extremely well represented service sector, and the extensive infrastructure with a large number of fields in an advanced stage of production, it is a fertile ground for new and innovative technology to improve oil and gas production and lower drilling and operating costs.

In short, the Permian Basin the ideal environment for developing - and learning - management practices designed to get the most out of a producing field while minimizing costs.