It is hard to believe that we are this close to another end of year, and as I reflect back on my role as Assistant Director of Finance, I feel it is very important to immediately acknowledge the efforts of all volunteers and staff at the CSEG that have contributed in the past and continue going forward to keep the CSEG a strong organization truly fulfilling a mandate to promote science, technology and fellowship.
The CSEG has a long healthy financial history, and the current strong economic or financial state can be directly linked to well-run, carefully planned events, courses, and years of dedication on behalf of countless volunteers and CSEG staff. Financially this year again saw the CSEG participate in another successful joint annual convention in May, and several other continued events and workshops aimed at strengthening our geophysical community but certainly contributing to keeping our spreadsheet healthy, further enabling us to re-invest back into our industry.
This may be the year where possibly we saw not only business at home in our Canadian backyards, but also realized increased business growth amongst our membership in the international markets. I would note that although we observed the price of oil fluctuate, but really hang in somewhat consistently, domestic activity at times seemed stalled, and at times folks appeared to speak with cautious optimism. However it is interesting to note that during all this time of “cautious optimism”, our membership continued to run some great events such as Doodlespeil, Ski Spree, the T-Wave, the Doodlebug, and many other events with a continued sponsorship support well beyond what was expected. This is a great time to say thank you to all those sponsors in our industry that have given time, money and personnel that allow many of these events to not only run but flourish. “Thank you!”
Very recently I attended the joint CSEG / EAGE workshop in Banff, which was the first of what I am sure organizers hope will be many, as the mood was extremely up beat and the wealth of information shared was tremendous, covering off acquisition, processing and interpretation ideas, issues and methods to better guarantee drilling success around the world. In a time of great Geopolitical tensions, I was pleased to see that a great number of people in our industry travelled from around the globe to attend. As we look forward, we have to be cognoscente, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), of issues like increased risk taking and the effects of these Geopolitical tensions, but I am equally encouraged by what I heard at a round table in Amsterdam, where several major oil companies voiced their concerns over the critical shortage of oil worldwide, and their inability to meet targets even eight years out. The Moscow Times very recently commented on how western sanctions could impact 20% of Russia’s oil production, further highlighting the effects of geopolitical tensions and the direct impact on many of our members both inside and outside of Canada. As winter approaches throughout Europe, many of those countries will be concerned about fuel supply and disruptions. It is our members that operate in those countries, that have and will be further challenged, to come up with new innovative ways to ensure a continued comfortable standard of living for folks in those areas of the world. I believe that innovation and those additional advancements may very well come from within the CSEG membership, as we remain financially strong, committed and dedicated to finding oil and gas. Thank you for allowing me to serve this year and I wish you all the best of many years to come.
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