Jun 5, 2014 -- The staff of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain (PESGB), the organisation dedicated to improving the public’s understanding of the technical benefits of oil and gas exploration, are celebrating a successful day of presentations and an evening of festivities that marked the Society’s 50th birthday.

Supported by sponsors Novas Consulting, Schlumberger and Shell, the PESGB held a day of presentations (in the impressive Grand Hall of London’s Connaught Rooms) that looked at the past, present and future of the British oil and gas industry.

Appropriately, sessions were chaired by past, present and future Presidents of the Society whilst numerous senior figures from the oil and gas industry presented their thoughts on new opportunities and recent successes in the North Sea, exploration and development west of the Shetland Islands and in Ireland as well as looking to the future as they considered new technologies, fuels and geographical targets.

All the sessions provoked lively and lengthy discussions, many of which carried on into the evening where the day’s delegates were joined by more members for a black tie reception and dinner. PESGB President, Oonagh Werngern MBE, welcomed everyone and introduced the main speaker; Simon Toole, Head of Exploration, Licensing and Development at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

In the face of some good natured banter from eager diners, Simon gave an entertaining and informative speech explaining his experience of working in partnership with the PESGB and describing some of the remarkable work that the Society has achieved over the last 50 years. With the formalities over, the assembled crowed enjoyed a wonderful dinner, catching up with old friends and making new ones late into the night.

Guy Elliott, Executive Director of the PESGB explained more about why the Association was hosting these events; “We felt it was important to mark the 50^th year of the Society which was started by a few individuals as a vehicle for sharing and developing their understanding and experience. Today we can boast over 6,000 members worldwide and that we are the UK’s largest sponsor of MSc students in geosciences. We have kept true to the original desire of sharing and developing the knowledge of the next generation of explorers.”     

To learn more about the Society visit the PESGB website: www.pesgb.org.uk