KIGAM Regular Training Course on Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources 2018

During a series of regular training courses provided by the KIGAM/IS-Geo in collaboration with the CCOP for member countries, the KIGAM/ISGeo training course on Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources was conducted from 22 January – 10 February 2018 in the International School for Geoscience Resources (IS-Geo) of KIGAM, Daejeon, Korea, with 19 participants, 18 of which are from 8 CCOP Member Countries.

 

Aiming to foster professionals from all over the world in the field of unconventional energy related research as well as to enhance the capabilities of the cooperating countries/organizations with Korea/KIGAM and to meet the high interest regarding “Unconventional Oil and Gas”, this 3-week training course provided participants an interdisciplinary approach to explore the academic knowledge and practical skills on the application of suitability analysis in the field of unconventional oil and gas. The contents of this course comprised a general overview on Oil Sand, CBM&Shale gas and Gas Hydrate. Seventeen Korean/foreign instructors were involved in the course. Four lecturers from USGS came to KIGAM to take charge of gas hydrate module in this time. 

 

In addition to academics, IS-Geo intended to provide number of activities outside of the classroom during 3 weeks of the training course. The course also entailed a briefing with country report session by trainees during the first week.  Participants give presentation of their own countries’ report on the status of unconventional energy and gas hydrate related research and projects. All participants had courtesy visit to MOFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and GECC (Global Energy Cooperation Center) the following week. The half-day seminar on the topic of the overview on the status of energy policies of Korean government and energy cooperation diplomacy with Mr. Jae-ha Choi, Director of International Energy Security Division was held and discussion session was followed with other GECC staff. After the meeting, a half-day tour in Seoul was arranged to visit SAMSUNG electronics center.

 

KIGAM Lab tour by KIGAM researcher from petroleum and marine division was also conducted in the middle of the course. Participants visited the gas hydrate department and marine geology research center as well. The last day of the course, the participants visited R/V TAMHAE 2, the 3-D seismic research vessel in Pohang city. During the entire course schedule, Korean language & cultural class was held for an hour daily in which all the trainees attended and learned Korean alphabet, learned Korean songs and played Korean traditional game.  This enhanced the course participants understanding of Korean culture.  

 

By all accounts, the training course has been successfully organized, reached the targets and benefited all the attended participants. It would be a good base for future cooperation possibilities among CCOP member countries and KIGAM/IS-Geo. The network of unconventional oil and gas should be maintained and developed for further collaborative activities within the region. Advanced courses regarding contents, activities such as case study & field trip for the network are recommended for consideration of future plans.