Today, oil and gas exploration and recovery has entered a period of dramatic change in that substantially different technologies and methods are utilised to recover hydrocarbon reserves from increasingly challenging environments. Where elastomers may have served in the past, thermoplastics are likely to be required in the future; where thermoplastics may not meet demanding conditions, application specific composites may be called for.

This conference will highlight the ongoing research, development and qualification of materials to enable the industry to move forward to respond to new challenges that will exist in the future. We are currently recruiting speakers for this event and papers on the follow topics are especially welcome:

· Material applications across broad temperature ranges

· Cradle to grave environmental aspects including regulatory demands

· Materials encountering cryogenic conditions, in contact with EOR fluids and other media

· Design methodologies available for reinforced thermoplastic or composite materials

· Accelerated lifetime testing to predict material performance

· Polymers in cables and harnessing

· Unique or novel reinforcement or processing of thermoplastics

· Use of carbon fibre composites in deep-sea umbilicals

If this is your area of expertise and you would like to present a paper at this conference, please send a title, author’s name, and a short abstract (approx. 150 words) to Helen Charlesworth, email hcharlesworth@ismithers.net by the deadline of 18 March 2011.