ThEOR-2016 conference attracted many participants and guests, including President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov.

The conference takes up four days, from June 28th to July 1st. President Minnikhanov visited a roundtable dedicated to thermal methods of recovery on June 29th. Russia is 3rd in the world by discovered tight hydrocarbon reserves, and 70% of those are in the Volga-Ural area of which Tatarstan is a part.

The President said that Kazan University has become a center of high-profile research in heavy oil recovery and is always eager to learn international experience. Rector Ilshat Gafurov joined him and emphasized that viscous oil is one of the prioritized research areas now. The University strives to introduce new eco-friendly, economical, and energy-efficient technologies.

EcoOil – a new strategic academic unit – aims to achieve exactly that. The Institute of Geology and Petroleum Technologies cooperates with many leading companies, and the closest partner is local giant Tatneft. Head of the Viscous Oil Department of Tatneft Marat Amerkhanov opined that Kazan University works on some unique projects that promise to be worldwide innovations if everything goes as planned.

Overseas colleagues then presented some of their cases on the subject of the meeting.