This will be the 14th annual SEAAOC (South East Asia Australia Offshore Conference). Last year's event was the biggest, most comprehensive and best attended yet, with more than 350 leading oil and gas professionals attending from all over the world, and conference organiser IIR says it expects this success to be repeated or bettered this year.

SEAAOC 2008 will include expert-led conference sessions and practical workshops, as well as a range of social and networking functions.

Day One of the conference, Wednesday July 16, will include workshops and masterclasses on floating LNG, gas commercialisation options, the Asian LNG industry and other topics.

On Day Two, the conference presentations begin. As well as keynote addresses from leading politicians, there will be case studies from various majors and mid-caps operating in Australian waters, including Chevron Australia, Shell Development Australia, ConocoPhillips, Osaka Gas, Eni Australia, Nexus Energy, Coogee Resources and MEO Australia.

Day Three begins with a case study of the Ichthys LNG project, which will be followed by a presentation on Arrow Energy's proposed Gladstone LNG plant and the company's plans for coal seam methane exploration and production in Asia.

Other presentations will cover the ExxonMobil-operated PNG LNG project, Oil Search's PNG developments, Darwin as a centre for gas development, and various presentations on LNG, domestic gas, tax issues, project management, subsea construction and tax issues.

Confirmed speakers include leading politicians Federal Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson and Northern Territory chief minister Paul Henderson.

In addition, Indonesia's director general of oil and gas, Luluk Sumiarso, will be giving a presentation.

On Saturday July 19, the day after the conference has concluded, delegates will be able to tour the ConocoPhillips-operated Darwin LNG site.