On 12 and 13 October, the University of Nicosia SPE Student Chapter hosted the SPE Cyprus Technical Seminar 2026: a full day of technical talks on campus, followed by a guided geological field trip into the Troodos mountains. 🎙️
It was the largest event the chapter has organised to date, bringing thirteen speakers from eleven organizations to the University of Nicosia, and it was made possible by the sponsorship of Pontem Analytics.
🏛️ Day 1 — The Seminar
The UNESCO Amphitheatre filled up for a programme running from 10:00 to 17:15, opened with remarks from the SPE Cyprus Section, the chapter, and our guest of honour C. Susan Howes, the 2027 SPE President.
What followed covered the span of an offshore project from first question to final decision:
- Nicodemos Nicodemou, Cyprus Hydrocarbons Company — Recent Developments Across the Cyprus EEZ
- Jonathan Rebenack, ExxonMobil — BHA Considerations for Planned Sidetracks
- Aditi Gurudutt, ExxonMobil — Surveillance Engineering 101
- Stephen Hamilton & Pete Conrad, Pontem Analytics — The Design and Operation of MEG Recovery Units
- Susanna Dragotto & Adriaan Gisolf, SLB — ORA Deep Transient Testing and Dynamic Injection Testing
- Guido van der Hoff, SLB — From Discovery to Development: How Agentic AI Can Accelerate Cyprus’ Energy Future
- Nicolas Droushiotis, Society of Underwater Technology — Beyond Degrees: Building the Eastern Mediterranean Energy Community
- Stavros Spanos, Hyperion Systems Engineering — The Hyperion Group Expertise, Our International Track Record and Our Vision for Cyprus
- Alexis Kadis, Energean — Managing Project Technical Risk Through an Effective Contracting Strategy
Subsurface work, well technology, production chemistry, reservoir testing, digital transformation and the commercial realities behind it all — in one room, in one day.
⛰️ Day 2 — Troodos Field Trip
The following morning we left the amphitheatre behind and drove into the mountains, guided by the Cyprus Geological Survey.
Troodos is an ophiolite: a near-complete section of ancient ocean crust and the mantle beneath it, pushed up onto dry land and left exposed. Almost everywhere else on Earth that sequence lies under kilometres of water.
The route took in:
- The Troodos UNESCO Global Geopark Visitor Centre, with a film on the ophiolite’s formation and a guided tour of the exhibits and geological garden
- The Amiantos Fault, where serpentinised harzburgite from the upper mantle sits in tectonic contact with gabbro
- Skouriotissa mine, a copper operation worked since 2760 BC and producing again today, with its massive sulphide ore sitting in the pillow lavas
- The Skouriotissa slag heap, holding more than half of all the ancient slag on the island, dated to the 4th–7th centuries AD
- The abandoned gypsum quarries at Kato Moni, laid down during the Messinian Salinity Crisis when the Mediterranean fell by some two kilometres
- The Lower Pillow Lavas at Akaki River Gorge, the classic reference locality for these rocks
The day closed with a traditional Cypriot dinner at a taverna in Agrokipia before the coach returned to Nicosia.
🤝 Thank You
To every speaker who gave up a working Monday to talk to students. To the Cyprus Geological Survey, for guiding us through a day none of us will forget, and for the field guidebook prepared for the visit. To Pontem Analytics, whose sponsorship made the whole thing possible. To the University of Nicosia and Student Affairs for their support throughout, and to the SPE Cyprus Section for backing a student chapter taking on something of this scale.
