About the Conference

Dear participants and supporters of PetroPhase 2019,

On behalf of the Organizing Committees, we are delighted to announce the 20th International Conference on Petroleum Phase Behavior & Fouling (PetroPhase 2019) will be held from June 2 to 6, 2019 in Kanazawa, Japan.

PetroPhase is an international conference aimed at researchers in industry and academia dedicated to the study of the properties and chemistry of petroleum fluids and their effect on producing, processing, and refining in the upstream, mid-stream, and downstream industries. The conference started in 1999 as “The International Conference on Petroleum Phase Behavior & Fouling” and has since evolved into an annual event alternating venues among countries all around the world.

The previous venues of the PetroPhase conferences have been limited to Europe, North and South America, but this time it was decided to hold in Japan. The host city of Kanazawa is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture located on the main island of Japan, a nice city (one of Japan’s hidden gems) known as “Little Kyoto” due to its resemblance with the old imperial capital. The Hokuriku Shinkansen (bullet train) operates a direct service from Tokyo to Kanazawa in around 2 hours and 30 minutes.

The conference will have oral and poster presentations from leading experts in academia and industry. Opportunities also exist for scientific equipment vendors to exhibit products. You will visit one of the most beautiful gardens in the country (Kenroku-Garden) and the Kanazawa Castle Park before Gala Dinner. In between specialized discussions, the participants can feel a great taste of traditional Japan: one of the most beautiful gardens in the country (Kenroku-Garden), geisha and samurai districts (Higashi Chaya district) and fantastic food.

This time PetroPhase 2019 is the 20th anniversary conference to be held for the first time in Asia. We hope that we will receive many participants from all over the world.

We look forward to welcoming you in Kanazawa, Japan!

PetroPhase began in 1999 as an international conference for tackling head-on phase behaviors and occlusion phenomena related to petroleum (fouling, asphaltene precipitation problems) from a scientific perspective. It is practically the sole cutting-edge international conference where researchers and engineers from both the upstream and downstream sectors from all over the world gather together to discuss various problems in oil production, mining, transportation and refining. The main issues being addressed are as follows:

• Petroleum properties and chemistry
• Upstream, midstream and downstream fouling
• Flow assurance
• Unconventional Gas & Crudes
• Processing and refining petroleum
• Asphaltene and wax deposition
• Interfacial Phenomena & Emulsions
• Multiphase flow
• Application of the latest scientific techniques to petroleum systems

PetroPhase is held every year at the location normally alternating between North America and Europe. The conference is voluntarily operated by university professors and engineers from petroleum industry in the host country, following approval from the PetroPhase Organizing Committee which is mainly composed of previous chairpersons.

Chair :	Yoshihiro Masuda (Research into Artifacts, Center for Engineering (RACE), The University of Tokyo)
Co-Chairs :	Toshikazu Ebato (Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC)) Ryuzo Tanaka (Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd.)
Members :	Kazuhiro Inamura (Japan Petroleum Energy Center (JPEC)) Hajime Kobayashi (Department of Systems Innovation, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo) Yunfeng Liang (Research into Artifacts, Center for Engineering (RACE), The University of Tokyo) Toshifumi Matsuoka (Fukada Geological Institute) Masato Morimoto (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)) Sumihiko Murata (Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University) Masazumi Takayanagi (Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC)) Hideharu Yonebayashi (INPEX CORPORATION)

Co-Chairs :

Yunfeng Liang (University of Tokyo, Japan) Masato Morimoto (AIST, Japan)

Members :

Jeramie Adams (Western Research Institute, USA) Simon Andersen (Technical Univ. of Denmark, Denmark) Jean Francois Argillier (IFPEN, France) Edo S. Boek (Queen Mary University of London, UK) Walter Chapman (Rice University, USA) Milind Deo (University of Utah, USA) Scott Fogler (University of Michigan, USA) Pierre Giusti (Total, France) Lamia Goual (University of Wyoming, USA) Murray Gray (Alberta Innovates and University of Alberta, Canada) Ryan Hartman (New York University, USA) Michael P. Hoepfner (University of Utah, USA) Kazuhiro Inamura (JPEC, Japan) David Jennings (Baker Hughes, USA) Peter Kilpatrick (Illinois Institute of Technology, USA) Hajime Kobayashi (University of Tokyo, Japan) J. Douglas Kushnerick (ExxonMobil, USA) Vladimir Kuryakov (Oil and Gas Research Institute of RAS, Russia) Raymond A. Levey (Energy and Geoscience Inst., USA) Carlos Lira-Galeana (Mexican Inst. of Petroleum, Mexico) Jules J. Magda (University of Utah, USA) John McLennan (University of Utah, USA) Daniel Merino Garcia (Repsol, Spain) Sumihiko Murata (Kyoto University, Japan) Ryan P. Rodgers (National High Magnetic Field Lab, FSU, USA) John Shaw (University of Alberta, Canada) Johan Sjøblom (NTNU, Norway) Ryuzo Tanaka (Idemitsu Kosan, Japan) Frans van den Berg (Black Oil Solutions, The Netherlands) Nicolas von Solms (Technical Univ. of Denmark, Denmark) Rama Venkatesan (Chevron, USA) Jianxin Wang (Chevron, USA) Irv Wiehe (Soluble Solutions, USA) Harvey Yarranton (University of Calgary, Canada) Andrew Yen (Ennova LLC, USA) Hideharu Yonebayashi (INPEX, Japan) Hongbo Zeng (University of Alberta, Canada) Honggang Zhou (TOTAL S. A., France)

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  The Japan Institute of Energy

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  Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation

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  Japan Petroleum Energy Center

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  The Japan Petroleum Institute

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  The Japanese Association for Petroleum Technology

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  The Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan

Japan is being the first Asian country as a host, while North America and Europe hold it generally:

20th – 2019	Kanazawa, JAPAN
19th – 2018	Park City, USA (Utah)
18th – 2017	Le Havre, FRANCE
17th – 2016	Elsinore, DENMARK
16th – 2015	Riviera Maya, MEXICO
15th – 2014	Galveston, USA (Texas)
14th – 2013	Rueil-Malmaison, FRANCE
13th – 2012	St Petersburg, USA (Florida)
12th – 2011	London, UK
11th – 2010	Jersey City, USA (New Jersey)
10th – 2009	Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL
9th – 2008	Victoria, CANADA (British Columbia)
8th – 2007	Pau, FRANCE
7th – 2006	Asheville, USA (North Carolina)
6th – 2005	Amsterdam, The NETHERLANDS
5th – 2004	Banff, CANADA (Alberta)
4th – 2003	Trondheim, NORWAY
3rd – 2002	New Orleans, USA (Louisiana)
2nd – 2000	Copenhagen, DENMARK
1st – 1999	Houston, USA (Texas)

The PetroPhase organizing committees agree that the 20th memorable conference in 2019 is held in Kanazawa, Japan. This epoch-making decision was achieved because the conference appreciates great contributions of Japanese researchers and engineers with high-level papers. The PetroPhase 2019 is going to have special sessions related to hydrate and unconventional crude, which Japan currently conducts national projects as methane hydrate production and Petroleomics technology, respectively. In addition, Dr. Wiehe, the founder of PetroPhase and the authority of petroleum phase behavior, will give us a special lecture.

Considering the location of Japan, it is expected that larger numbers of people from Asia, Pacific, and Middle East will be gathered as compared to the past conferences. This can activate the interactions among attendees, and consequently enhance the possibilities of research/business collaborations. Besides, the beauty of unique-deep-rich culture in Kanazawa must help them to make harmonious friendships.