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Explorer Article

The Africa Region’s GeoMagic team is the winner of the AAPG Sustainable Development in Energy Competition. AAPG’s Sustainable Development in Energy Competition for students and young professionals is intended to encourage sustainable development in energy industries. The objective is to harness the creativity of students and young professionals to develop innovative and sustainable development projects across the energy spectrum with a positive social, environmental and economic impact.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Geophysical Corner

Data conditioning tools are necessary to improve seismic interpretation, which is particularly important when examining legacy data. The tools typically adopted for the purpose are structure-oriented filtering and random noise suppression. While these methods can help improve structural or stratigraphic interpretations, they can also impact amplitude anomalies if they are not done with care, which can present problems when examining seismic data for direct hydrocarbon indicators. The examples presented herein demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages associated with these data conditioning tools.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

What exactly will be the role of geoscientists as we traverse the difficult path to a net-zero future? Maria Angela Capello, managing director of Red Tree Consulting, executive vice president of the carbon storage company RESI and AAPG Distinguished Lecturer, said those professionals will play a unique role because, frankly … Who else is there?

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Members of Generation Z, also known as GenZ or Zoomers, are known to be technologically adept, diverse, trendy, pragmatic and financially minded. They have a wide variety of interests. Geoscience is definitely not one of them. That worries Claudia Mora, because she is currently dean of the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin. For her, attracting students to geoscience is the name of the game.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

This year’s International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy, beginning August 28 in Houston, doesn’t have a single, overarching theme. But one concept keeps popping up again and again: Innovation. AAPG and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, in conjunction with SEPM, are hosts for the second annual IMAGE meeting. It’s designed as a broad-interest event, with 30 key topic areas ranging – alphabetically – from acquisition and survey design to structure, tectonics and geomechanics. As an AAPG/SEG-sponsored event, IMAGE will include several sessions related to geological analysis, imaging and interpretation.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

People familiar with the energy business know that most existing vertical wells produce little oil or gas. They might be surprised how many horizontal wells fall into the same category. Under the right circumstances, this growing number of wells in decline could represent an investment opportunity. Or, it might become a giant abandonment headache for the oil industry.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

“It suggests that someone somewhere is reading my work,” said John C. Lorenz, this year’s winner of the Sidney Powers Memorial Award, not being entirely serious about why he is receiving the highest award from AAPG, given in recognition of distinguished and outstanding contributions to or achievements in petroleum geology. Truthfully, though, more than just a few have read Lorenz’s work. More importantly, more than just a few have been affected by it.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

An interview with Monte Swan developer of the magma-metal series classification and 7-layered Earth model.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

As drilling conditions evolve with new technologies, wellbore stability is more important than ever. Welcome to an interview with Cory Fehr, Integrity Insitu. Cory and his team have invented a tool that can conduct downhole tests to assure wellbore stability and integrity.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

What makes John Dvorak’s “How the Mountains Grew: A New Geological History of North America” so special? Dvorak “connects the dots,” so to speak, between places of geologic wonder many geoscientists already know. The book provides context to well-known outcrops and fundamental geologic processes. There is still a lot to learn for those who have studied geology for many years.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Houston, Texas
Thursday, 6 June Friday, 7 June 2024, 8:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

For the first time, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and Geothermal Rising are bringing together geothermal, critical minerals and gases to explore the connections between them, either in the formation of the reservoirs or reserves, or in exploring for, evaluating, and producing them.  Specifically, the conference will bring together geothermal, lithium, geologic hydrogen, helium, iodine, and more in the form of technical presentations, probing panel discussions, poster sessions, and more.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Field Seminar
Banff, Canada
Saturday, 11 May 2024, 8:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

Time: 8:00am - 5:00pm Fee: $300 AAPG members $350 Nonmembers $200 Academic/AAPG Emeritus Members $50 discount for workshop registrants Fee Includes: Transportation Insurance Field guide Entrance fee to Banff National Park Registration available during workshop registration Field Trip Leaders Mark Cooper Sherwood Geoconsulting [email protected] Marian Warren Jenner GeoConsulting [email protected] This field trip will focus on the structural geology of the foothills and Front Ranges of Banff. Participants will be able to view excellent field examples of structures very similar to the producing oil and gas fields in the foothills to the west of Calgary and to learn about the complexities of sub-seismic-scale deformation. The field trip starts with an introduction to the interaction between thrust front with foreland basins and the interaction of basement trends with thrust belt geometries and (conventional) hydrocarbon fields. During the 1-day trip participants will follow a dip transect from the undeformed foreland basin, the eastern edge of the foothills marked by the triangle zone, the Front Ranges boundary and end at the Main Ranges west of Banff. Field Trip Itinerary Depart from Calgary – 8:00 a.m. Stop 1: Cochrane Retreat Road Overlook Trip overview and introduction; safety and logistics comments; interaction of thrust front with foreland basin; interaction of basement trends with thrust belt geometry and (conventional) hydrocarbon field distribution; appreciation of scale for subsurface play fairway. Stop 2: Scott Lake Stop 3: The Stony Nakoda Tim’s Classic stop, with historical importance for understanding the thrust belt and thrust geometry. Part 1 of displacement gradient on a large thrust. Most importantly, toilet stop after all the Tim’s coffee and driving. Review of Mt Yamnuska from a different perspective; preview of drive through McConnell damage zone and change in HW stratigraphy.. Stop 4: Lac des Arcs Imbricate thrust sheets in the Front Ranges and Banff Formation. Stop 5: Canmore T-junction Observe complexities of sub-seismic-scale deformation in mechanically layered rocks in the footwall of a large thrust Stop 6: Canmore strike view of the Rundle thrust Exposed strike view analogous to a cut-away of a giant conventional Foothills hydrocarbon field such as Turner Valley. Cross faults within the thrust sheet offset potential reservoir units at sub-seismic scale. Cross faults are arguably part of a regional trend associated with deeper, basement-rooted NE-SW structures. Stop 7: Mt Norquay Overlook Stop 8: Bow Falls Fracture systems in the Vega Siltstone Mbr of the Triassic Sulphur Mtn Fm. This outcrop of Vega Member siltstone of the Sulphur Mtn Fm is considered equivalent to upper Montney Fm. We will focus on the outcrop adjacent to the steps up to the Falls overlook.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Monday, 27 May Wednesday, 29 May 2024, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

In order to support the energy transition, optimizing exploration and production from complex stratigraphic-diagenetic conventional and unconventional plays remains highly important. At the same time, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) poses new technological challenges that will impact both the industry and academia for decades to come. This 2nd edition will present reviews and discuss technology developments in geological process-based forward modeling achieved during the last 2 years. New perspectives for future technology developments and implementation in industry workflows will be discussed and with the additional focus on CO₂ storage and other sustainability-related applications, the scope of the workshop will be considerably extended.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 13 March 2014, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

Technical Writing Triage is a condensed course which identifies the key professional and technical writing in today’s workplace, discusses the most common problems/issues, and provides quick, easy-to-implement solutions for producing high-quality, effective communications.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Wednesday, 24 June 2020, 7:00 p.m.–8:30 p.m.

Join us for the 'New Directions in Automation' webminar. Where the opportunities are now, and how to pivot and take advantage of them. Webinar will be presented via Zoom 7:00pm to 8:30pm CDT, 24 June 2020.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Wednesday, 20 May 2020, 7:00 p.m.–8:30 p.m.

Join us for 'Matching Capabilities and Capacity With Current and Emerging Demand Areas; Building a Business Plan That Reflects the Realities of Opportunities'. Webinar will be presented via Zoom 7pm - 8:30pm CDT, 20 May 2020. During this webinar we will discuss: Matching technologies and companies Keys to Building a Resilient Early-Stage Business Multi-Industry Technology: Robotics as a Service

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Tuesday, 30 June 2020, 1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.

Visiting Geoscientist Juan Pablo Lovecchio reviews general aspects of rifting, rifts and passive margin formation and evolution through time, as well as elements of petroleum system development.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Tuesday, 1 September 2020, 8:00 a.m.–9:00 a.m.

The “Great Crew Change” has become the “Competence Train Wreck” due to the repeated personal mis-management practices of our industry and again not anticipating the known volatility of commodity prices. Despite this, hydrocarbon based energy will continue to comprise over 60% of the world’s energy mix for at least the next half century and of that energy need over half of it has yet to be found! Personal experience in working for National Oil Companies, Parastatals, large independent oil companies, small independents, as an independent and as a consultant have given me the perspective of some of the best and some of the worst of the exploration practices the industry has to offer.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Virtual Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 19 November 2009, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

This presentation will review the results of ongoing carbon storage research in Kentucky by the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) and industry partners.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Thursday, 2 July 2020, 4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

Presented by Kevin C. Hill, Associate Professor, University of Melbourne Gravity modelling of Australia's southern margin reveals that the initial rift with Antarctica was beneath the current Ceduna Delta. A regional, high-quality seismic traverse from the coast to oceanic crust across the Bight Basin has been assembled and interpreted in detail, then balanced, restored, decompacted, and replaced at paleo-water depths. The Late Cretaceous Ceduna Delta developed above a Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous rift basin in three stages punctuated by significant pulses of uplift and erosion across areas >100 km wide and with up to 1 km of erosion. The Cenomanian White Pointer delta prograded into deepening water and hence underwent gravitational collapse. This was terminated in the Santonian when the Antarctic margin was pulled out from below, thus supplying heat to a remnant thicker outer margin crust, causing doming and erosion. Importantly, this established the saucer-shaped geometry of the Ceduna Delta that persisted throughout its development, so that any hydrocarbons generated in the southern half of the basin would have migrated towards this outer margin high. The Tiger Formation was deposited in shallow water in a full rift basin prior to breakup, which was followed by regional thermal subsidence. The Hammerhead delta developed on the newly formed passive margin but was terminated by another pulse of uplift and erosion, perhaps associated with a change in plate motion at the end of the Cretaceous. The finite element modelling of this proposed tectonic evolution will test its validity and predict hydrocarbon generation and migration through time.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Tuesday, 14 July 2020, 3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

A Bacia de Santos é um excelente exemplo de quanto petróleo é mantido em locais remotos, apenas esperando ser encontrado por exploradores ousados com a vontade e os recursos necessários para encontrá-los. Junte-se a Flávio Feijó para uma apresentação da história e do potencial para futuras descobertas na Bacia de Santos O webinar será apresentado via Zoom na terça-feira, 14 de julho de 2020, às 15:00 CDT (UMT-6). Register Now at Zoom

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 19 March 2015, 2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.

A detailed biostratigraphic analysis and stratigraphic framework of the Paleocene and Eocene Chicontepec Formation in the Tampico-Misantla basin, onshore eastern Mexico, was conducted using 33 wells.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 2 October 2014, 2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.

This course is ideal for individuals involved in Midland Basin exploration and development. Successful development of Wolfcamp shale oil relies on complex inter-relationships (ultimately interdependencies) within and between a wide variety of scientific disciplines, financial entities, and company partnerships. 

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

Physics is an essential component of geophysics but there is much that physics cannot know or address. 

Request a visit from John Castagna!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

Climate change is not only happening in the atmosphere but also in the anthroposphere; in some ways the former could drive or exacerbate the latter, with extreme weather excursions and extreme excursions from societal norms occurring all over the earth. Accomplishing geoscience for a common goal – whether that is for successful business activities, resource assessment for public planning, mitigating the impacts of geological hazards, or for the sheer love of furthering knowledge and understanding – can and should be done by a workforce that is equitably developed and supported. Difficulty arises when the value of institutional programs to increase equity and diversity is not realized.

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Request a visit from Sherilyn Williams-Stroud!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

Around 170 million years ago, the Gulf of Mexico basin flooded catastrophically, and the pre-existing landscape, which had been a very rugged, arid, semi-desert world, was drowned beneath an inland sea of salt water. The drowned landscape was then buried under kilometers of salt, perfectly preserving the older topography. Now, with high-quality 3D seismic data, the salt appears as a transparent layer, and the details of the drowned world can be seen in exquisite detail, providing a unique snapshot of the world on the eve of the flooding event. We can map out hills and valleys, and a system of river gullies and a large, meandering river system. These rivers in turn fed into a deep central lake, whose surface was about 750m below global sea level. This new knowledge also reveals how the Louann Salt was deposited. In contrast to published models, the salt was deposited in a deep water, hypersaline sea. We can estimate the rate of deposition, and it was very fast; we believe that the entire thickness of several kilometers of salt was laid down in a few tens of thousands of years, making it possibly the fastest sustained deposition seen so far in the geological record.

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Request a visit from Frank Peel!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

For well over a century there have been conflicting indications of the strength of the crust and of faults and what controls them.  Much of our ignorance comes quite naturally from the general inaccessibility of the crust to measurement--in contrast with our understanding of the atmosphere, which is much more accessible to observation as well as more rapidly changing.  Crustal strength is best understood in deforming sedimentary basins where the petroleum industry has made great contributions, particularly in deforming petroleum basins because of the practical need to predict. In this talk we take a broad look at key issues in crustal strength and deformation and what we can learn from boreholes, earthquakes, active fault systems, and toy models.

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Request a visit from John Suppe!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
VG Abstract

In comparison with the known boundary conditions that promote salt deformation and flow in sedimentary basins, the processes involved with the mobilization of clay-rich detrital sediments are far less well established. This talk will use seismic examples in different tectonic settings to document the variety of shale geometries that can be formed under brittle and ductile deformations.

Request a visit from Juan I. Soto!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
VG Abstract

The carbonate sequences that were deposited in the now exhumed Tethyan Ocean influence many aspects of our lives today, either by supplying the energy that warms our homes and the fuel that powers our cars or providing the stunning landscapes for both winter and summer vacations. They also represent some of the most intensely studied rock formations in the world and have provided geoscientists with a fascinating insight into the turbulent nature of 250 Million years of Earth’s history. By combining studies from the full range of geoscience disciplines this presentation will trace the development of these carbonate sequences from their initial formation on the margins of large ancient continental masses to their present day locations in and around the Greater Mediterranean and Near East region. The first order control on growth patterns and carbonate platform development by the regional plate-tectonic setting, underlying basin architecture and fluctuations in sea level will be illustrated. The organisms that contribute to sequence development will be revealed to be treasure troves of forensic information. Finally, these rock sequences will be shown to contain all the ingredients necessary to form and retain hydrocarbons and the manner in which major post-depositional tectonic events led to the formation of some of the largest hydrocarbon accumulations in the world will be demonstrated.

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Request a visit from Keith Gerdes!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

Paleozoic North America has experienced multiple mountain building events, from Ordovician to Permian, on all margins of the continent. These have had a profound effect on the resulting complex basins and their associated petroleum systems. Subsequent uplift, erosion and overprinting of these ancient systems impedes the direct observation of their tectonic history. However, the basin sedimentary records are more complete, and provide additional insights into the timing and style of the mountain building events. In this study, we employ ~90 1D basin models, ~30 inverse flexural models, isopachs, and paleogeographic maps to better understand the Paleozoic history of North America.

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Request a visit from Kurt W. Rudolph!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

Why H₂ is generated in subsurface? Which are the reactions and the promising geological setting? Example in countries where H₂ have already been found: Australia, Brazil. Kinetic reactions: i.e., Is the natural H₂ renewable? What we don't know yet about this resource and about the H₂ systems (generation/transport/accumulation). Overview of the current landscape (subsurface law, permitting, E&P activity)

Request a visit from Isabelle Moretti!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

While there are many habitats that are associated with the deposition of organic-rich marine and lacustrine source rocks, one important pathway is linked to the onset of increased basin subsidence associated with major tectonic events. A key aspect is that this subsidence is spatially variable, with the uplift of basin flanks contemporaneous with the foundering of the basin center, resulting in a steeper basin profile.

Request a visit from Kurt W. Rudolph!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

Local sea-level changes are not simply a function of global ocean volumes but also the interactions between the solid Earth, the Earth’s gravitational field and the loading and unloading of ice sheets. Contrasting behaviors between Antarctica and Scotland highlight how important the geologic structure beneath the former ice sheets is in determining the interactions between ice sheets and relative sea levels.

Request a visit from Alex Simms!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

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