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Geophysics

Explorer Article By Ken Milam

Evolving Understanding of Salt Diapirs is Critical to Oil Exploration

Salt tectonics may be “an outlier in this country’s university training in structural geology,” but geologists entering the petroleum industry will almost certainly find themselves dealing with the topic, explained Mark G. Rowan of Rowan Consulting in Boulder, Colo. A growing understanding of how they form – especially since the 1980s – has been helpful in increasing their importance to exploration and production. Rowan discussed “Salt Diapirs – What Are They, How Do They Form and What is Their Role in Hydrocarbon Exploration?” at the recent Visiting Geoscientist Program Super Session organized by AAPG and the AAPG Foundation.

Added on 01 April, 2021

Explorer Geophysical Corner By Malcolm Lansley

A Look at Seismic Sources

Last month we looked at the reasons why, as geoscientists, we need low frequencies. We also reviewed the sensors used to receive the reflected seismic signals and the recording instruments. This month’s article will address some of the issues of the seismic source. In other words, how do we get the required low frequency energy into the Earth? The two most frequently used sources for land acquisition are vibrators and explosives. We will assess the operational and cost differences between them and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Added on 01 March, 2021

Explorer Article By Ken Milam

‘Significant New Play Potential' in West Louisiana Shelf

Management with the Dynamic Group of Houston are convinced after four years of study that they have identified significant new play potential deep on the west Louisiana shelf, a province largely regarded by industry as mature for exploration. “Most of our industry thinks the U.S. shelf is in late life, and the only remaining opportunities are for low-risk, low volume exploitation targets,” said Rob Pascoe, managing director and chief geologist. “We believe that may not be the whole story. Our studies describe a large-scale new play, with the potential to be liquids rich and high value.” He said new technology and geological insights are the key.

Added on 01 March, 2021

Explorer Article By Emily Llinás

Long-Term Strategies for Colombia’s Offshore

Last year started with promise for the Colombian offshore industry. Shell EP Offshore Ventures Limited and Ecopetrol, S.A. signed an agreement for Shell to acquire an interest in and operate the Fuerte Sur, Purple Angel and Col-5 blocks located in the southern Colombian Caribbean basin. Noble Energy opened an office in Barranquilla and announced plans to drill a prospect at 8,500 feet on the Col-3 block in the Guajira Basin in northern Colombia. Ecopetrol and Petrobras prepared to mature the 2014 Orca discovery on the Tayrona block, also in Guajira. Then COVID-19 came to the Americas in March 2020, and everything changed.

Added on 01 March, 2021

Explorer Geophysical Corner By Malcolm Lansley

Low Frequency Land Seismic Data Acquisition

For many years the geophysical industry has spent considerable time and effort on improving the high-frequency content of recorded seismic data in the pursuit of higher resolution. However, in the last two decades we have seen an increased interest in extending the bandwidth of our data toward lower frequencies as well. In this series of two articles, I will address the reasons we need low-frequency information, the issues related to its acquisition for onshore projects and discuss the equipment and methods being used.

Added on 01 February, 2021

Explorer Historical Highlights By Jeff A Spencer

Who Was That Roughneck?

Winthrop Rockefeller was the grandson of John D. Rockefeller and the fifth of six children of John D. Rockefeller Jr. The eldest Rockefeller organized and incorporated the Standard Oil Company in 1870. By the early 1880s, Standard Oil had a near-monopoly of the U.S. petroleum industry. At his retirement, Rockefeller was said to be worth $1.5 billion – the richest man in the world. He was also considered the world’s greatest philanthropist, giving more than $500 million to educational, scientific and religious institutions. Determined to learn the family’s oil business “from the ground up,” Winthrop worked at Standard Oil of New Jersey’s Bayonne refinery for a few weeks in June and July of 1933.

Added on 01 January, 2021

Explorer Geophysical Corner By Heather Bedle,Karen Leopoldino-Oliveira

The Importance of Properly Cropping Seismic Data

This study is primarily based on a 3-D seismic dataset that covers 1,107 square kilometers of the deepwater Ceará Basin. For this demonstration, the seismic cube was cropped and extends over an area of 765 square kilometers. It covers part of Premier Oil, Cepsa, Chevron and Ecopetrol exploration blocks, as well as ANP’s blocks of permanent offer. Here we present a broad overview of the seismic geomorphology of the study area aiming at delineating the turbidite channels, as the sands are deposited in the channels and can accumulate the hydrocarbons, which can be exploited for the benefits of the petroleum industry, as well as discuss a pitfall associated with the cropping of seismic data.

Added on 01 January, 2021

Explorer Article By Barry Friedman

A Renewed Look at the Anadarko Basin

'Molly Turko, even in these dark times of COVID and decreased worldwide energy demand, is at heart an optimist. “There is always a light, you just have to know where to look,” she said. And she feels that the Anadarko Basin, a place she has spent the last 10 years of her professional life, is a great place to start looking. For Turko, who has worked in multiple basins in the United States, including the Ardmore, Powder River, Appalachian, onshore Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain basins, said the Anadarko, along with the adjacent Wichita Uplift, may hold the most attractive possibilities.

Added on 01 January, 2021

Explorer Historical Highlights By Henry S. Pettingill,Paul Weimer

The History of Deepwater Exploration, Part 2

During the 1980s, early prospecting in deepwater margins was the simple extension of prolific updip producing basins that were charged. However, the migration of petroleum exploration and development into deepwater was fraught with challenges. For engineers and geologists, one of our biggest challenges was to overcome our collective lack of understanding about the geology of deepwater. We had to revisit everything we thought we knew, one paradigm shift after another.

Added on 01 December, 2020

Explorer Geophysical Corner By Olga Malinovskaya,Sabine Klarner

Benchmarking Probabilistic Lithotype Prediction from Seismic Data Against Neural Network-Derived Results

The past few years have seen increasing interest in the application of machine learning techniques in the industry, specifically in seismic interpretation. Over a clastic Tertiary clinoform interval in the public F3-Netherland dataset, we benchmarked advanced neural network algorithms against standard probabilistic lithology classifications from seismic data, to understand their benefits and limitations, and to check which approach works best under which circumstances.

Added on 01 December, 2020

Webinar By Vitor Abreu

Virtual Webinar

Tuesday, 5 May 2020, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

Sequence Stratigraphy: Past, Present and Future

Sequence stratigraphy is a method for stratigraphic interpretation, pioneered by Vail and colleagues in the mid 70’s, which explains the complex geometries that sediments create as they fill accommodation in response to changes in rates of sedimentation, subsidence, uplift and eustasy. This method was developed based on observations and concepts developed as early as in the 1800’s. Based on this strong scientific foundation, pioneer work from Caster, Sloss, Wheeler, Campbell, and Asquith established the basis for the methodology. These researchers established a new way to correlate stratigraphic units, demonstrating the time-transgressive nature of lithostratigraphic formations.

Added on 05 May, 2020

Webinar By Mark Tingay

Virtual Webinar

Thursday, 27 August 2020, 3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

A Global Tour of Mud Volcanoes

There are over 300 known active onshore mud volcanoes globally, and many more offshore. Mud volcanoes are subsurface fluid escape features in which high pore pressures drive fluids, gases, and subsurface sediments to the surface. This talk will summarize mud volcanoes around the world and examine mud volcano plumbing systems and their link to petroleum systems.

Added on 23 July, 2020

Webinar By Thulisile Sopete

Virtual Webinar

Thursday, 19 November 2020, 5:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.

Regional Stratigraphy of the Pletmos Basin

Thulisile Sopete explores the sedimentary evolution of the Pletmos Basin. The Pletmos Basin is a sub-basin of the greater Outeniqua Basin, is located off the south coast of South Africa and is bounded by the Bredasdorp Basin to the west, the Gamtoos Basin to the east and the Southern Outeniqua Basin to the south. The approach applied in the analysis for this study was based on five selected seismic transects which were interpreted using seismic stratigraphy. These interpretations were incorporated along with composite logs analysis for their respective wells to provide the framework in understanding how the Pletmos Basin evolved sedimentologically.

Added on 09 November, 2020

Online e-Symposium

Thursday, 11 November 2010, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

Geochemical Evaluation of Eagle Ford Group Source Rocks and Oils from the First Shot Field, Texas

This e-symposium is ideal for geologists, geophysicists, engineers and other geoscientists who are involved in gas shale exploration and production.

Added on 02 December, 2013

Webinar By Jean-Jacques Biteau

Virtual Webinar

Thursday, 22 October 2020, 3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

Pressures, Seals, and Petroleum Traps

Join us to hear Jean-Jaques Biteau talk about key parameters controlling pressure regimes, trap sealing at the level of both the basin and the prospect, as well as areas of uncertainty. Webinar will be presented on Thursday 22 October at 15:00 SGT (UTC+8) Singapore time zone.

Added on 09 September, 2020

Webinar By Kevin Hill,Peter Grant

Virtual Webinar

Thursday, 2 July 2020, 4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

The Bight Basin, South Australia, One of the World's Largest Unexplored Deltas. Evolution and Prospectivity; Seismic, Structure, and Balanced Sections

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.

Added on 02 July, 2020

Webinar By Arash Nazhad,Larry R. Davis,Sudhir Pai,Sunil Garg,Susan Nash

Virtual Webinar

Wednesday, 3 June 2020, 7:00 p.m.–8:30 p.m.

Pivoting Week 5: Analytics-Based Opportunites

Join us for 'Analytics-Based Opportunities in Double Black Swan Times' where we will discuss the steps companies are taking, business considerations in cross-industry analytics -start-ups to majors, analytics agility in a double black swan world, enabling the workforce to utilize and exploit data remotely using the cloud and machine learning. Webinar will be presented via Zoom 7pm - 8:30pm CDT, 3 June 2020.

Added on 03 June, 2020

Webinar By Cleveland Jones

Virtual Webinar

Tuesday, 28 April 2020, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

Yet-to-Find Oil Potential of the Brazilian Presalt - Portuguese Talk

Em 2011 e 2015, apresentei uma avaliação do potencial de petróleo ainda por descobrir (YTF – Yet to Find) na região brasileira do pré-sal, utilizando uma ferramenta de modelagem de exploração e um método de simulação estocástica (Monte Carlo) para estimar as acumulações potenciais já descobertas e as restantes para ser descobertas. Embora da metodologia robusta usada, é compreensível que, à luz dos novos preços do petróleo, muito mais baixos, a avaliação do óleo YTF possa ser questionada sobre o quão realista poderia ser, num cenário prolongado de preço baixo do petróleo. Em 2016, apresentei essa avaliação, para preços do petróleo abaixo de US$ 50/bbl. Agora, com os preços do petróleo ainda mais baixos que podem representar um novo cenário de redução por mais tempo, volto a revisar as avaliações anteriores. Os resultados são apresentados no contexto de importantes implicações geopolíticas para em regiões do mundo onde os recursos de petróleo e gás provavelmente continuarão viáveis, apesar dos preços baixos do petróleo, e os rearranjos geopolíticos que isso implica.

Added on 08 July, 2020

Webinar By Ray Leonard

Virtual Webinar

Monday, 15 June 2020, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

Climate Change, Covid-19 and the Effect on Energy's Future

Ray Leonard will be talking to us about 'Climate Change, Covid-19 and the Effect on Energy’s Future'. Fossil fuels have led to a profound increase in world living standards but resulting emissions of CO2 and methane into the atmosphere are a primary factor in climate change. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 has resulted in a significant decrease in world economic activity, which in turn has led to a major, if temporary, decrease in greenhouse gas emissions, particularly CO2. Join Ray Leonard via Zoom on June 15 at 12:00 GMT+1

Added on 01 June, 2020

Online e-Symposium

Thursday, 13 December 2012, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

Petrophysics of Shales

The course will review core data, petrophysical comparisons, rock physics modeling (including pseudo logs and mechanical properties).

Added on 11 December, 2013

DL Abstract By Jacob Covault

Submarine-Channel Evolution From Seismic Stratigraphy & Numerical Models: Patterns and Predictions Revisited

Three-dimensional (3D) seismic-reflection surveys provide one of the most important data types for understanding subsurface depositional systems. Quantitative analysis is commonly restricted to geophysical interpretation of elastic properties of rocks in the subsurface. Wide availability of 3D seismic-reflection data and integration provide opportunities for quantitative analysis of subsurface stratigraphic sequences. Here, we integrate traditional seismic-stratigraphic interpretation with quantitative geomorphologic analysis and numerical modeling to explore new insights into submarine-channel evolution.

Request a visit from Jacob Covault!

Added on 20 July, 2022

DL Abstract By John Castagna

Beyond Physics in Geophysics

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

Request a visit from John Castagna!

Added on 14 September, 2023

DL Abstract By Frank Peel

A Lost World Rediscovered: 3D Seismic Data Reveal Spectacular Images of a Jurassic Landscape on the Eve of Louann Salt Deposition in the Gulf of Mexico, with Implications for Salt Deposition

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.

Request a visit from Frank Peel!

Added on 16 November, 2022

VG Abstract By Juan I. Soto

Salt versus Shales in Continental Margins and Orogens

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!

Added on 26 June, 2019

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