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Explorer Article By Gonzalo Zamora

Can Native Hydrogen Be Part of the Energy Transition?

In the race to find the best mix of clean fuel sources, many oil companies are reinventing themselves more broadly as “energy companies” and including geothermal energy, hydropower, solar and wind farms among other sources in their projects. In this context, hydrogen has recently become very important for most energy companies worldwide and offers significant potential to enable the transition to a clean, net-zero-emissions world economy.

Added on 01 March, 2023

Learn! Blog

Interview with Nikki Martin

As the energy industry broadens, thanks to new technologies and new interest in emerging areas such as hydrogen, energy storage, expanded CCUS, geothermal, there is an increasing need for harmonization of policies, regulations, and coordination. Welcome to an interview with Nikki Martin, President of the EnerGeo Alliance, dedicated to developing a strategic approach in all the quickly changing areas.

Added on 01 February, 2023

Explorer Foundation Update By Vern Stefanic

The Trials and Triumphs of AAPG’s Distinguished Lecture Program

Being an AAPG Distinguished Lecturer, from the very first speaking tour in 1941, was always a prestigious achievement and a source of honor and pride for those selected as speakers. It was always recognized and praised as an important vehicle for the profession’s top geoscientists to share the latest in industry insights and advances. It always showcased geologists who truly were distinguished. What it wasn’t always, was easy.

Added on 01 February, 2023

Explorer Geophysical Corner By Aria Abubakar,Haibin Di,Sunil Manikani,Tao Zhao

How Deep Learning Can Accelerate Offshore Wind Farm Site Characterization

To achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the demand for renewable energy is increasing exponentially, with offshore wind farms as one potential area of investment. Offshore wind farm development requires effective mapping of near subsurface for turbine foundation design and construction, which faces many challenges related to seafloor topography mapping, shallow geohazard detection, structure interpretation and modeling, soil type analysis and geotechnical property estimation, among other considerations.

Added on 01 February, 2023

Explorer Emphasis Article By David Brown

Clean Energy Opportunity Adds to Super Basins Appeal

Energy super basins grabbed the attention of the oil and gas industry during the past five years, with good reason. Now a period of re-evaluation has kicked in. Producers are looking beyond total resource potential to apply other criteria, including economic, environmental and regulatory considerations. Those yardsticks could help identify which basins will dominate energy production in the decades ahead.

Added on 01 February, 2023

Explorer Article By Emily Llinás

Opportunities through Crisis

The Peruvian Congress’s ousting of President Pedro Castillo on Dec. 7 led to two weeks of protest throughout the country, with at least 50 reported dead in clashes with law enforcement. In Arequipa, Peru’s second largest city located 400 kilometers from the southern border, AAPG members Luis Alexander Alvarez and Alexandra Del Castillo took refuge in their homes. Alvarez, a mining and hydrocarbon geologist, said the social unrest directly affected him and his family.

Added on 01 February, 2023

Explorer Article By David Brown

Energy Investment in 2023 Tracks with Transition

Large institutions and asset managers are diversifying away from traditional oil and gas projects, sometimes driven by climate concerns, but their investments haven’t fallen far afield. Those organizations think in terms of billions of dollars when evaluating a potential investment sector. And so far, they haven’t hesitated to invest in energy. What has changed, and what keeps changing, is where they put those investment dollars. It’s an energy-investment transition that parallels today’s ongoing energy transition.

Added on 01 February, 2023

Explorer Director’s Corner By David Curtiss

The Linchpin of the Energy Transition

Last month the world’s political and industrial leaders gathered in Egypt for COP27. This annual event convened by the United Nations is an opportunity to engage in dialogue on the topic of climate change and to discuss a coordinated global response. If you’ve been paying attention for any length of time, you know that the topic of climate change and meetings like COP divide AAPG members. An individual member may or may not agree with the proposed policies or the concerns expressed at COP. But for many of our members worldwide, the topic of climate change and its impact on our industry and profession is existential – it has or will directly impact their careers and ability to practice their profession. That is why we must discuss this topic.

Added on 01 December, 2022

Explorer Division Column DEG By Hannes Leetaru

Orphaned Wells Present Continuing Problem, Opportunity for Geoscientists

The first U.S. oil well was drilled 1859 in Titusville, Penn., and the first commercial gas well was even earlier in 1825 in Fredonia, N.Y. There are two centuries of oil and gas drilling in the United States, and many of the wells in the first 150 years did not have the best plug-and-abandonment methods in place. Some of these wells are in urban areas and can endanger the residents. The number of orphaned and abandoned wells varies greatly depending on their definition. There might be millions of old and improperly plugged oil and gas wells leaking methane or contaminating groundwater in the United States, and plugging them will cost billions.

Added on 01 December, 2022

Explorer Readers Forum By Carlos Girabaldi

Latin America’s Path to Sustainability and Security through the Energy Transitions

I have the honor of leading the executive secretariat of ARPEL, the Association of Oil, Gas and (as of lately) Renewable Energy Companies of Latin America and the Caribbean. ARPEL is a key factor in the development and transformation of the oil and gas sector of our region. We foster cooperation and coordination on strategic and operational aspects among our member companies, and with sister trade and professional associations (such as AAPG), governments, regulators, academia and other stakeholders. ARPEL held its 6th conference in Lima, Peru in November.

Added on 01 December, 2022

Online e-Symposium

Thursday, 22 July 2010, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

All Shale Gas Reservoirs are NOT the Same and Why You Should Care

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to describe geomechanics in shale reservoirs and discuss differences between plays.

Added on 02 December, 2013

Online e-Symposium

Thursday, 9 February 2012, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

Seismic Reservoir Characterization of U.S. Shales: An Update

Projects in several shales will be discussed, including Marcellus, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Fayetteville, Montney, and Barnett, as will several seismically-detectable drivers for success including lithofacies, stress, pre-existing fractures, and pore pressure.

Added on 11 December, 2013

Online e-Symposium

Tuesday, 14 December 2010, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

Shale Gas in Quebec's Sedimentary Basins

Recent interest in unconventional gas resources has attracted several oil and gas explorers to sedimentary basins in Southern Quebec.

Added on 02 December, 2013

Online e-Symposium

Virtual Online e-Symposium

Thursday, 19 November 2009, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

Carbon Sequestration

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

Added on 02 December, 2013

Online e-Symposium

Thursday, 8 December 2011, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

Connectivity in Fluvial Systems

This e-symposium focuses on methods for predicting connectivity within clastic fluvial systems.

Added on 11 December, 2013

Online e-Symposium

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

Predicting Gas Hydrates using Pre-stack Seismic data in Deepwater GOM

Gas hydrates, ice-like substances composed of water and gas molecules (methane, ethane, propane, etc.), occur in permafrost areas and in deep water marine environments.

Added on 02 December, 2013

Webinar

Friday, 15 December 2023, 11:00 a.m.–12:12 p.m.

X-ray Fluorescence Based Elemental Analysis and Identification of Reservoirs in Organic-Rich Mudrocks

Featured speaker Jim Puckette of Oklahoma State University dives into silica enrichment in the Woodford and Caney Shales. In the Woodford Shale, silica enrichment is manifested as distinct silica-cemented bands that contain tests of radiolarians, the likely biogenic source of most silica in silica cement. Silica enrichment in the Caney Shale occurs without an obvious biogenic source of Si or developing the banding and beds evident in the Woodford Shale. Puckette notes identifying differences between reservoir and non-reservoir intervals, including density porosity, clay mineral content and resistivity.

Added on 15 December, 2023

Online e-Symposium

Thursday, 23 July 2009, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

3D Seismic Profiles of U.S. Shale Plays

As commodity prices have dropped, many shale plays have become uneconomical as statistical plays and have increasingly become recognized as geological plays demanding new insights from data.

Added on 02 December, 2013

Online e-Symposium

Thursday, 21 January 2016, 2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.

Ambient Seismic Imaging Throughout the Life Cycles of Unconventional Fields

An overview of a new ambient seismic imaging method and applications of the method throughout the lifecycles (exploration through refracing) of unconventional oil and/or gas fields.

Added on 10 November, 2015

Online Traditional Course

Tuesday, 1 January 2013, 12:00 a.m.–1:00 a.m.

Leadership and Strategic Thinking For a Pandemic and Post-Pandemic World

In the span of a mere few months, the much of the world went from a state of exuberant self-actualization to the most primal level of survival (health, food, shelter) insecurity. Consequently, the world has changed. Shock change due to pandemic-triggered chain reactions, supply / demand and price instability, rapid technological innovation, new plays and changing markets, distributed teams and workforces, the powerful force of social media, shortages of technical expertise, and supply chain issues have come together to create new challenges and opportunities for leadership. We will analyze how the issues relate to the oil and gas business (exploration, development, oilfield services, support services, financial sector) and we will propose solutions for immediate real-world emergencies, together with longer term challenges. In addition, we will evaluate what prominent thinkers and academics have written about leadership and strategic planning.

Added on 11 December, 2013

DL Abstract By Alex Simms

Interactions Between Ice Sheets and Relative Sea Levels: Lessons From Antarctica and NW Scotland

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!

Added on 21 July, 2022

DL Abstract By Jennifer Wilcox

The Role of Carbon Capture in Meeting Net-Zero Carbon Goals

President Biden has laid out a bold and ambitious goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions in the United States by 2050. The pathway to that target includes cutting total greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and eliminating them entirely from the nation’s electricity sector by 2035. The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management will play an important role in the transition to net-zero carbon emissions by reducing the environmental impacts of fossil energy production and use – and helping decarbonize other hard-to abate sectors.

Request a visit from Jennifer Wilcox!

Added on 20 July, 2022

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