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Explorer Article By David Brown

University geoscience programs face a challenging future as the world emerges from the coronavirus pandemic – one that could have significant and even dire implications for oil and gas. Educators, mostly outside the United States, are already sounding an alarm.

Added on 01 March, 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 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

Europe Blog By Snjezana MacLean

AAPG Europe University of Manchester Student Chapter 2020 Autumn Seminars

AAPG Europe University of Manchester Student Chapter presents AAPG Visiting Geoscientists Online Talks. We are delighted to launch the “AAPG Visiting Geoscientists Online Talks” run by the University of Manchester Student Chapter – now open to all Student chapters around Europe and further afield. The talks are varied and cover everything from Mapping river bar deposits to CO2 risk in the exploration. Join us for our premier presentation 'Mapping River Bar Deposits to Reconstruct Paleo-Channel Dynamics in Alluvial Basins' presented by Professor Elizabeth Hajek. Webinar will be presented via Zoom on Thursday 22 October, 17:00 London - 5pm Houston (GMT-6) time.

Added on 21 October, 2020

Explorer Article By Doug Cook

Mars Resources for Human Settlement

On July 30, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory launched the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. Perseverance is destined to land at Jezero crater on Feb. 18, 2021, with the most sophisticated kit of geology tools ever assembled for an astrogeology mission. AAPG, as an institution dedicated to exploring for resource commodities, looks to our future in space through the Astrogeology Committee and the Energy Minerals Division. We emphasize the use of geosciences in the development of off-world exploration energy and other natural resources for development in the foreseeable future. Water resources in space, on the moon and on Mars, will become the energy commodity analog of oil on Earth.

Added on 01 October, 2020

Explorer Historical Highlights By Paul J. Markwick

Paleogeography in Exploration

There is something about colored pencils that we, as geologists, find impossible to resist. From geological maps to field sketches to interpreting seismic on those never-ending rolls of paper taped to the longest corridor wall we can find – what more could any geologist want? Our need for powerful software, paper and colored pencils reflects a fundamental problem in geology and especially exploration: how to manage, analyze and visualize the diversity and wealth of information required to solve exploration problems? Early geologists were faced with the same challenge 200 years ago. It was one of the first petroleum geologists, Thomas Sterry Hunt, who saw the value of paleogeography in exploration, and who, in 1873, first coined the term “paleogeography.”

Added on 01 August, 2020

Explorer Article By Xavier Moonan

Record-Breaking Gas Discoveries in the Ortoire Syncline

Touchstone Exploration is the operator of the 184-square kilometer Ortoire Block onshore south eastern Trinidad. The block spans from the villages of Tableland in the west to Pierreville Mayaro in the east and to the very remote areas within the Guayaguayare forest to the south. Structurally, the block covers the greater part of the open east facing Ortoire Syncline which entails Late Miocene Lower Cruse to Pleistocene Mayaro Formation deltaic fill. These passive fordeep infill deposits sit conformably onto a southeastern-verging Early to Middle Miocene fold belt. As such throughout the breadth of the Ortoire Block there are numerous tear fault dissected west-southwest to east-northeast trending anticlines.

Added on 01 August, 2020

Explorer Geophysical Corner By Shuvajit Bhattacharya,Sumit Verma

A Tale of Two Conventional Reservoirs

Exploration of the Brookian-age Nanushuk and Torok formations on the North Slope of Alaska is a hot topic these days. The Nanushuk and Torok formations are Cretaceous progradational clastic deposits in the Colville basin of Alaska. These formations offer new opportunities to the oil and gas community because of their shallow depth, vast spatial extent, publicly available data, scope of development and other appealing features.

Added on 01 July, 2020

Explorer Article By James Pindell,Stephen Cossey

It Is Still Viable!

Josh Rosenfeld highlighted some perspectives on the Paleogene drawdown hypothesis in the Gulf of Mexico in the April 2020 issue of the EXPLORER, a result of suspected isolation from the world ocean during the Cuban arc-Bahamas collision with implications for Wilcox reservoir deposition. In contrast, John Snedden and authors’ portrayed the Wilcox as a period of normal marine deposition, requiring no such drawdown, in the May 2020 issue. Still another concept was presented by Roger Higgs at the South African 2009 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, that marine isolation occurred but that fluvial input exceeded evaporation such that the Gulf became brackish, hence the poor development of Wilcox fauna.

Added on 01 July, 2020

Explorer Article By Ian Norton,John Snedden,Marcie Phillips,Paul Weimer,Robert Cunningham,William Galloway

The Paleogene (Wilcox) Deepwater Play

Joshua Rosenfeld’s article in the April EXPLORER issue’s Historical Highlights provides an interesting compilation of observations selected to support an unproven hypothesis: that the large influx of Paleogene Wilcox sandstones in the Gulf of Mexico can be linked to a major evaporative drawdown of the basin, loosely aligned with and possibly triggering the Paleocene-Eocene thermal event. We offer our observations based on decades of oil industry experience working the Wilcox play, more than 55 peer- reviewed academic papers and one book on Gulf of Mexico sedimentary basin.

Added on 01 May, 2020

Webinar

Virtual Webinar

Tuesday, 31 October 2023, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

Cory Godwin - Float Trip Geology - Upper Mississippi - Stratigraphy along the Spring River

Mississippian strata in the Ottawa County, Oklahoma, within the Tri-State Mining District, are a well-known hosts to MVT lead and zinc ore deposits. They are also important to our understanding of the geological story of the southern midcontinent. Join us for a virtual float trip down the Spring River in northern Oklahoma. We will explore the Middle Mississippian (Visean; upper Osagean-lower Meramecian) strata of the Boone Group as exposed in roadcuts, quarries, and natural outcroppings across Ottawa County in northeastern Oklahoma.

Added on 02 October, 2023

Webinar By Gil Machado

Virtual Webinar

Wednesday, 10 June 2020, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

Reducing Uncertainty and Increasing Chances of Success Using Biostratigraphy

Gil Machado is a Petroleum Exploration Geologist with a Ph.D in stratigraphy and source rock characterization. Gil's presentation 'Reducing Uncertainty and Increasing Chances of Success Using Biostratigraphy', will explore the role of biostratigraphy in the exploration workflow. Several success cases from around the World will be detailed, showing the uses of this discipline for sedimentation age determination, paleoenvironmental interpretation and source rock characterization. Join Gil Machado via Zoom on June 10 at 12:00 GMT+1

Added on 01 June, 2020

Webinar

Virtual Webinar

Wednesday, 29 November 2023, 9:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m.

Applied Biostratigraphy: An Introduction to the Ecology and Application of the Major Fossil Groups Used in the Petroleum Industry

Join us for November’s AAPG Women's Network 2023 Short-Short Course Series on Wednesday, November 29th from 9-11 am (CT) with Dr. Alicia Kahn to discuss biostratigraphy and micropaleontology, largely as it pertains to oil and gas exploration.

Added on 15 November, 2023

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 Chris Jackson

Virtual Webinar

Thursday, 4 June 2020, 3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

When Salt Disappears: Why Should We Care About Welds?

Salt welds form due to salt thinning by mechanical (e.g., salt-flow) and/or chemical (e.g., salt-dissolution) processes. This webinar explores how we use 3-D seismic reflection, borehole, and biostratigraphic data to constrain the thickness and composition of salt welds, and to test the predictions of analytical models for salt welding.

Added on 24 June, 2020

Online e-Symposium

Thursday, 22 October 2009, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

Fluvial Stratigraphy

This course can help you gain the ability to describe the complex and highly variable reservoirs, which are typified by complex internal heterogeneity.

Added on 02 December, 2013

Online e-Symposium

Thursday, 17 March 2011, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

Basic Tools for Shale Exploration

This e-symposium will provide information on which tools, processes, and procedures all geoscientists, engineers, and technical professionals working in shale plays need to understand and implement.

Added on 02 December, 2013

Online e-Symposium

Thursday, 2 October 2014, 2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.

Concepts of Scale: Horizontal Development of Wolfcamp Shale Oil of the Southern Midland Basin

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.

Added on 20 June, 2014

Online e-Symposium

Tuesday, 9 September 2014, 2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.

Fluid Migration and Accumulation within the Mississippian: Why 2% Oil Cut Here, 15% One Mile Away?

Water cut is a big factor in gauging the success of horizontal drilling in the Mississippi Lime Play (MLP). The contributing factors are related in part to the spectrum of producing lithofacies and reservoir quality encountered that varies laterally and vertically, sometimes dramatically.

Added on 20 June, 2014

Online e-Symposium

Thursday, 17 February 2011, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

Siliclastic Sequence Stratigraphy: Application to Exploration and Production

This presentation is designed for exploration/production geologists and geological managers or reservoir engineers.

Added on 02 December, 2013

VG Abstract By Keith Gerdes

Tethyan Carbonates - Linking Tropical Seas and Crashing Plates to Some of the Largest Oil and Gas Fields in the World

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.

Request a visit from Keith Gerdes!

Added on 24 August, 2015

DL Abstract By Tao Sun

Integrated Reservoir Characterization and Modeling with Computational Stratigraphy

As oil and gas exploration and production occur in deeper basins and more complex geologic settings, accurate characterization and modeling of reservoirs to improve estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) prediction, optimize well placement and maximize recovery become paramount. Existing technologies for reservoir characterization and modeling have proven inadequate for delivering detailed 3D predictions of reservoir architecture, connectivity and rock quality at scales that impact subsurface flow patterns and reservoir performance. Because of the gap between the geophysical and geologic data available (seismic, well logs, cores) and the data needed to model rock heterogeneities at the reservoir scale, constraints from external analog systems are needed. Existing stratigraphic concepts and deposition models are mostly empirical and seldom provide quantitative constraints on fine-scale reservoir heterogeneity. Current reservoir modeling tools are challenged to accurately replicate complex, nonstationary, rock heterogeneity patterns that control connectivity, such as shale layers that serve as flow baffles and barriers.

Request a visit from Tao Sun!

Added on 20 July, 2022

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