Explorer Emphasis Article

Do super basins have a role in sustainable development? The short answer is, Yes. Super basins can be part of a sustainable energy and environmental future for the planet. A more complex answer is: It depends on how you define “sustainable.” In the view of the oil and gas industry, sustainability has an economic component and an environmental component. Hydrocarbon-based energy is essential for a sustainable world economy in that view, and it will be for a long time to come.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

The oil and gas industry struggles with some unique challenges in working toward a sustainable future. In a way, the social aspect of those challenges comes down to two words: Prove it. Often accused of being part of the problem in sustainability and not part of the solution, the oil industry faces an unusually high burden of proof when it seeks environmental trust from the public.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Division Column DPA

I sit down to write this fresh from an argument with my roommate. It’s maybe not the best circumstance in which to write an article, but we rarely find ourselves in the best circumstances for anything these days. Similarly, the argument was not unique; we disagree about something at least once a week and it usually resolves with us cooling off in separate rooms of the house. We normally exist in separate rooms anyway, usually only crossing paths at mealtime or intermittently during the evening. She has her schedule and I have mine. Maybe you have a relationship with someone like that in your life.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Historical Highlights

At age 13, when I first began working summers at Davis Oil Company, little did I know I was beginning an amazing adventure alongside one of the smartest and most fearless men that I would ever know. He was one of the legendary oil men and business titans of the 20th century. Here is my story of “Big Marv,” my father.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Regions and Sections

Since its inception in 1994, the Middle East Geosciences Conference and Exhibition series – or, “GEO,” as it is better known – has grown to become the main geosciences event in the Middle East Region and beyond, providing a platform for knowledge sharing, exchange and dissemination as well as an excellent opportunity to interact with major upstream companies, service providers and academia. The GEO Executive Committee made the decision to postpone the event to Oct. 4-7, 2021 in response to the global spread of COVID-19.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

The North Sea Rift Basin ranks as one of the world’s most famous and indefatigable super basin areas. Like a pugnacious prize fighter, it’s been counted out again and again, only to rebound and punch back into contention. While some explorers consider the North Sea province highly mature, and even late life, it continues to produce plenty of oil and gas. And discoveries.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Since the 1968 discovery of Prudhoe Bay, North America’s largest conventional oilfield, operators have been drawn to Alaska’s remote and mysterious North Slope in search of other giants. The discovery of the Alpine Field in 1994 fueled interest in stratigraphic traps, and the region continues to yield significant discoveries, such as the 2013 Pikka Field, just east of the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska. Considering all the territory that stretches north of the Brooks Range, one area –the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – has remained off-limits to exploration since its creation in the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. Despite decades of heated debate between the industry and environmentalists on whether to allow exploration of the area – which is widely believed to be rich in hydrocarbons and a major step toward energy independence – it has remained closed. Until now.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

“All this will create jobs.” That was Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette at the recent 2020 Natural Gas Summit, hosted by the Department of Energy at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. in late September, talking about the re-emergence of the oil and gas sector in the coming months and years. Energy leaders, as well as global LNG market representatives, were on hand, virtually, to hear and to share updates, projections and laments on today’s energy landscape. Featuring Director of the White House National Economic Council Larry Kudlow, the seminar reiterated the importance of domestic natural gas production to America’s economy, specifically as it related to job growth, the abundance and reliability of natural gas and its affordability, as well as the deleterious effects of government interference and regulation.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer President’s Column

If you remember from my last column, this is a three-part series on my thoughts on science, membership and budget. I talked about budget last time … we are still working on it, so let’s talk science. The reason most professionals join AAPG is for access to science. That’s not just my opinion – it’s what members tell us. AAPG is very good about disseminating the work of our members and other professionals around the world. That’s our mission.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Historical Highlights

Sixty years ago this month, on Sept. 14, 1960, representatives from five oil producing gathered at the Al-Shaab Hall in Baghdad to form the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. OPEC was formally dedicated to “the coordination and unification of the petroleum policies of the member countries and the determination of the best means of safeguarding their interests, individually and collectively.” Public perceptions in the West about OPEC are usually negative. OPEC is viewed as an oil cartel, or even a monopoly, whose sole purpose is to control the oil market. The 60th anniversary of OPEC is an appropriate opportunity to review its formation.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

Hot Items

Explorer Historical Highlights

The Casablanca oil field, discovered in 1975 and located on the Mediterranean shelf edge, has been greatly significant in the world’s offshore oil industry activity, besides being by far the biggest oil field in Spain.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Geophysical Corner

Advancements in processing and imaging techniques have continued over the last several decades, which have gradually improved the quality of the processed surface seismic data. When the quality of the existing seismic data is not adequate to perform an interpretation task reasonably, then the interpreter looks for other options. Is it feasible to acquire a new survey? In the absence of an improved survey, will reprocessing of seismic data be a good option?

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Director’s Corner

Perhaps you did a double take pulling the April issue of EXPLORER from the mailbox. What is this? If you joined AAPG in the last 40 years, you’ve only known EXPLORER in its long-standing tabloid format. It worked well for many years as our advertisers – particularly seismic companies – loved the large format and the ability to display their data on a sweeping canvas. For readers, it was a little more awkward.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

A new type of buoyancy model can be used to understand the source of residual oil zones, both thick and thin, to help determine the likelihood that economically viable recoverable oil resides in transition zones of imbibition reservoirs. Application of a buoyancy and breech model will fill a void in reservoir characterization. It will help distinguish between TZs and ROZs, the first of which allows application of primary and secondary (waterflooding) oil recovery methods and the second of which requires more difficult CO2-enhanced oil recovery projects.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

It isn’t news to anyone that prediction is difficult, especially when it’s the future (as a great man once said). Uncertainty and unpredictability are just a part of the job of tracking and predicting the future supply and demand of energy. That being the case, when energy analysts say that the current level of uncertainty is particularly high, it might be easy to dismiss it as a “dog bites man” story. It isn’t.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

Headquarters Contacts

Susan Nash
Susan Nash Director, Innovation and Emerging Science and Technology, AAPG +1 405 314 7730