Learn! Blog

We are now able to detect DNA fingerprints from micro-seepage and to use machine learning to create maps that identify where hydrocarbons are likely to be found. It's an exciting breakthrough.

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

I am pleased to serve as president of the Energy Minerals Division for 2018-19. My main goals for this year are to provide frequent, easily accessible, relevant, high-quality technical content, and to improve our member engagement and communication with the regions, local societies and other geological associations.

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

If you attended the AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in Salt Lake City this year, you may have noticed additional signs in the hallways and slides shown in the opening and technical sessions that introduced the AAPG Code of Conduct. It’s a new element for ACE and it’s something we care about in our desire to foster an environment that allows our attendees to best realize their professional goals. This month I’d like to share with you how it came to be, and more importantly, why.

Show more
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Latin America Blog

Bid rounds, new technologies and the region’s energy future will be topics of discussion at the Energy Opportunities Conference, Exhibition and Business-to-Business Session in Cartagena, Colombia from Aug. 22-23. “We are moving beyond our technical arena to explore regulatory aspects, industry-government collaboration, industry- community relations, plus looking to the future of alternative energy and technologies,” said Victor Vega, Latin America and Caribbean Region immediate past president and general vice chair for Energy Opportunities.

Show more
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Bid rounds, new technologies and the region’s energy future will be topics of discussion at the Energy Opportunities Conference, Exhibition and Business-to-Business Session in Cartagena, Colombia from Aug. 22-23. “We are moving beyond our technical arena to explore regulatory aspects, industry-government collaboration, industry- community relations, plus looking to the future of alternative energy and technologies,” said Victor Vega, Latin America and Caribbean Region immediate past president and general vice chair for Energy Opportunities.

Show more
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Historical Highlights

Since the early days of petroleum exploration, the industry has met diviners and dowsers who, by using esoteric techniques, simple devices or sophisticated artifacts designed by themselves, have tried to fool companies by claiming they were able to detect oil in the subsurface. In France, during the late 1970s, two eccentric inventors claimed they could directly detect oil in the subsurface from an exceptional device mounted on board an airplane, resulting in one of the most famous frauds in petroleum exploration history.

Show more
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Expect a boom in upstream oil and gas mergers and acquisitions activity in the coming months. More than $50 billion in deals are now in play in the upstream sector in the United States alone.

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

Every time I meet with financial professionals I hear the same questions. They are trying to determine my confidence level in my ideas and in my other team members.

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

All eyes were glued on Vienna last month as OPEC gathered to assess oil market conditions and set production targets for its member countries to ensure adequate supplies, but also to support oil prices.

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

While there is a diversity of views about the topics and terms of sustainable energy development, these are the trends that are shaping our industry, and because we’re a global industry it affects every one of us. AAPG must recognize these trends and engage its current and future members in the discussion.

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?

Show more
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)
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.

Show more
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

Headquarters Contacts

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