Explorer Policy Watch

At AAPG’s 2016 Congressional Visits Days on March 15 and 16, AAPG members participated in 27 meetings with members of Congress and executive branch agencies that research or regulate oil and natural gas activities.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Historical Highlights

When Occidental Petroleum Corporation was reorganized in 1959, its total oil production was some 100 barrels per day. By the time Moammar Gaddaffi nationalized the industry in 1969, Oxy Libya, the wholly owned subsidiary, was producing 800,000 barrels per day. Such an amount made Oxy Libya the eighth largest producer in the world.

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

AAPG’s Energy Minerals Division is excited to present a strong and informative technical program at the 2016 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in Calgary, Canada. EMD has an intriguing program this year, covering a variety of unconventional energy topics of current interest to both EMD and AAPG members.

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

Lateral thinking is something we can all employ, whether freshly minted graduates or seasoned veterans looking for the next career move. In fact, it’s common in our cyclical industry that petroleum geoscientists have to pivot, change and reorient to launch and advance their careers.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

As the industry grows leaner, its data banks grow ever fatter. With data in the terabyte and exobyte range, many petroleum companies have launched “big data” initiatives to use the vast amounts of information to increase success rates and trim costs.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Latin America Blog

Interested in finding solid science and effective strategies to survive and thrive in the current industry downturn?

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Policy Watch

In late February, the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipment left the United States. It sailed into an economically difficult global market with excess supplies of LNG, sluggish growth in energy demand, and exceptionally low oil prices against which global LNG prices are often set. However, many analysts and policymakers see reasons to expect growing demand for U.S. LNG.

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

In the past eight months, our industry has continued to be challenged by low commodity prices resulting in difficult times for many geoscientists in our industry. To everyone who has been affected and to those of you who are concerned that you will be, remember to stay focused and be optimistic about your future.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Dry hole. Two of the worst words in offshore exploration. When per-well costs offshore can reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars, no one wants to drill a duster. So are dry holes nothing but failures? “Not if they provide information that sets up the next discovery,” said AAPG member John Snedden.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico’s crude oil production is estimated to increase to record high levels in 2017, despite record low price.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

Hot Items

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.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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)

Headquarters Contacts

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