Explorer President’s Column
By Ted Beaumont
I can remember hearing, way back in 1977, the president of a major oil company that I worked for say that the United States had run out of oil and gas – there was not much left to find and develop.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 01 March, 2013
Explorer Emphasis Article
By Louise Durham
3-D seismic data are being viewed as the way to reduce drilling cost overruns and maximize ultimate recovery from a shale-producing field – and for relatively minimal additional cost.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 01 March, 2013
Explorer Emphasis Article
By Louise Durham
A regional database of more than 3,500 producing Eagle Ford wells is helping to highlight production trends and optimal engineering parameters.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 01 March, 2013
Explorer Emphasis Article
By David Brown
What happens in the reservoir following hydrofracturing? Microseismic monitoring is providing some important answers.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 01 March, 2013
Explorer Emphasis Article
By Louise Durham
Geophysical interpretation is playing a major role in optimizing production performance via well placement, especially in tight oil reservoirs.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 01 March, 2013
Explorer Emphasis Article
By Barry Friedman
There is a palpable sense among those who track such things that oilfield service companies will have a better 2013 than 2012 – and the news couldn't come at a better time.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 01 March, 2013
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 28 February, 2013
Bulletin Article
Characterization of oil shale kerogen and organic residues remaining in postpyrolysis spent shale is critical to the understanding of the oil generation process and approaches to dealing with issues related to spent shale. The chemical structure of organic matter in raw oil shale and spent shale samples was examined in this study using advanced solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Oil shale was collected from Mahogany zone outcrops in the Piceance Basin. Five samples were analyzed: (1) raw oil shale, (2) isolated kerogen, (3) oil shale extracted with chloroform, (4) oil shale retorted in an open system at 500C to mimic surface retorting, and (5) oil shale retorted in a closed system at 360C to simulate in-situ retorting. The NMR methods applied included quantitative direct polarization with magic-angle spinning at 13 kHz, cross polarization with total sideband suppression, dipolar dephasing, CHn selection, 13C chemical shift anisotropy filtering, and 1H-13C long-range recoupled dipolar dephasing. The NMR results showed that, relative to the raw oil shale, (1) bitumen extraction and kerogen isolation by demineralization removed some oxygen-containing and alkyl moieties; (2) unpyrolyzed samples had low aromatic condensation; (3) oil shale pyrolysis removed aliphatic moieties, leaving behind residues enriched in aromatic carbon; and (4) oil shale retorted in an open system at 500C contained larger aromatic clusters and more protonated aromatic moieties than oil shale retorted in a closed system at 360C, which contained more total aromatic carbon with a wide range of cluster sizes.
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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 28 February, 2013
Bulletin GeoHorizon
The American Association of Petroleum Geologists sponsored a Hedberg Research Conference on Enhanced Geothermal Systems in Napa, California, March 18 to 23, 2011. The workshop was attended by 67 participants from 10 different countries: United States, Australia, Austria, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Norway.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 28 February, 2013
Bulletin E-P Note
Although conventional reservoirs dominate the Bohai Basin, China, a new type of sandstone reservoir also exists in the Dongpu depression that has a low matrix porosity (tight) in which natural fractures govern both permeability and porosity. These fractured sandstones are located on a structurally modified buried hill underlying Paleogene mudstones, and are truncated along an angular unconformity. The fractured sandstone oils of the Triassic Liujiagou, Heshanggou, and Ermaying Formations are derived from the Paleogene Shahejie Formation, which reached peak oil generation and expulsion during the Oligocene to early Miocene (32.8–15.6 Ma). Gas was generated primarily during the Paleogene from Carboniferous and Permian coals. Petrographic evidence suggests that oil and gas emplacement followed the compaction and cementation of the Triassic sandstone reservoirs. Fluid inclusion evidence and burial history analysis suggest that fractures developed before oil emplacement but may have coincided with peak gas generation, which suggests that oil and gas mainly migrated and accumulated in fractures.
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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 28 February, 2013