Publications

Explorer Director’s Corner By David Curtiss

And Suddenly, Energy Security is an Urgent Global Concern

As we watched the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign nation, amid tremendous suffering and grievous loss of human life – in an instant, the balance of power that had defined central and western Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall was shattered. And this reality – Russia’s prominence as an energy supplier – shifted the topic of energy security firmly into the spotlight, both in Europe and across the globe.

Added on 01 April, 2022

Explorer Article By Nicole Wagoner

AAPG Women’s Network Accepting 2022-24 Officer Nominations

I have had the privilege of serving as one of the AAPG Women’s Network co-chairs since 2020 and it has been a pleasure to watch the network grow over these last two years. In that time, our membership has grown from fewer than 100 to nearly 800 members. This growth can be attributed to the numerous opportunities our team has developed for the AAPG community, including technical training, career development, mentoring, networking and much more.

Added on 01 April, 2022

Explorer Article By Barry Friedman

Is It Time to Resurrect the Lost Art of Conventional Exploration?

These days, more uncertain than the price of gas, especially with the announcement last month from the administration to ban the import of Russian oil and gas, combined with the European Union’s decision to cut imports by 80 percent, is the question of whether the world will get the energy it needs – and who will provide it. To that end, it’s worth considering what conventional oil and gas reservoirs here in America can be drilled and placed online quickly to help fill that need.

Added on 01 April, 2022

Explorer Article By David Brown

Developing Tight Oil Resources in the Middle East

When the International Petroleum Technology Conference comes to Saudi Arabia in February, the technical program will include a significant look at both unconventional oil and gas and conventional tight oil in the Middle East. Those are two different concepts in the region and the distinctions are important. The Middle East holds a large conventional tight oil resource, now emerging as a serious focus for development. With so much recent attention devoted to unconventional resources, conventional tight oil could be considered an overlooked sibling.

Added on 01 February, 2022

Explorer Article By Robert Shoup

You Can’t Fool Mother Nature

I recently had the opportunity to spend several months with a number of college students. I was shocked to learn that many of them did not understand the principal of supply and demand. The law of supply and demand is immutable. Because oil is a global commodity, it is subject to the law of supply and demand.

Added on 01 February, 2022

Explorer President’s Column By Gretchen Gillis

The Science of Change and Adaptability

Listening to “You Are My Life/Enta Omri” as I write prompted me to think about how much I love what I do, including past and future travel and the evolving energy industry. Late last year, I spent two weeks in Saudi Arabia, meeting with exploration geoscientists. The trip was made more special by seeing geoscience facilities that were built after my last visit and by interacting with young professionals. This environment of constant change reminds me that geoscientists are the people who advance a science that involves lots of change. Our adaptability is essential to our careers and to our existence as humans who use energy every day.

Added on 01 January, 2022

Explorer Historical Highlights By Henry S. Pettingill,Paul Weimer,Rocky Roden

Making It All Work

Before unconventional resources became prevalent in the global petroleum supply, deepwater exploration and development was a significant focus for many larger companies. For deepwater activities to succeed, the petroleum industry was forced to merge its above-ground concerns with the below-ground geoscience and engineering disciplines.

Added on 01 January, 2022

Explorer Article By David Brown

2021 Marked by Oil Price Recovery, Industry Transformation

Producers finally got some relief in 2021. Oil and gas prices recovered from their pandemic lows and remained at high levels through most of the year, as increased production could not keep pace with a global demand recovery. It was a year when higher prices helped energy producers strengthen their balance sheets and improve their bottom lines.

Added on 01 January, 2022

Explorer Article By Barry Friedman

What Role Will Super-Giant Fields Play in the World’s Future Energy Mix?

Super-giant oil fields, by definition, are those fields containing at least 5 billion barrels of known recoverable crude oil or gas. It is believed they account for up the 40 percent of the world’s petroleum reserves, so their collective health – how much energy is being created at present, as well as how much can be – will play an oversized role in meeting the world’s future energy needs. “The interest in future oil supply waxes and wanes depending on price and supply, and these days climate takes up all the discussion about energy supply,” said Richard S. Bishop, past AAPG president and currently an international oil and gas consultant based in Houston.

Added on 01 December, 2021

Explorer Historical Highlights By Michael Morton

Where Geologists Fear to Tread

To most outsiders in the 1950s, the Buraimi Affair was a passing curiosity, a faraway squabble about territorial rights in a remote corner of southeast Arabia known as the Buraimi Oasis. The British government backed its protégés, Abu Dhabi and Oman, against Saudi Arabia, while the United States government took a mediating role. However, as the Time magazine report suggested, there was another aspect to the dispute: it was rumoured that Buraimi was “floating on a pool of oil.”

Added on 01 October, 2021

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