June 2014

Well, much as promised by my predecessors, the year indeed has flown by quickly and this is my last column to you as president. Soon, I will find myself with more time to explore for oil and gas and get back to riding my horse – if he still recognizes me.

Shale is transforming the energy sector, bringing new oil and natural gas to consumers worldwide. But it wasn’t an invisible hand that found those resources and produced them.

I am reflecting on this past year of the DEG with my feet propped up, iPad in my lap, a cold libation in hand – and I am smiling.

Steeply dipping bedforms and bed sets often develop where sediment accumulates and migrates, and are expressed as clinoform patterns on seismic data. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) provides ultra-high-resolution images of the internal structure of these sediment accumulations.

Some members of Congress are again proposing rules to accelerate the federal approval process for natural gas export facilities, although any benefits would be years in the future.

The history of oil development in Alaska is often presented as a heroic tale, but long before the 1968 discovery of the Prudhoe Bay field (16 billion barrels and counting), the industry experience was marked by a great deal of frustration and failure.

The Ayoluengo field, commonly cited as Spain’s only onshore oil field, was discovered in June 1964. Today, 50 years later, the field is still active, with an average production of some 100 barrels oil per day and a total cumulated oil production of nearly 17 million barrels of oil.

Robert H. Goldstein, this year’s AAPG Foundation Professorial Award recipient, said there’s something special about the make-up of this particular award.