Table of Contents

 

It was a collective sigh of relief heard ‘round the state. Two months ago, Colorado Gov. John W. Hickenlooper managed to pull off what many call the compromise of the season – the political season, that is, in a state that has been dragged into a months-long, messy battle between the oil and gas industry and politicians and activists who oppose drilling on various levels.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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Almost like an urban legend, geologists talk of reserves off the Mediterranean coast that contain 850 million barrels of oil and 96 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This forbidden jewel lies untouched due to the political deadlock that exists in Lebanon. Evidence in the form of 2-D and 3-D seismic data has reinforced the rumors, but nothing can be confirmed until licenses are granted to drill in the area.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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In the beginning of student expositions – even before the beginning, really – there were two women in an office: a mentor and a student. And one idea.

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During my recent 11-country AAPG Distinguished Lecture tour in Europe I had many requests for “The Environmental Realities of Hydraulic Fracturing: Fact versus Fiction,” an analysis of the root causes of the global pushback against hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as “fracking.” Central causes of public fear arose in America because of a combination of early mistakes by industry and purposeful disinformation from activists and others seeking to profit from such mistakes.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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Emphasis: Geophysical Review

 

The exploration expeditions in Alaska beginning in the late 1800s trump most other places in the world: The nuances of geology and geophysics required to find oil and gas in America’s last frontier tell the technical side of the journey, but mix in a history of Native Americans and Russians leading explorers to oil seeps, Hollywood investors, sled dog exploration teams, and rigs disassembled and transported by air for the first time – and science inevitably becomes a bit of lore.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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When geologist and AAPG member Rocky Reifenstuhl burst onto the scene in Fairbanks in the late 1970s – working for the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (ADGGS) for 27 years – his passion for extreme sports and adventure naturally spilled over into his profession.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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It might be a well-worn saying, but it fits perfectly in today’s industry environment: When the exploration business sneezes, the seismic business gets the flu. Seismic acquisition companies have financial aches and pains this year because of a reduction in capital expenditures for oil and gas exploration work, especially by international oil companies.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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Colombian geophysicist Jaime Checa, the current president of AAPG Affiliated Society Asociación Colombiana de Geólogos y Geofísicos del Petróleo (ACGGP), is dedicating his presidency, and much of his free time, to combating misinformation related to seismic acquisition in Colombia.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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A geoscience company some have billed as “Silicon Valley meets the oil patch” has undertaken a study over the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania. Airborne geophysical datasets newly acquired by NEOS GeoSolutions were combined with existing seismic, well, and public domain datasets to better understand the potential of the Marcellus resource play in a roughly 2,500 square-mile area of investigation.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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It wasn’t so long ago that geologists and geophysicists each labored in their own separate universe, so to speak, with little or no direct interaction. In the mid-to-late 1990s, 3-D seismic grew to prominence as a kind of end-all, be-all in the E&P realm, soon creating a synergy between these professions that is considered to be routine today. (PLEASE USE ‘3-D geologic modeling’ FROM ‘FINAL ARTICLES’ FOR THE ONLINE VERSION.)

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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Coiled tubing (CT) has long been used to meet various needs in the oil and gas industry. In some instances, it is used to actually drill a well.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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The newest tool in the geophysical kit may have been born a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Researchers at Canada’s University of British Columbia are using cosmic ray muon measurements to reveal high-density underground deposits.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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Location, location, location. In the sales world, it’s the secret to success. You can say the same about exploration – except there have been times in Latin America when finding a location was the secret.

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Standing Columns

I find it ironic that George Mitchell, the “father of hydraulic fracturing technology” (aka, “father of fracing”), a technology that so many people fear or hate because of its perceived negative environmental impact, was so passionate about the environment and sustainability. This is a message we need to convey.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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As this issue of EXPLORER goes to print, geoscience students and industry recruiters are gathering on the plains of Wyoming for the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous, the annual job fair of AAPG’s Rocky Mountain Section.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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As AAPG Division of Professional Affairs president I am often asked, “What is the DPA’s purpose?” I decided one of the best ways to answer this question is take the Letterman approach with a Top 10 list of purposes and reasons to be part of DPA.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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Seismic data are usually contaminated with noise, which refers to any unwanted features in the data. These unwanted features may actually be somebody else’s signal, such as converted waves in what we think of as “P-wave” data – but more commonly, these unwanted “noise” features provide little or no information about the subsurface, and are referred to as random noise and coherent noise.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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Ronald Reagan stated in an April 2, 1988, radio address that “ … although basic research does not begin with a particular practical goal, when you look at the results over the years it ends up being one of the most practical things government does.” This widely held opinion has been notoriously hard to verify or quantify, leading to questions about appropriate funding levels.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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The Toyokawa field is a small oil field, covering an area of about six square kilometers, located in northeastern Japan’s Akita Prefecture. The hillock area where the Toyokawa oil field is situated formerly was covered with natural asphalt (tar) deposits that had erupted from the subsurface. The current scenery resembles the famous La Brea Tar Pit in Los Angeles.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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AAPG held its first conference in Myanmar in August. The technical program titled “Tectonic Evolution of Myanmar and its Basin Development with Special References to its Petroleum Occurrences” was attended by 238 local and international delegates from 16 countries.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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It has a new name, a new energy and a new lineup of experts, all primed to spread geoscience knowledge around the world. “It” is AAPG’s newly named Global Distinguished Lecture Program – emphasis on the “global” – which dates back to 1941 but continues to be the Association’s flagship initiative for offering the latest in geologic science to AAPG affiliated geological societies and universities.

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