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Independent geologist Charles Sternbach, president of Houston-based Star Creek Energy, has been voted president-elect by the AAPG membership for the 2016-17 term.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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"More of the same” is the gist of the annual AAPG salary survey, which is to say, with a couple of notable exceptions, there have been few changes in salaries since last year’s survey, owing to the ongoing downturn in the industry. But, there might be signs – however faint – that the job market is on the verge of some important, long-term changes.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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The current downturn in the oil and gas industry slammed into parts of the United States like a locomotive. For many oil and gas-producing states, the impact was immediate and substantial. But for U.S. cities hit by the industry’s troubles, it’s been more of a slow-motion train wreck.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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Emphasis: Annual Convention

 

Scott W. Tinker, a man who has given lectures all over the world, in front of thousands, was remarkably taciturn when asked about being named the 2016 recipient of the Michel T. Halbouty Outstanding Leadership Award.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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Paul E. Potter will receive the Sidney Powers Memorial Award, the Association’s most distinguished honor. It will be the latest of numerous awards for the famed geologist and educator.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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After a four-decade career as an exploration geologist, Dick Stoneburner will receive AAPG’s Norman H. Foster Outstanding Explorer Award. The award is given in recognition of distinguished and outstanding achievement in exploration by AAPG members who have shown a “consistent pattern of exploratory success.”

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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The 2016 Halbouty Lecture series presentation by Tim Dodson, executive vice president of Statoil ASA, will focus on Statoil’s high impact Bay du Nord discovery in the deepwater Flemish Pass Basin in 2013.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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For her years of dedication and her passion for instilling in her students a love for the natural world and their role within it, the AAPG Foundation awarded Karen Waterbury, a teacher at St. Mary’s School in Mount Carmel, Ill., as 2016 Teacher of the Year.

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Standing Columns

This is my last column as your president. It has been an honor to have the membership elect me and put your trust in my abilities to run our organization in our 99th year. History may show my presidency to have been during the worst downturn in the industry in a hundred years, but for me, I would not have changed anything.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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What aspects of petroleum geology and our industry will remain the same in the next 10 years? How might you and I use this knowledge to add value and position ourselves for a successful future?

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Quick, name three nuclear power plants. What word describes them? If you are like most of the North American or European public, the names that come to mind would be “Fukushima,” “Chernobyl” and maybe “Three Mile Island.” According to Gallup, the most common term used to describe nuclear energy is “dangerous.” Ask the same public to name three oil or gas fields and the most common terms associated with them might be “Macondo,” “Exxon Valdez” and “Garland.”

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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This work demonstrates a modern workflow that directly extracts high-resolution, large-scale fracture networks from seismic inversion-based structural attributes. The workflow is successfully applied to a thrust-belt controlled, lower Triassic, siltstone reservoir in the Montney Formation of the Farrell Creek area in northeast British Columbia to extract a 3-D fracture network orthogonal to the primary stress direction.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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Calgary, site of the 2016 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, has been regarded to be generally free of natural hazards … until the summer of 2013, that is.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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As the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve approaches its 40th birthday and the world is awash in excess oil, the U.S. Department of Energy and Congress are taking a serious look at the reserve and its almost 700 million barrels of crude oil stored in 62 salt caverns in Texas and Louisiana.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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It is with great enthusiasm that the AAPG Foundation announces that Donald A. O’Nesky is the 2016 Chairman’s Award recipient. This award is given by the AAPG Foundation in recognition of persons who have made extraordinary contributions (monetary or service) to the AAPG Foundation while calling attention to the role and value of the Foundation.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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My participation in AAPG activities has always been a source of wonderful memories. To this day, I strongly believe that my active involvement in AAPG YP Chapter leadership was key to obtaining scholarships and advancing my geoscience studies.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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