Table of Contents

 

With Shell abandoning its exploration plans in the Chukchi Sea in September and Statoil following suit in November, many might believe that the North Slope Basin off the northern coast of Alaska has been condemned. Yet those who have put decades into studying the geology of Alaska’s North Slope and Outer Continental Shelf believe the opposite.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Desktop /Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/where-did-shell-go-wrong-in-the-arctic-hero.jpg?width=100&h=100&mode=crop&anchor=middlecenter&quality=75amp;encoder=freeimage&progressive=true 26735 http://img.aapg.org/Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/where-did-shell-go-wrong-in-the-arctic-hero.jpg
 

“Oil fingerprinting,” as it’s called, is indispensable when there is commingled production from different formations.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Desktop /Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/oil-fingerprinting-has-wide-application-hero.jpg?width=100&h=100&mode=crop&anchor=middlecenter&quality=75amp;encoder=freeimage&progressive=true 26736 http://img.aapg.org/Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/oil-fingerprinting-has-wide-application-hero.jpg
 

AAPG’s Publications Pipeline program does more than funnel books and publications to under stocked and underserved universities and libraries. It pumps a lot of good will along the way.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Desktop /Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/publications-pipeline-program-reaches-major-milestone-hero.jpg?width=100&h=100&mode=crop&anchor=middlecenter&quality=75amp;encoder=freeimage&progressive=true 26741 http://img.aapg.org/Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/publications-pipeline-program-reaches-major-milestone-hero.jpg

Emphasis: Middle East Review

 

For the oil industry, the most worrisome news coming out of the Middle East doesn’t involve geopolitics. It’s well known by now that Iran wants to increase production by at least 500,000 barrels of oil per day as the lifting of international sanctions allows it to resume crude exports. But Iran isn’t alone.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Desktop /Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/how-much-will-middle-east-production-rise-hero.jpg?width=100&h=100&mode=crop&anchor=middlecenter&quality=75amp;encoder=freeimage&progressive=true 26747 http://img.aapg.org/Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/how-much-will-middle-east-production-rise-hero.jpg
 

Every major producer in the Middle East will be represented at AAPG’s upcoming GEO 2016 conference in Bahrain next month.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Desktop /Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/todays-geosciences-tomorrows-energy-hero.jpg?width=100&h=100&mode=crop&anchor=middlecenter&quality=75amp;encoder=freeimage&progressive=true 26749 http://img.aapg.org/Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/todays-geosciences-tomorrows-energy-hero.jpg
 

Owing to the U.S. shale boom, interest and activity in unconventional E&P has spread internationally. Perhaps the most unexpected locale for these types of plays is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Desktop /Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/saudi-arabia-looks-to-unconventionals-hero.jpg?width=100&h=100&mode=crop&anchor=middlecenter&quality=75amp;encoder=freeimage&progressive=true 26759 http://img.aapg.org/Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/saudi-arabia-looks-to-unconventionals-hero.jpg
 

Collaborative relationships between the petroleum industry and academia have been steadily improving in the Middle East over the years, but there is still much room for improvement, according to a moderator at a panel examining the issue at the upcoming GEO 2016 conference.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Desktop /Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/explorer-hero-2016-02feb.jpg?width=100&h=100&mode=crop&anchor=middlecenter&quality=75amp;encoder=freeimage&progressive=true 26760 http://img.aapg.org/Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/explorer-hero-2016-02feb.jpg

Standing Columns

As I have met with delegates and AAPG leaders around the world, there has been considerable discussion about what AAPG is, or should be. There are many who believe that AAPG is, and should remain, an association that stands for professionalism and ethics.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Desktop /Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/shoup-bob-2016-02feb.jpg?width=50&h=50&mode=crop&anchor=middlecenter&quality=90amp;encoder=freeimage&progressive=true http://img.aapg.org/Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/shoup-bob-2016-02feb.jpg 26761 Explorer President’s Column

Everywhere I go and in every conversation I have with AAPG members, sooner or later – and it’s usually sooner– I’m asked what I’m hearing about the duration of this low price cycle. We’ve all heard the old saying that prediction is difficult, especially of the future.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Desktop /Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/curtiss-david-2016-02feb.jpg?width=50&h=50&mode=crop&anchor=middlecenter&quality=90amp;encoder=freeimage&progressive=true http://img.aapg.org/Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/curtiss-david-2016-02feb.jpg 26762 Explorer Director’s Corner

The Energy and Minerals Division of the AAPG focuses on unconventional hydrocarbon energy resources, such as coalbed methane and gas hydrates and alternative energy resources, such as coal, uranium and geothermal energy. These resources are important to members of AAPG.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Desktop /Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/morgan-paul-2016-02feb.jpg?width=50&h=50&mode=crop&anchor=middlecenter&quality=90amp;encoder=freeimage&progressive=true http://img.aapg.org/Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/morgan-paul-2016-02feb.jpg 26763 Explorer Division Column EMD

The main goal for shale resource characterization is usually the identification of sweet spots, which represent the most favorable drilling targets. Such sweet spots can be identified as those pockets in the target formation that exhibit high total organic carbon (TOC) content, as well as high brittleness. As there is no direct way of computing TOC using seismic data, we adopt indirect ways for doing so.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Desktop /Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/poisson-impedance-application-to-shale-resource-characterization-hero.jpg?width=50&h=50&mode=crop&anchor=middlecenter&quality=90amp;encoder=freeimage&progressive=true http://img.aapg.org/Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/poisson-impedance-application-to-shale-resource-characterization-hero.jpg 26765 Explorer Geophysical Corner

The Ayoluengo field was the first commercial oil discovery in Spain and more than 50 years later remains the only onshore oilfield in the Iberian Peninsula. The field was discovered in 1964 and is still producing.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Desktop /Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/spains-oldest-and-only-onshore-oilfield-hero.jpg?width=50&h=50&mode=crop&anchor=middlecenter&quality=90amp;encoder=freeimage&progressive=true http://img.aapg.org/Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/spains-oldest-and-only-onshore-oilfield-hero.jpg 26767 Explorer Historical Highlights

Three outer continental shelf (OCS) oil and gas issues were prominent in 2015 policy debates and will continue in the policy limelight in 2016 as the federal government moves to release final versions of the permits, plans and rules.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Desktop /Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/allison-eddie-2016-02feb.jpg?width=50&h=50&mode=crop&anchor=middlecenter&quality=90amp;encoder=freeimage&progressive=true http://img.aapg.org/Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/allison-eddie-2016-02feb.jpg 26768 Explorer Policy Watch

A popular topic among educators and recruiters in our discipline is what geology, and the people who practice it, will look like in the future. It’s an interesting question when you consider the origins of our discipline, its pioneers and how both geology and its practitioners have evolved in the past 100 years.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Desktop /Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/boyce-matthew-2016-02feb.jpg?width=50&h=50&mode=crop&anchor=middlecenter&quality=90amp;encoder=freeimage&progressive=true http://img.aapg.org/Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/boyce-matthew-2016-02feb.jpg 26870 Explorer ProTracks

Time is a precious commodity to us all, and is particularly treasured by geologists who have a unique relationship with the concept of time. Time is an especially precious commodity when it is given to the AAPG Foundation, in whatever increment.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Desktop /Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/gifts-of-time-build-a-solid-foundation-hero.jpg?width=50&h=50&mode=crop&anchor=middlecenter&quality=90amp;encoder=freeimage&progressive=true http://img.aapg.org/Portals/0/PackFlashItemImages/WebReady/gifts-of-time-build-a-solid-foundation-hero.jpg 26769 Explorer Foundation Update

News & Features