Events Blog

URTeC is headed to Houston, 23-25 July 2018, at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Take your brand to new heights by aligning with the premier event focused on the latest science and technology applied to exploration and development of unconventional resources.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Events Blog

Submit your papers today and join us for the sixth edition of the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference. Your insights regarding new and emerging technologies will help to guide the exploration and exploitation of unconventional resources for years to come. Don’t miss the opportunity to take part in the premier science and technology event for teams involved in exploration, appraisal, and development of unconventional resources.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Events Blog

URTeC is headed to Houston, 23-25 July 2018 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Key exhibit spaces are going fast, reserve your space today before it’s gone. Don't miss the sixth edition of the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

This workshop will bring the attendees up to date with the latest academic and case-studies from the field of advanced surface logging technologies.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Director’s Corner

Just days ago we, here in North America, experienced a full solar eclipse. As daylight turned to twilight in midday, outside temperatures fell, and we witnessed one of the grandest celestial dances as the moon slipped between Earth and sun. Awe and wonder is a natural and human response to such an event.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Middle East Blog

The GEO 2018 committee welcomes your abstracts for oral and poster presentations at the 13th Middle Geosciences Conference and Exhibition (GEO 2018) which will take place from 5 — 8 March in Bahrain. Submit today and join the largest gathering of geoscience professionals in the Middle East.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Search and Discovery Article

The San Joaquin Basin lies west of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and east of the San Andre as Fault. Tens of kilometers of Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediments, including deep-water organic-rich source rocks, deposited in a forearc setting, comprise the basin and have contributed to a petroleum system that generates more than 70 percent of California 's daily oil production and includes three of the 10 largest oilfields in the United States. Based on a comprehensive 3D petroleum systems model of the San Joaquin basin, published by the USGS in 2008, we further refine the modeling to account for the unique depositional and tectonic history of the basin. Here, we compare various basal heat flow scenarios to model hydrocarbon generation and calibrate the results to available temperature and vitrinite reflectance (Vr) data. We investigate two types of crustal models: a McKenzie-type rift model, and a no-rift static crustal thickness model. Crustal stretching models calculate basal heat flow resulting from stretching/thinning of mantle and crust during initial (syn-rift) and thermal (post-rift) subsidence. This method uses rock matrix radiogenic heat production values. It does not account for transient effects resulting from burial and uplift of the basin fill. The static no-rift model, alternatively, calculates the basal heat flow based on a stable or non-thinning crust and mantle over time. This method uses estimated Uranium (U), Thorium (Th), and Potassium (K) concentrations within the rock material to then calculate the rock matrix heat production. Unlike the rift model, it accounts for the transient effects resulting from burial and uplift of the basin fill, which can have a considerable additional effect on the basal heat flow. Given the low probability of crustal stretching as the starting point for basal heat flow in the San Joaquin Basin and considering the forearc nature of the basin as well as the strong concentration of U, K, and Th in the Sierran granites, we focused on and refined the no-rift models. We manually account for the transitional nature of the San Joaquin basement from hot Sierran granite on the east to cool Franciscan oceanic rocks on the west. Radiogenic heat production from solely continental crust results in models that are too warm and cannot be calibrated to well temperature and Vr data. Solely oceanic models are too cool to match well data. ‘Combined crust’ incorporates a seismically derived suture zone that allows for a transition from oceanic to granitic basement, while the ‘intermediate crust’ mixes oceanic and continental radiogenic heat production. These models generate a good match to well data to the east and westward through the transition zone. Additionally, we are able to calibrate to wells off of the Belridge and Lost Hills structures. On structure wells, however, cannot be calibrated with a crustal conductive heat flow scenario and would require (local) elevated heat flows on the order of 20 mW/m 2. This is not in agreement with the generally cooler underlying oceanic crust and suggests that there might be a different and/or additional source of heat flow. Most likely, basin-scale hydrothermal groundwater flow, both along faults and up-structure, could account for elevated Vr and temperature. Convective heat flow would be an additional overprint or enhancement to conductive basal heat flow.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Europe Blog

Sign up for your place at this two-day Geosciences Technology Workshop (GTW) hosted by AAPG Europe at Vilnius University in the heart of the Lithuanian capital. This workshop will focus on Hydrocarbon Exploration in Lithuania and the Baltic Region and will include 12 technical themes which have been designed to help launch perspectives for increased exploration in this region.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

How does diagenesis affect rock physics? What is the relationship of the burial history to the rock physics? Both have a dramatic impact on the rock physics properties of not only the reservoir, but also the source and seals. Welcome to an interview with Per Avseth, who discusses rock physics and quantitative seismic interpretation. He also talks with us about how developing an effective rock physics model requires the integration of geological, geophysical, geochemical, and petrophysical information.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

The Gulf of Mexico Basin is a source of seemingly endless hydrocarbon resources, and just one topic to be explored in the Discovery Thinking Forum at this month’s ICE.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 9 December 2010, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

The Mississippian-Devonian Bakken Petroleum System of the Williston Basin is characterized by low-porosity and permeability reservoirs, organic-rich source rocks, and regional hydrocarbon charge.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Tuesday, 9 June 2020, 4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

Visiting Geoscientist Susan Morrice shares her personal experience and insight in this talk about opportunities for geoscientists. “Geoscientists have advantages ... They are Time Travellers and have open minds. Bringing this creativity and innovation to your company or starting your own! Challenging times bring silver linings!”

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Thursday, 25 June 2020, 8:00 a.m.–9:00 a.m.

Panelists will discuss current unconventional resource activities in North America, including key plays that remain competitive and potential for future growth. They also will address the key challenges for unconventional resources to stay competitive in the global market: maintaining cashflow, reducing expenditures, improving capital and production efficiencies and managing resources. Virtual Forum to be presented via Zoom.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 26 September 2013, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

The presentation will discuss key reservoir information and how to develop a predictive pressure model.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 28 April 2011, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

The Niobrara Petroleum System of the U.S. Rocky Mountain Region is a major tight petroleum resource play.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Thursday, 1 October 2020, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

Join AAPG Asia Pacific to hear Agus Ramdahn, PhD to hear about a method of combining Bowers Method with density-sonic cross plots to estimate overpressure in the shelfal area of the Lower Kutai Basin This webinar will be presented via Zoom on Thursday 1 October at 11:00 Singapore Time

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 16 February 2012, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

This presentation describes a proven workflow that uses a standard narrow azimuth 3D seismic, conventional logs, image logs and core data to build five key reservoir properties required for an optimal development of shale plays.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Thursday, 2 July 2020, 4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

Presented by Kevin C. Hill, Associate Professor, University of Melbourne Gravity modelling of Australia's southern margin reveals that the initial rift with Antarctica was beneath the current Ceduna Delta. A regional, high-quality seismic traverse from the coast to oceanic crust across the Bight Basin has been assembled and interpreted in detail, then balanced, restored, decompacted, and replaced at paleo-water depths. The Late Cretaceous Ceduna Delta developed above a Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous rift basin in three stages punctuated by significant pulses of uplift and erosion across areas >100 km wide and with up to 1 km of erosion. The Cenomanian White Pointer delta prograded into deepening water and hence underwent gravitational collapse. This was terminated in the Santonian when the Antarctic margin was pulled out from below, thus supplying heat to a remnant thicker outer margin crust, causing doming and erosion. Importantly, this established the saucer-shaped geometry of the Ceduna Delta that persisted throughout its development, so that any hydrocarbons generated in the southern half of the basin would have migrated towards this outer margin high. The Tiger Formation was deposited in shallow water in a full rift basin prior to breakup, which was followed by regional thermal subsidence. The Hammerhead delta developed on the newly formed passive margin but was terminated by another pulse of uplift and erosion, perhaps associated with a change in plate motion at the end of the Cretaceous. The finite element modelling of this proposed tectonic evolution will test its validity and predict hydrocarbon generation and migration through time.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 19 March 2015, 2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.

A detailed biostratigraphic analysis and stratigraphic framework of the Paleocene and Eocene Chicontepec Formation in the Tampico-Misantla basin, onshore eastern Mexico, was conducted using 33 wells.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Friday, 20 January 2012, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

The Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas is one of the more exciting shale plays in the United States at the current time.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

Paleozoic North America has experienced multiple mountain building events, from Ordovician to Permian, on all margins of the continent. These have had a profound effect on the resulting complex basins and their associated petroleum systems. Subsequent uplift, erosion and overprinting of these ancient systems impedes the direct observation of their tectonic history. However, the basin sedimentary records are more complete, and provide additional insights into the timing and style of the mountain building events. In this study, we employ ~90 1D basin models, ~30 inverse flexural models, isopachs, and paleogeographic maps to better understand the Paleozoic history of North America.

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Request a visit from Kurt W. Rudolph!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

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