Explorer Historical Highlights

A century ago, a gusher helped transform Venezuela from an agricultural country known as an exporter of coffee, cacao and cattle into one of the world’s largest oil producers. It was front-page news on the world’s most important newspapers. The country’s most significant 20th-century discoveries took place in the Maracaibo Basin between 1910 and 1925 and were based on surface geological exploration of concessions held by American and European companies. One of the strikes, the large La Rosa Field, was discovered in 1917 by Venezuelan Oil Concessions, a Royal Dutch Shell affiliate, on a 3,000-square-mile concession.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Historical Highlights

There are two main oil and gas producing sedimentary areas in France: the Paris Basin and the Aquitaine Basin. The presence of oil seeps and bitumen deposits has been known since ancient times in the western part of the Aquitaine basin, a 35,000-square-kilometer triangular polygon bordered to the north by the city of Bordeaux, to the east by Toulouse and to the south by the Pyrenees Mountain chain separating France from Spain. These hydrocarbon shows were observed close to surface anticlinal structures such as the Sainte-Suzanne dome, southwest of Pau or in the caprocks of salt diapirs at Salies de Bearn and Dax to the north.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Historical Highlights

During the 1980s, early prospecting in deepwater margins was the simple extension of prolific updip producing basins that were charged. However, the migration of petroleum exploration and development into deepwater was fraught with challenges. For engineers and geologists, one of our biggest challenges was to overcome our collective lack of understanding about the geology of deepwater. We had to revisit everything we thought we knew, one paradigm shift after another.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

“Big Data and Deep Learning in the Oil Industry: Basics and Applications,” a Geosciences Technology Workshop to be held in Houston on May 22 at the CityCentre Norris Conference Center will focus on new analytics involving Big Data, deep learning and machine learning, and how they are transforming all aspects of the oil and gas industry.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

Don't get left behind! Drones and drone-derived digital data are the hottest growth areas around. Combine your geoscience knowledge with new technology, both on the data acquisition side (fly that drone!) and in the project design and data interpretation (make high-powered maps and see what no one else has seen!). AAPG is offering two courses and a two-day GTW to equip you with practical knowledge you can leverage into a great new career opportunity. Combining a workshop with two courses is a great way to expand your knowledge and save time in your already hectic schedule.'The New Opportunities with Drones: New Needs, FAA Rule Changes, New Technologies' workshop brings together experts, equipment providers, robotics experts, and others knowledgeable in a wide range of commercial drone usage, which includes monitoring in the oil industry, digital outcrop surveying, safety and security monitoring, utility inspection, real estate, agriculture, construction, environmental protection, and more. 'Working with Drone Data 101' short course, is beneficial to anyone interested in learning more about Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and how they can play a part in mapping and information services. Drones are used in the oil and gas industry from upstream to downstream, and in many other industries. The second course, 'Use of Surface Geochemistry in Petroleum Exploration' is a one day discussion of the use of surface geochemistry in petroleum exploration for conventional production. This course will help utilize an additional tool in the toolbox to find conventional oil and gas in mature to unexploited basins.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

Where is the oil? How much is there? and What is the best strategy for recovery? These are a few of the questions that we'll answer at the Making Money with Mature Fields - Geosciences Technology Workshop, October 5-6, 2016, Houston, TX. The goal of this workshop is to review mature fields and to identify the amount and nature of oil that can be recovered, and to evaluate competing strategies for economically producing the remaining reserves. In addition to looking closely at fields, we will review new and improved technologies that may help revitalize reservoirs and overcome problems such as low pressure, paraffin, corrosion, and more.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

The goal of this two-day workshop is to proactively create opportunities yourself and your company in a low price environment. You will learn how to bring value propositions to operators. Revitalize reservoirs for less than the cost of plugging and abandoning, paid for by increased production. Rethink reservoirs and push paradigm shifts that will result in breakthroughs.  We will discuss how to use these times to pilot new products and technologies and thus position innovative companies to boom when conditions improve. This event is for engineers, geologists, geophysicists, land professionals, and entrepreneurs. *Please see our discounted rates for unemployed geoscientists, students and young professionals

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

This brief article is a continuation of 'U.S. Oil and Gas Plays that Work Now for the Small Independent or Small Consultant Team (Part I)'  which aims to provide sources of information that can be used to develop a list of candidates to acquire, and to target wells and fields that can be revitalized using new technologies and team-based approaches. Some of the areas are potentially a better fit for a medium-sized company with significant access to capital. Some areas are ideal for the small independent or consultant. 

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

AAPG is excited about presenting THREE Short Courses in four days! Basic Seismic Interpretation   17-18 May 2016 'Old' (pre-1958) Electric Logs: A Quick Review 19 May 2016 Quick Guide to Carbonate Well Log Analysis   20 May 2016

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Long captivated by both the onshore and offshore possibilities in Colombia, operators are hoping to turn Caribbean potential into reality soon.

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)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 17 March 2011, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

This e-symposium will provide information on which tools, processes, and procedures all geoscientists, engineers, and technical professionals working in shale plays need to understand and implement.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Thursday, 13 August 2020, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

Geologic interpretations are the basis of most exploration workflows, whether building a 3-D framework, a geocellular model, or modeling HC basins and estimating HC reserves. All these workflows rely on the most realistic and accurate interpretation in order to produce high-confidence results. Join us to hear from Catalina Luneburg, founder and director of TerraEx Group and specialist in the validation of HC basins and structural geology modeling.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Wednesday, 12 January 2022, 8:00 a.m.–9:00 a.m.

Using global examples and based on 40 years’ experience in mainstream geology and in Petroleum Systems Analysis, Andrew Pepper will discuss how re-thinking some of our paradigms can open up our minds to new Discovery Thinking in any old or new basin.

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)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Tuesday, 30 June 2020, 1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.

Visiting Geoscientist Juan Pablo Lovecchio reviews general aspects of rifting, rifts and passive margin formation and evolution through time, as well as elements of petroleum system development.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Tuesday, 16 August 2011, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

The geochemistry of formation fluids (water and hydrocarbon gases) in the Uinta Basin, Utah, is evaluated at the regional scale based on fluid sampling and compilation of past records.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Thursday, 27 August 2020, 3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

There are over 300 known active onshore mud volcanoes globally, and many more offshore. Mud volcanoes are subsurface fluid escape features in which high pore pressures drive fluids, gases, and subsurface sediments to the surface. This talk will summarize mud volcanoes around the world and examine mud volcano plumbing systems and their link to petroleum systems.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online Certificate Course
Tuesday, 1 January 2013, 12:00 a.m.–1:00 a.m.

This course introduces the learner to the fundamentals of shale gas, including current theories that explain its origin, and how to determine which reservoirs are commercially viable.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Wednesday, 9 February 2022, 8:00 a.m.–9:00 a.m.

 This talk will provide information to better understand the principles of surface geochemistry (SG), how best to use SG data in exploration or development programs, how to develop a cost effective sampling and analytical program, and will also explore best practices for the interpretation and integration of SG data.

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)
VG Abstract

Production from unconventional petroleum reservoirs includes petroleum from shale, coal, tight-sand and oil-sand. These reservoirs contain enormous quantities of oil and natural gas but pose a technology challenge to both geoscientists and engineers to produce economically on a commercial scale. These reservoirs store large volumes and are widely distributed at different stratigraphic levels and basin types, offering long-term potential for energy supply. Most of these reservoirs are low permeability and porosity that need enhancement with hydraulic fracture stimulation to maximize fluid drainage. Production from these reservoirs is increasing with continued advancement in geological characterization techniques and technology for well drilling, logging, and completion with drainage enhancement. Currently, Australia, Argentina, Canada, Egypt, USA, and Venezuela are producing natural gas from low permeability reservoirs: tight-sand, shale, and coal (CBM). Canada, Russia, USA, and Venezuela are producing heavy oil from oilsand. USA is leading the development of techniques for exploring, and technology for exploiting unconventional gas resources, which can help to develop potential gas-bearing shales of Thailand. The main focus is on source-reservoir-seal shale petroleum plays. In these tight rocks petroleum resides in the micro-pores as well as adsorbed on and in the organics. Shale has very low matrix permeability (nano-darcies) and has highly layered formations with differences in vertical and horizontal properties, vertically non-homogeneous and horizontally anisotropic with complicate natural fractures. Understanding the rocks is critical in selecting fluid drainage enhancement mechanisms; rock properties such as where shale is clay or silica rich, clay types and maturation , kerogen type and maturation, permeability, porosity, and saturation. Most of these plays require horizontal development with large numbers of wells that require an understanding of formation structure, setting and reservoir character and its lateral extension. The quality of shale-gas resources depend on thickness of net pay (>100 m), adequate porosity (>2%), high reservoir pressure (ideally overpressure), high thermal maturity (>1.5% Ro), high organic richness (>2% TOC), low in clay (<50%), high in brittle minerals (quartz, carbonates, feldspars), and favourable in-situ stress. During the past decade, unconventional shale and tight-sand gas plays have become an important supply of natural gas in the US, and now in shale oil as well. As a consequence, interest to assess and explore these plays is rapidly spreading worldwide. The high production potential of shale petroleum resources has contributed to a comparably favourable outlook for increased future petroleum supplies globally. Application of 2D and 3D seismic for defining reservoirs and micro seismic for monitoring fracturing, measuring rock properties downhole (borehole imaging) and in laboratory (mineralogy, porosity, permeability), horizontal drilling (downhole GPS), and hydraulic fracture stimulation (cross-linked gel, slick-water, nitrogen or nitrogen foam) is key in improving production from these huge resources with low productivity factors.

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Request a visit from Ameed Ghori!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

Related Interests

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