Explorer Director’s Corner

During the height of the pandemic, Society of Exploration Geophysicists Executive Director Jim White and I discussed how we could work better together – delivering an innovative conference for petroleum and energy geoscientists that also involved other geoscience disciplines focused on solving real world challenges. Our elected leaders at the time supported the vision for AAPG and SEG to create a new, joint annual meeting: the International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy, or “IMAGE,” conducted in cooperation with SEPM. We’re eager and ready for IMAGE ’22 in Houston at the end of this month, and hope that you are, too.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Geophysical Corner

It is well known that machine learning is based on complex statistics and programming, which for most of us, are not straightforward. When it comes to choosing the best technique, either supervised or unsupervised, the decision might not be easy and sometimes may even be overwhelming. Where do you even begin? Luckily, much research has been done recently to help geologists find an ideal starting algorithm, or the best machine-learning package. Here we discuss how just focusing on your choice of parameterization in a given machine-learning algorithm is one easy way to obtain better results without having to switch from technique to technique.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Geophysical Corner

The challenges in acquiring quality laboratory flow measurements in very low-permeability reservoir rock samples has furthered the development of image-based rock physics simulations of multiphase transport properties. The concept of “digital rocks” originated 50 years ago and has become more widespread recently with advances in imaging technology, computing power and robust algorithms for representing complex multiphase flow behavior at the pore scale. Simulation results based on high-resolution images have the dual role of complementing laboratory measurements on conventional reservoirs and acting as a stand-alone predictive tool for unconventional reservoirs where the very low permeability values limit what can be measured in the laboratory.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Worldwide oil and gas exploration results took a major hit from reduced investment and the ongoing COVID pandemic last year. Cautious industry spending and overall selectivity over prospects likely reduced discoveries to their lowest annual level in 75 years. Here’s the recommendation from one industry analyst for 2022’s global exploration and supply outlook: Stay chill for now.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Asia Pacific Blog

Join us for this free webinar where Dr. Yong Li will discuss the Co-Occurrence of Multi Unconventional Natural Gases in Upper Paleozoic, Ordos Basin, China.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Super basin applications and analogs continue to drive the future. As we learn more about them, we discover how valuable super basins are to exploration and development. As a result, AAPG continues its initiative to showcase some of the world’s greatest petroleum basins with the fourth Global Super Basins Leadership Conference.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

As companies work toward developing alternative sources for a world with ever-increasing energy demands, energy minerals are moving to the forefront of the conversation. AAPG’s Energy Minerals Division finds itself in the spotlight these days for its work in prospecting alternative energy sources, such as geothermal and hydrates, for commercial use. “We’ve got good momentum right now with interest in alternative energy,” said Ursula Hammes, AAPG Member, EMD president and president at Hammes Energy and Consultants.

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

Traveling to the Middle East is something that I get a lot of questions about, particularly from colleagues and friends in the United States and Europe who have never done so. Based on the headlines they read, they’re surprised to hear me say that it is one of my favorite places to travel. The people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia warmly welcomed IPTC attendees, and a spirit of hospitality pervades cultures in the Middle East. You need to experience it. And next month we, AAPG, together with EAGE and SEG, will enable you to do just that as we launch GEO 2020, the 14th Middle East Geosciences Conference and Exhibition in Bahrain, with the theme “Geosciences in the Digital World: 2020 and Beyond.”

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Division Column EMD

Buckminster Fuller, the American designer, inventor and visionary said, “We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims.” In the Energy Minerals Division of the AAPG, we hear that calling and embrace it. In our 2019-20 fiscal year, we welcome the return of longtime leaders as well as an influx of new ones to our design team.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

The two most compelling words in the Middle East oil industry today might be “natural gas.” And there are other, increasingly important word pairs not usually associated with the Middle East oil industry, like “unconventional resources” and “renewable energy.”

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, 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)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 12 July 2012, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

This presentation will look at well placement vertically in the pay, well azimuth and well trajectory with explanations of how geology and post-depositional effects can make the difference between a successful well and a failure.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 21 May 2009, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

This e-symposium introduces you to the practical benefits of thermal profiling for a variety of unconventional oil and gas projects, including tight gas sands, oil shale, low-gravity oil.

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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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

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