Explorer Geophysical Corner

Shale resource plays are associated with low permeability, so hydraulic fracturing is required for their stimulation and production. In order to enhance the flow of fluids with hydraulic fracturing, it is vital to understand the stress field distribution. The efficiency and effectiveness of a hydraulic fracture stimulation are predicated on adequate horizontal well placement in the subsurface. For that purpose, the horizontal wells are usually drilled in the direction of minimal horizontal stress so that hydraulic fracturing takes place in the direction of maximal stress that ensures better reservoir contact and production, which also depends on how a complex fracture network is created by induced fractures.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Geophysical Corner

The bandwidth of a signal is a measure of the breadth of its spectrum, often expressed as the distance measured in Hertz between the half-power points of a smooth spectrum. Bandwidth is the best measure of resolution. Although first introduced to the seismic community in the 1970s, only a limited number of published papers show the value of this attribute. In this column, we show the value of bandwidth when applied to data from the Utica area of Eastern Ohio, United States and from the Gulf of Mexico.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

It is one of the most remote places on the planet and home to the largest sand desert in the world. Virtually uninhabited and underexplored, the Rub’ al Khali basin, known as “the Empty Quarter” in Arabic, covers more than a fourth of the southeastern part of the Saudi Arabian peninsula. While the area has been explored in the past, perhaps most notably by Max Steineke, the American geologist known for making the first oil discovery in Saudi Arabia in 1938, and then publicly again in the early 2000s by international oil companies, the basin appears to be of increasing interest once more.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Foundation Update

A new named grant honoring the memory of an AAPG Honorary member – a pioneer and giant in the world of geological-geophysical integration – has been established by the AAPG Foundation. The R. Randy Ray Memorial Named Grant, intended to support students in petroleum geology, honors a geologist who was hailed during his career as being “a tireless volunteer,” praised for his efforts to advance integrated geoscience knowledge and training, and honored for having a “vision energized by optimism and enthusiasm.”

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Geophysical Corner

With the advent of 3-D seismic technology and its remarkable spatial resolving power, mass transport deposits are better defined in terms of their full areal extent and their morphologic features in areas affected by slope failure. Though mass movements have been extensively studied within the Permian Basin, little work has been published on the nature of these MTDs and their related geomorphological expression on seismic. The goal of this study is to understand sediment flow and delineate the anatomy of the MTD that was deposited 275 million years ago in the Midland Basin. This feature was deposited in the Upper Leonard interval which overlies the Upper Spraberry formation.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Geophysical Corner

Seismic attributes help enhance the subtle subsurface geologic detail that might be difficult and time consuming to decipher from 3-D seismic amplitude data. Beginning with the simple computation of envelope, phase and frequency attributes in the 1970s, several dozen seismic attributes are generated these days containing disparate types of information. To bring together all this information and produce an accurate subsurface model, the multiple attributes need to be carefully visualized and displayed, and thus has become an important interpretation tool for seismic interpreters.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

Geologists are using many new technologies to combine surface, subsurface, and geochemical and thereby improve subsurface modeling, potentially leading to new understanding and dramatic new discoveries. Welcome to an interview with Jon Blickwede, who is currently combining in-depth field and subsurface knowledge with new 3D digital surface mapping. Jon also serves on the technical committee for AAPG’s Hedberg Research Conference on the Geology and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Circum Gulf of Mexico Pre-Salt Section, 4 – 6 of February in Mexico City.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Five internationally acclaimed geoscientists have been named for this season’s AAPG Distinguished Lecture program, the Association’s flagship offering of cutting-edge geoscience excellence that once again will be accessible to everyone, everywhere, at any time.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Geophysical Corner

Though machine learning techniques promise capabilities to sift through “big” data, interactive visualization of the generated attributes that make an effective use of color continue to be lacking. In order to effectively visualize seismic data/attributes in color, we need first to understand how color is perceived by the human eye and then how such colors are rendered on workstation monitors.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Today’s world runs on technology and its rapid advances affect every aspect of human life. Science plays a pivotal role in developing technologies that change the way we live, work and play. The field of geosciences is no exception, and each day new technologies like big data, deep learning and robotics are changing geoscientists’ role in society.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tuesday, 18 February Wednesday, 19 February 2025, 7:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Join us for AAPG Orphan, Abandoned, Idle and Marginal Wells Conference 2025. This workshop will focus on orphan, abandoned, idle, and marginal wells and the business opportunities and technology associated with plugging and repurposing wells, reducing methane emissions, protecting water supplies, and extending the lives of marginal wells.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Field Seminar
Houston, Texas
Saturday, 1 February 2025, 8:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Everyone in Houston lives within a few miles of a bayou. Some people think of them as permanent, but the bayous are constantly changing, especially during high water events like Hurricane Harvey. This trip is a 2.5 mile walk down a section of Buffalo Bayou where we will look at the archives of past storms and discuss what to do for future storms.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 7 November 2013, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

This e-symposium presentation places the interpretation of deep-water turbidites discernible in 3-D seismic inversion data within a geological context.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Wednesday, 29 November 2023, 9:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m.

Join us for November’s AAPG Women's Network 2023 Short-Short Course Series on Wednesday, November 29th from 9-11 am (CT) with Dr. Alicia Kahn to discuss biostratigraphy and micropaleontology, largely as it pertains to oil and gas exploration.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Tuesday, 31 October 2023, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

Mississippian strata in the Ottawa County, Oklahoma, within the Tri-State Mining District, are a well-known hosts to MVT lead and zinc ore deposits. They are also important to our understanding of the geological story of the southern midcontinent. Join us for a virtual float trip down the Spring River in northern Oklahoma. We will explore the Middle Mississippian (Visean; upper Osagean-lower Meramecian) strata of the Boone Group as exposed in roadcuts, quarries, and natural outcroppings across Ottawa County in northeastern Oklahoma.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Thursday, 10 September 2020, 3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

Economic oil and gas fields have been increasingly found in deep-water continental margins for the past decade, where potential prospects record the key tectonic events associated with plate breakup and continental drift. In these regions, the exploitation of economic resources must take into account sustainable practices and environmental concerns of local populations. This talk will present case studies from multiple continental margins to then extrapolate major findings to basins in SE Asia.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 28 January 2010, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

This 1-hour web-cast will arm the G&G asset team professionals with a core-competency understanding of these critical field realities, with direct reference to recent documented field experience and learnings

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Wednesday, 3 June 2020, 7:00 p.m.–8:30 p.m.

Join us for 'Analytics-Based Opportunities in Double Black Swan Times' where we will discuss the steps companies are taking, business considerations in cross-industry analytics -start-ups to majors, analytics agility in a double black swan world, enabling the workforce to utilize and exploit data remotely using the cloud and machine learning. Webinar will be presented via Zoom 7pm - 8:30pm CDT, 3 June 2020.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 10 November 2011, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

This work investigates how heterogeneity can be defined and how we can quantify this term by describing a range of statistical heterogeneity (e.g. coefficient of variation and the Lorenz coefficient).

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Friday, 27 March 2009, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

Join two GIS/geoscience experts Scott Sires and Gerry Bartz as they use information from the Teapot Dome Field in Wyoming (DOE/RMOTC program).

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Wednesday, 26 May 2021, 7:00 p.m.–8:30 p.m.

Join us for 'Pivoting 2021: Imaging Technologies'. Panelists will discuss new ways to acquire data that is then processed into interpretable images, and they will discuss the technologies as well as the techniques. Webinar will be presented via Zoom 7pm - 8:30pm CDT, 26 May 2021.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Tuesday, 23 June 2020, 2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.

Visiting Geoscientist Mauricio Guizada provides an overview of general structural geology of the Andes, with a focus on the Central Andes. His talk covers topics related to onshore exploration, G&G methods in exploration and risk analysis. Join Mauricio Guizada via Zoom on June 23 at 4pm CDT.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
VG Abstract

In comparison with the known boundary conditions that promote salt deformation and flow in sedimentary basins, the processes involved with the mobilization of clay-rich detrital sediments are far less well established. This talk will use seismic examples in different tectonic settings to document the variety of shale geometries that can be formed under brittle and ductile deformations.

Request a visit from Juan I. Soto!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

Physics is an essential component of geophysics but there is much that physics cannot know or address. 

Request a visit from John Castagna!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) seismic-reflection surveys provide one of the most important data types for understanding subsurface depositional systems. Quantitative analysis is commonly restricted to geophysical interpretation of elastic properties of rocks in the subsurface. Wide availability of 3D seismic-reflection data and integration provide opportunities for quantitative analysis of subsurface stratigraphic sequences. Here, we integrate traditional seismic-stratigraphic interpretation with quantitative geomorphologic analysis and numerical modeling to explore new insights into submarine-channel evolution.

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Request a visit from Jacob Covault!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

Around 170 million years ago, the Gulf of Mexico basin flooded catastrophically, and the pre-existing landscape, which had been a very rugged, arid, semi-desert world, was drowned beneath an inland sea of salt water. The drowned landscape was then buried under kilometers of salt, perfectly preserving the older topography. Now, with high-quality 3D seismic data, the salt appears as a transparent layer, and the details of the drowned world can be seen in exquisite detail, providing a unique snapshot of the world on the eve of the flooding event. We can map out hills and valleys, and a system of river gullies and a large, meandering river system. These rivers in turn fed into a deep central lake, whose surface was about 750m below global sea level. This new knowledge also reveals how the Louann Salt was deposited. In contrast to published models, the salt was deposited in a deep water, hypersaline sea. We can estimate the rate of deposition, and it was very fast; we believe that the entire thickness of several kilometers of salt was laid down in a few tens of thousands of years, making it possibly the fastest sustained deposition seen so far in the geological record.

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Request a visit from Frank Peel!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

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