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Chevron Initiates Water Injection to Boost Gulf of Mexico Oil Recovery - 04 September, 2024 07:30 AM

Explorer Emphasis Article By Louise Durham

Simulated Environment, Real Gains in Arctic

Newfoundland-based GRI Simulations has logged innumerable hours working on its Virtual Arctic Simulation Environment to enable scientists to evaluate the perilous area from the comfort of their offices.

Added on 01 February, 2015

Explorer Emphasis Article By Louise Durham

Managing Complexity Through Collaboration

Arctic exploration and production is not for the timid. Nor for those without deep pockets.

Added on 01 February, 2015

Energy Policy Blog By Edith Allison

Keystone XL Pipeline Update and Timeline

In January several long-awaited actions are likely: The Nebraska Supreme Court should rule on a suit challenging the right of the governor to approve the pipeline route; President Obama may decide whether to issue a presidential permit; and the House and Senate plan votes on legislation to approve the pipeline without a presidential permit.

Added on 19 January, 2015

Explorer Article By Heather Saucier

How the Shale Boom Birthplace Came to Ban Fracturing

It is perhaps the most ironic move in the industry in years. On Nov. 4, citizens in Denton – a city on the edge of the Barnett Shale in north Texas with a population of 123,000 – voted to ban hydraulic fracturing.

Added on 01 January, 2015

Explorer Emphasis Article By Ken Milam

Detecting With Precision

When it comes to downhole geology, little things matter. Those “things” would include the realm of microseismic measurements, because as unconventional plays and hydraulic fracturing become the norm throughout the industry, the need for microseismic imaging grows in importance. Companies large and small are constantly developing, testing and using this technology, hoping to add value to today’s efforts.

Added on 01 December, 2014

Explorer Emphasis Article By Kristi Eaton

Laser Drilling Research: Closer to Reality?

The idea of using lasers for drilling into the earth has long been to the oil and gas industry what flying cars and hoverboards are to the general public – the stuff of science fiction and futuristic fantasy. As 2015 fast approaches (contrary to what we were promised in the “Back to the Future” movies) we haven’t quite cracked the code yet on flying cars and hoverboards, but there might be a consolation prize in the works: Laser drilling may actually become a reality.

Added on 01 December, 2014

Explorer Emphasis Article By Brian Ervin

Hi-Tech Spotlight: What’s New in Downhole Geology

What’s new in downhole geology, you ask? According to the advertising and press releases that are sent throughout the media, there’s a lot that’s new – more, in fact, than we could ever cover. But since this is our annual Downhole Geology issue, we thought we’d take a look at some of the latest advancements in drilling, well-logging and other downhole innovations rolled out in recent months by a few industry heavy-hitters.

Added on 01 December, 2014

Explorer Emphasis Article By Heather Saucier

Combined Approach Used to Tackle Fracture Monitoring

After many months of harnessing mind-bending ideas, a Houston-based team of engineers, geologists and geophysicists has developed technology to monitor hydraulic fractures from the surface and wellbore simultaneously. Adding multiple dimensions to the monitoring process, they say, allows operators to more clearly understand drainage patterns of hydrocarbons in shale reservoirs and, more importantly, know with greater certainty where to drill the next well, how to optimize completions and maximize asset value.

Added on 01 December, 2014

Explorer Article

The Best of This + The Best of That = Eureka!

Pumps & Pipes brings together the newest technologies from the oil and gas, medical and aerospace professions in Houston to talk about something they all have in common: Problems. More specifically, members talk about problems because someone else in the room – from a completely different discipline and expertise – may already have found an effective solution.

Added on 01 December, 2014

Explorer Policy Watch By Edith Allison

A Case for Reauthorizing the Data Preservation Act

In the age of 3-D seismic and digitized well logs, the value of cores and other rock samples may not be obvious. But benefits like those noted by the AAPG in 1948 and described in a 2002 National Research Council report and a recent congressional hearing continue to demonstrate the value of properly archived subsurface samples and data.

Added on 01 November, 2014

DL Abstract By John Suppe

Probing What Makes the Crust Strong (or Weak): Insight from Boreholes, Earthquakes, Active Fault Systems, and Toy Models

For well over a century there have been conflicting indications of the strength of the crust and of faults and what controls them. Much of our ignorance comes quite naturally from the general inaccessibility of the crust to measurement--in contrast with our understanding of the atmosphere, which is much more accessible to observation as well as more rapidly changing. Crustal strength is best understood in deforming sedimentary basins where the petroleum industry has made great contributions, particularly in deforming petroleum basins because of the practical need to predict. In this talk we take a broad look at key issues in crustal strength and deformation and what we can learn from boreholes, earthquakes, active fault systems, and toy models.

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Added on 14 September, 2023

DL Abstract By Tao Sun

Integrated Reservoir Characterization and Modeling with Computational Stratigraphy

As oil and gas exploration and production occur in deeper basins and more complex geologic settings, accurate characterization and modeling of reservoirs to improve estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) prediction, optimize well placement and maximize recovery become paramount. Existing technologies for reservoir characterization and modeling have proven inadequate for delivering detailed 3D predictions of reservoir architecture, connectivity and rock quality at scales that impact subsurface flow patterns and reservoir performance. Because of the gap between the geophysical and geologic data available (seismic, well logs, cores) and the data needed to model rock heterogeneities at the reservoir scale, constraints from external analog systems are needed. Existing stratigraphic concepts and deposition models are mostly empirical and seldom provide quantitative constraints on fine-scale reservoir heterogeneity. Current reservoir modeling tools are challenged to accurately replicate complex, nonstationary, rock heterogeneity patterns that control connectivity, such as shale layers that serve as flow baffles and barriers.

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Added on 20 July, 2022

DL Abstract By Kurt W. Rudolph

The Assembly of Pangea, a View from Laurentia: Paleozoic Orogenies and their Impact on Basin Evolution and Petroleum Systems

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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Added on 14 September, 2023

DL Abstract By Kurt W. Rudolph

Estimating, Benchmarking, and Managing Subsurface Uncertainty: Principles and Examples

Subsurface risk and uncertainty are recognized as very important considerations in petroleum geoscience. And even when volume estimates are relatively accurate, the reservoir characteristics that determine well placement and performance can remain highly uncertain. In analyzing results and work practices, three aspects of uncertainty are reviewed here.

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Added on 14 September, 2023

DL Abstract By John Castagna

Beyond Physics in Geophysics

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

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Added on 14 September, 2023

DL Abstract By Alex Simms

Interactions Between Ice Sheets and Relative Sea Levels: Lessons From Antarctica and NW Scotland

Local sea-level changes are not simply a function of global ocean volumes but also the interactions between the solid Earth, the Earth’s gravitational field and the loading and unloading of ice sheets. Contrasting behaviors between Antarctica and Scotland highlight how important the geologic structure beneath the former ice sheets is in determining the interactions between ice sheets and relative sea levels.

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Added on 21 July, 2022

DL Abstract By Sherilyn Williams-Stroud

Atmospheric and Social Climate Change: Implications for the Future Geoscience Workforce

Climate change is not only happening in the atmosphere but also in the anthroposphere; in some ways the former could drive or exacerbate the latter, with extreme weather excursions and extreme excursions from societal norms occurring all over the earth. Accomplishing geoscience for a common goal – whether that is for successful business activities, resource assessment for public planning, mitigating the impacts of geological hazards, or for the sheer love of furthering knowledge and understanding – can and should be done by a workforce that is equitably developed and supported. Difficulty arises when the value of institutional programs to increase equity and diversity is not realized.

Request a visit from Sherilyn Williams-Stroud!

Added on 14 September, 2023

DL Abstract By Jacob Covault

Submarine-Channel Evolution From Seismic Stratigraphy & Numerical Models: Patterns and Predictions Revisited

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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Added on 20 July, 2022

DL Abstract By Jennifer Wilcox

The Role of Carbon Capture in Meeting Net-Zero Carbon Goals

President Biden has laid out a bold and ambitious goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions in the United States by 2050. The pathway to that target includes cutting total greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and eliminating them entirely from the nation’s electricity sector by 2035. The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management will play an important role in the transition to net-zero carbon emissions by reducing the environmental impacts of fossil energy production and use – and helping decarbonize other hard-to abate sectors.

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Added on 20 July, 2022

DL Abstract By Fernanda Raggio

Shaping New Leadership in an Evolving Energy Business

The Energy sector is a changing business environment. Throughout the 20th century fluctuations of oil supply and demand produced changes in the barrel price that pushed the growth or shrinkage of the industry. In this 21st century, new challenges such as diversification of the energy mix, boosting gas demand, require the exploration of critical minerals and development of new technologies as well.

Request a visit from Fernanda Raggio!

Added on 19 August, 2024

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