Explorer Historical Highlights

Alongside 3-D seismic, long-reach horizontal drilling and the application of plate tectonics to exploration, sequence stratigraphy has been one of the greatest scientific advances within the petroleum geology industry of the last 50 years. Since it came to the wider attention of the industry in 1977, it has been embraced because the integration of time-significant surfaces with stratigraphic architecture provides great predictive insight at a variety of scales and extracts value from many data types.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Saudi Aramco’s “G-Camp” offers teachers hand’s-on training in geoscience education.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

The University of Adelaide sits on a goldmine of geological research opportunity in South Australia’s Bight Basin.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

The coastal region of the Mississippi River Delta is rapidly deteriorating, but the Louisiana State University Coastal Studies Institute is working to reverse the trend.

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

I am pleased to serve as president of the Energy Minerals Division for 2018-19. My main goals for this year are to provide frequent, easily accessible, relevant, high-quality technical content, and to improve our member engagement and communication with the regions, local societies and other geological associations.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Exploration and development drilling along the upper region of the Middle Pennsylvanian Red Fork Sandstone has been going on since 1979 in the western part of the Anadarko basin of Oklahoma. Fangyu Li, a postdoctoral research associate in the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia, said the latest technology in multispectral coherence is developing to a point where scientists can see more of what’s down there and they can see it more clearly.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Geophysical Corner

“Big data” and “data analytics” are the buzzwords these days. In the last decade, our industry grappled not only with ever-larger volumes of data, but also with increased data heterogeneity. Recent developments in data analytic capabilities applied to other industries hold significant promise for those of working in the hydrocarbon exploration and development.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Historical Highlights

Imagination, an integrative approach to old-fashioned geology, plus advanced technologies played a leading role in the 2010-13 discovery of the Guama Field in the Plato Region of the Lower Magdalena Basin of Colombia.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Geoscience education is turning out to be a good fit for the modern university, and an especially good way to position students for the future. In part that’s because of the nature of earth science studies, said Stephan Graham, dean of the geoscience school at Stanford University.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer President’s Column

CERA was a diverse and dynamic week. A record-breaking 4,500 CEO’s, leaders, energy ministers and global representatives from more than 70 countries attended the March 4-9 event to ponder the future of the industry. And this year, AAPG got to play an important role in this conversation.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Field Seminar
Banff, Canada
Saturday, 11 May 2024, 8:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

Time: 8:00am - 5:00pm Fee: $300 AAPG members $350 Nonmembers $200 Academic/AAPG Emeritus Members $50 discount for workshop registrants Fee Includes: Transportation Insurance Field guide Entrance fee to Banff National Park Registration available during workshop registration This field trip will focus on the structural geology of the foothills and Front Ranges of Banff. Participants will be able to view excellent field examples of structures very similar to the producing oil and gas fields in the foothills to the west of Calgary and to learn about the complexities of sub-seismic-scale deformation. The field trip starts with an introduction to the interaction between thrust front with foreland basins and the interaction of basement trends with thrust belt geometries and (conventional) hydrocarbon fields. During the 1-day trip participants will follow a dip transect from the undeformed foreland basin, the eastern edge of the foothills marked by the triangle zone, the Front Ranges boundary and end at the Main Ranges west of Banff. Field Trip Itinerary Depart from Calgary – 8:00 a.m. Stop 1: Cochrane Retreat Road Overlook Trip overview and introduction; safety and logistics comments; interaction of thrust front with foreland basin; interaction of basement trends with thrust belt geometry and (conventional) hydrocarbon field distribution; appreciation of scale for subsurface play fairway. Stop 2: Scott Lake Stop 3: The Stony Nakoda Tim’s Classic stop, with historical importance for understanding the thrust belt and thrust geometry. Part 1 of displacement gradient on a large thrust. Most importantly, toilet stop after all the Tim’s coffee and driving. Review of Mt Yamnuska from a different perspective; preview of drive through McConnell damage zone and change in HW stratigraphy.. Stop 4: Lac des Arcs Imbricate thrust sheets in the Front Ranges and Banff Formation. Stop 5: Canmore T-junction Observe complexities of sub-seismic-scale deformation in mechanically layered rocks in the footwall of a large thrust Stop 6: Canmore strike view of the Rundle thrust Exposed strike view analogous to a cut-away of a giant conventional Foothills hydrocarbon field such as Turner Valley. Cross faults within the thrust sheet offset potential reservoir units at sub-seismic scale. Cross faults are arguably part of a regional trend associated with deeper, basement-rooted NE-SW structures. Stop 7: Mt Norquay Overlook Stop 8: Bow Falls Fracture systems in the Vega Siltstone Mbr of the Triassic Sulphur Mtn Fm. This outcrop of Vega Member siltstone of the Sulphur Mtn Fm is considered equivalent to upper Montney Fm. We will focus on the outcrop adjacent to the steps up to the Falls overlook.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
VG Abstract

The carbonate sequences that were deposited in the now exhumed Tethyan Ocean influence many aspects of our lives today, either by supplying the energy that warms our homes and the fuel that powers our cars or providing the stunning landscapes for both winter and summer vacations. They also represent some of the most intensely studied rock formations in the world and have provided geoscientists with a fascinating insight into the turbulent nature of 250 Million years of Earth’s history. By combining studies from the full range of geoscience disciplines this presentation will trace the development of these carbonate sequences from their initial formation on the margins of large ancient continental masses to their present day locations in and around the Greater Mediterranean and Near East region. The first order control on growth patterns and carbonate platform development by the regional plate-tectonic setting, underlying basin architecture and fluctuations in sea level will be illustrated. The organisms that contribute to sequence development will be revealed to be treasure troves of forensic information. Finally, these rock sequences will be shown to contain all the ingredients necessary to form and retain hydrocarbons and the manner in which major post-depositional tectonic events led to the formation of some of the largest hydrocarbon accumulations in the world will be demonstrated.

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Request a visit from Keith Gerdes!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

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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Request a visit from Tao Sun!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

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