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New Study Finds Earth Warming at Record Rate, But No Evidence of Climate Change Accelerating - 06 June, 2024 07:30 AM

The US Oil and Gas Industry Emits Less Carbon Than It Used To - 04 June, 2024 07:30 AM

Explorer Article By David Brown

Lower Drilling Costs Drive Increased Offshore Exploration

Add the offshore sector to the much-improved outlook for oil and gas. If current projections are correct, offshore activity should be getting a major boost, starting later this year. This expected rebound has more to do with sharply lower drilling and production costs than with higher oil prices.

Added on 01 April, 2021

Explorer Division Column DEG By Christopher D. Walker,Don Clarke

The World Has Changed, Let’s Change With It

President Joe Biden, upon taking the reins of leadership, made it very clear that he is going to focus on clean energy and preserving the environment. On day one, he cancelled the permits for the Keystone XL Pipeline cross-border oil transportation project. The president forgot that pipelines are cheaper and safer than rail and trucks. Canada may as well ship their oil to Asia. We are and will remain in need of hydrocarbons for transportation well into the future. A healthy oil industry will be needed as we transition to clean energy sources.

Added on 01 March, 2021

Explorer Director’s Corner By David Curtiss

Onward to New Beginnings

Later this month here in the Northern Hemisphere, we’ll enjoy the spring equinox and with it the passing of winter to spring. For those of us here in North America, particularly our members in Texas who recently experienced a polar vortex accompanied by snow, ice and freezing temperatures, this transition is welcome. With spring comes new beginnings and that, too, is welcome. The concerns of COVID have not vanished, but as vaccinations roll out across the globe, we glimpse the possibility of recovery. I am hopeful.

Added on 01 March, 2021

Explorer Division Column EMD By Ursula Hammes

EMD Outlook for 2021

Happy new year to all Energy Minerals Division and AAPG members! T.S. Eliot wrote, “For last year’s words belong to last year’s language, and next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.” Therefore, I am focusing on the exciting future outlook in energy minerals and not dwelling on the past year that has been painful to many of us on a personal and professional level.

Added on 01 February, 2021

Explorer Historical Highlights By Gustavo Coronel

Chevron in Ecuador

In February 2011, the court in the small Ecuadorian town of Lago Agrio sentenced Chevron Corporation to pay $9.3 billion to a group of about 30,000 Ecuadorian residents of the Amazonian region where Texaco, later acquired by Chevron, had been producing oil for 26 years. The trial was the stuff of which Hollywood movies are made. This legal saga combined fundamental environmental issues, political intrigue, judicial corruption, corporate greed and cliff-hanging courtroom drama. Above all it unveiled the tragedy of a young and brilliant U.S. lawyer who felt he could obtain big money from a giant oil corporation while becoming a hero for the underdogs of this world.

Added on 01 February, 2021

Explorer President’s Column By Rick Fritz

Predicting the Future and How It Impacts AAPG

I went to a talk years ago by a speaker who was introduced as a “futurist” for his ability to predict. I’ve always wanted the title of “futurist,” but I’ve not earned it. I’ve been reading a lot of predictions for 2021 from various magazines, papers and blogs. Now I’m as close to a futurist as I will ever get, so here are a few predictions from the experts (I agree with) and how they may impact AAPG.

Added on 01 February, 2021

Explorer Foundation Update By Jasper Oshun,Kristina Keating,Margaret Lang

Student-Led Water Development in the Andean Puna

Bonanza en los Andes” was a two-year Geoscientists Without Borders-funded project focused on the Andean community of Zurite, Perú. Bonanza was designed around three interconnected themes: a community-based irrigation canal development project, a hydrogeologic investigation of water resources in the understudied Andean puna, and an educational program designed to train students in multidisciplinary research to bridge gaps between science and society.

Added on 01 February, 2021

Explorer Article By Barry Friedman

The 'War for Porosity' in the Appalachian Basin

When it comes to the challenges and concerns of how to store the raw material hydrocarbons in the Appalachian Basin, we are at crunch time. According to Dan Billman, it is a conversation that should have already started.

Added on 01 January, 2021

Explorer Director’s Corner By David Curtiss

The 'Epic Poem' of Evolving Global Oil Politics

“A map is the greatest of all epic poems. Its lines and colors show the realization of great dreams.” – Gilbert H. Grosvenor

Added on 01 January, 2021

Explorer Division Column DEG By Don Clarke

A Lesson from Big Bouton

The environment is in your face this year. Here in Los Angeles, we had one of the clearest springs that I can remember. All because the COVID-19 virus resulted in a huge shutdown of most everything that took us outdoors. Come summer and the fires struck the western states. The air turned brown and the visibility went to nearly zero. It stayed that way all the way to summer’s end. This was a huge wakeup call on how sensitive the atmosphere is to changes brought about by aerosols. This brings to mind a story about the biggest tourist attraction in the greater Los Angeles area in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Added on 01 December, 2020

Online e-Symposium

Tuesday, 9 September 2014, 2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.

Fluid Migration and Accumulation within the Mississippian: Why 2% Oil Cut Here, 15% One Mile Away?

Water cut is a big factor in gauging the success of horizontal drilling in the Mississippi Lime Play (MLP). The contributing factors are related in part to the spectrum of producing lithofacies and reservoir quality encountered that varies laterally and vertically, sometimes dramatically.

Added on 20 June, 2014

Webinar By Thulisile Sopete

Virtual Webinar

Thursday, 19 November 2020, 5:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.

Regional Stratigraphy of the Pletmos Basin

Thulisile Sopete explores the sedimentary evolution of the Pletmos Basin. The Pletmos Basin is a sub-basin of the greater Outeniqua Basin, is located off the south coast of South Africa and is bounded by the Bredasdorp Basin to the west, the Gamtoos Basin to the east and the Southern Outeniqua Basin to the south. The approach applied in the analysis for this study was based on five selected seismic transects which were interpreted using seismic stratigraphy. These interpretations were incorporated along with composite logs analysis for their respective wells to provide the framework in understanding how the Pletmos Basin evolved sedimentologically.

Added on 09 November, 2020

Online Traditional Course

Tuesday, 1 January 2013, 12:00 a.m.–1:00 a.m.

Leadership and Strategic Thinking For a Pandemic and Post-Pandemic World

In the span of a mere few months, the much of the world went from a state of exuberant self-actualization to the most primal level of survival (health, food, shelter) insecurity. Consequently, the world has changed. Shock change due to pandemic-triggered chain reactions, supply / demand and price instability, rapid technological innovation, new plays and changing markets, distributed teams and workforces, the powerful force of social media, shortages of technical expertise, and supply chain issues have come together to create new challenges and opportunities for leadership. We will analyze how the issues relate to the oil and gas business (exploration, development, oilfield services, support services, financial sector) and we will propose solutions for immediate real-world emergencies, together with longer term challenges. In addition, we will evaluate what prominent thinkers and academics have written about leadership and strategic planning.

Added on 11 December, 2013

Online e-Symposium By Ali Takbiri

Thursday, 23 April 2015, 2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.

An Analytical Model for Shale Gas Permeability

Recent laboratory studies have revealed previously unknown behaviors in shale gas which unlock secrets of permeability and sweet spots in shale gas reservoirs. The presentation presents the findings and also goes into detail about how the new information can be applied in order to potentially improve recovery in reservoirs.

Added on 24 February, 2015

Webinar

Virtual Webinar

Tuesday, 1 September 2020, 8:00 a.m.–9:00 a.m.

10 Rules for Exploration and Development Success: What They Never Teach You in School

The “Great Crew Change” has become the “Competence Train Wreck” due to the repeated personal mis-management practices of our industry and again not anticipating the known volatility of commodity prices. Despite this, hydrocarbon based energy will continue to comprise over 60% of the world’s energy mix for at least the next half century and of that energy need over half of it has yet to be found! Personal experience in working for National Oil Companies, Parastatals, large independent oil companies, small independents, as an independent and as a consultant have given me the perspective of some of the best and some of the worst of the exploration practices the industry has to offer.

Added on 07 August, 2020

Online e-Symposium

Thursday, 9 December 2010, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

The Bakken Petroleum System of the Williston Basin

The Mississippian-Devonian Bakken Petroleum System of the Williston Basin is characterized by low-porosity and permeability reservoirs, organic-rich source rocks, and regional hydrocarbon charge.

Added on 02 December, 2013

Online e-Symposium

Thursday, 28 July 2011, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

Marcellus Shale: Integrating Information to Optimize Horizontal Well Performance

This presentation discusses one operator’s approach to fully integrate data captured in the Marcellus Shale in order to optimize horizontal well performance.

Added on 02 December, 2013

Webinar By Brent Kisling,Larry R. Davis,Susan Nash

Virtual Webinar

Wednesday, 15 July 2020, 7:00 p.m.–8:30 p.m.

Pivoting Week 11: New Subsurface Tools and Techniques

Join us for 'New Subsurface Tools and Techniques'. New Subsurface Tools and Techniques and strategies for pivoting for new revenue and diversification in today's times. This webinar will be presented via Zoom 7pm - 8:30pm CDT, 15 July 2020.

Added on 15 June, 2020

Online e-Symposium

Thursday, 8 December 2011, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

Connectivity in Fluvial Systems

This e-symposium focuses on methods for predicting connectivity within clastic fluvial systems.

Added on 11 December, 2013

Webinar By Cleveland Jones

Virtual Webinar

Tuesday, 28 April 2020, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

Yet-to-Find Oil Potential of the Brazilian Presalt - Portuguese Talk

Em 2011 e 2015, apresentei uma avaliação do potencial de petróleo ainda por descobrir (YTF – Yet to Find) na região brasileira do pré-sal, utilizando uma ferramenta de modelagem de exploração e um método de simulação estocástica (Monte Carlo) para estimar as acumulações potenciais já descobertas e as restantes para ser descobertas. Embora da metodologia robusta usada, é compreensível que, à luz dos novos preços do petróleo, muito mais baixos, a avaliação do óleo YTF possa ser questionada sobre o quão realista poderia ser, num cenário prolongado de preço baixo do petróleo. Em 2016, apresentei essa avaliação, para preços do petróleo abaixo de US$ 50/bbl. Agora, com os preços do petróleo ainda mais baixos que podem representar um novo cenário de redução por mais tempo, volto a revisar as avaliações anteriores. Os resultados são apresentados no contexto de importantes implicações geopolíticas para em regiões do mundo onde os recursos de petróleo e gás provavelmente continuarão viáveis, apesar dos preços baixos do petróleo, e os rearranjos geopolíticos que isso implica.

Added on 08 July, 2020

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.

Request a visit from Jennifer Wilcox!

Added on 20 July, 2022

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.

Request a visit from Alex Simms!

Added on 21 July, 2022

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