Explorer Article

Are years of upstream oil and gas underinvestment and under-exploration finally catching up with the world? Is the hope of avoiding a climate catastrophe now a lost cause? Can the global energy industry deliver adequate, affordable energy to meet the world’s future needs? Is the word in an energy crisis? Annually at midyear, a number of organizations publish overviews of the global energy picture. Based on those reports, there is good news. And bad news.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Historical Highlights

Peter Odell was a pioneer figure in petroleum economics. His ideas and analyses were highly influential in his own time and are still worth studying today. Many people came to know of Odell through his best-selling “Oil and World Power: A Geographical Interpretation.” What strikes the reader of this and other works by Odell is the author’s cross-disciplinary approach to the oil and gas industry, integrating economic analyses with geopolitics, history, maps and geography. His publications were relatable to geologists as well. The issues he addressed, in different forms, are still with us.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Readers Forum

Civilization can only exist with energy. Petroleum provides most of the energy and products we need to live environmentally responsible, healthy, sustainable and comfortable lives. Recent events in Europe prove that petroleum continues to be critical. In the first three articles of this series, we discussed the petroleum base “wedge” to various energy sources, the skill sets needed to find petroleum (and the resources offered by AAPG to develop those skills) and the unintended consequences and limits to alternative low-density energy machines. We should also explore why petroleum matters.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

How the oil and gas business finds investors is changing. Again. But it may change back. Or not. “The private equity firms that have traditionally funded new hydrocarbon companies are facing new pressure from their investors to stop placing capital in oil and gas, and the desire for quick profit – or even profit at all – has become secondary to a perceived battle against carbon dioxide,” said Don Burdick, who understands how counterintuitive not making a profit sounds. On the surface, it’s a startling development.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

While it is evident that the world will rely on oil and gas for years to come, some industry geoscientists are paving a path toward a future in alternative energy and other geoscience-related careers. Geoscientists are needed for research and development in areas of geothermal science, minerals and mining, and carbon and energy storage. They also are needed for projects that require knowledge of geology, subsurface imaging, reservoir development, satellite mapping, geotraining, multiphysics and smart data solutions.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

These days, more uncertain than the price of gas, especially with the announcement last month from the administration to ban the import of Russian oil and gas, combined with the European Union’s decision to cut imports by 80 percent, is the question of whether the world will get the energy it needs – and who will provide it. To that end, it’s worth considering what conventional oil and gas reservoirs here in America can be drilled and placed online quickly to help fill that need.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

The energy transition has been getting so much press that a hypothetical visitor from Mars could be forgiven for believing it will be completed “by next Tuesday.” Some universities and organizations are dropping any mention of petroleum in the interest of appearing forward-looking. We see this as timely folly based on a lack of historical perspective. History shows that energy transitions are lengthy and complicated. They never follow a prescribed path; they wander down dead-ends and evolve with pragmatic solutions unforeseen today.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

As the United States looks for ways to decarbonize its energy sources, some believe the nation’s abundant gas reserves – estimated at 495 trillion cubic feet in 2019 by the U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves – can play an important role. Using the steam methane reforming process, the numerous petrochemical plants along the Gulf Coast are the No. 1 producers of hydrogen in the nation. Because this hydrogen is produced with a CO2 byproduct, it is not considered a clean energy. However, by integrating carbon capture, utilization and storage into the SMR process, a clean form of hydrogen could be produced and used for process heating, in gas turbines that generate electricity, in shipping vessels and in the petrochemicals industry.

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

Many members of the Energy Minerals Division are researching or working to develop non-fossil energy resources, including geothermal, critical and nuclear minerals, and some “colors” of hydrogen, all in service to human civilization’s ongoing energy transition. Over the years, there has been a variety of reasons given for why the current transition is necessary. These are very real and important concerns, but what often gets left out of the public discourse on the energy transition is how complex and disruptive it will be, especially if we’re going to meet any of the ambitious goals set for this century.

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

Last month I wrote about the substantial increases in E&P investment necessary to ensure the availability of oil and gas supplies in the future to reduce price volatility and enhance global energy security. I drew on the analysis in a recent report of the International Energy Forum and IHS Markit. Business activity and investment in E&P remains on my mind this month, as I look forward to the upcoming NAPE Summit, from Feb. 8-11, at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Houston, Texas
Thursday, 6 June Friday, 7 June 2024, 8:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

For the first time, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and Geothermal Rising are bringing together geothermal, critical minerals and gases to explore the connections between them, either in the formation of the reservoirs or reserves, or in exploring for, evaluating, and producing them.  Specifically, the conference will bring together geothermal, lithium, geologic hydrogen, helium, iodine, and more in the form of technical presentations, probing panel discussions, poster sessions, and more.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

Why H₂ is generated in subsurface? Which are the reactions and the promising geological setting? Example in countries where H₂ have already been found: Australia, Brazil. Kinetic reactions: i.e., Is the natural H₂ renewable? What we don't know yet about this resource and about the H₂ systems (generation/transport/accumulation). Overview of the current landscape (subsurface law, permitting, E&P activity)

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

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