Publications

Explorer Historical Highlights By Henry S. Pettingill,Paul Weimer,Rocky Roden

Before unconventional resources became prevalent in the global petroleum supply, deepwater exploration and development was a significant focus for many larger companies. For deepwater activities to succeed, the petroleum industry was forced to merge its above-ground concerns with the below-ground geoscience and engineering disciplines.

Added on 01 January, 2022

Explorer Article By David Brown

2021 Marked by Oil Price Recovery, Industry Transformation

Producers finally got some relief in 2021. Oil and gas prices recovered from their pandemic lows and remained at high levels through most of the year, as increased production could not keep pace with a global demand recovery. It was a year when higher prices helped energy producers strengthen their balance sheets and improve their bottom lines.

Added on 01 January, 2022

Explorer Article By Heather Saucier

Existing Skills, Infrastructure Could Power Geothermal Revolution

Technological advances in the geothermal energy sector are making some geoscientists hopeful about the potential to deliver its energy resources almost anywhere on the planet. The growing need for clean, resilient, baseload energy coupled with recent advancements in oil and gas technology have prompted geoscientists to push the boundaries of geothermal resources. Looking beyond the natural settings of the resource, geoscientists are working to bypass geographic and geologic limits so that geothermal energy can be used around the world.

Added on 01 January, 2022

Explorer Geophysical Corner By Kurt Marfurt,Renjun Wen,Rongfeng Zhang,Satinder Chopra

AI Application to Seismic Fault Interpretation

Fault interpretation on seismic data has always been a laborious task, especially for large 3-D seismic volumes. Whereas horizon autopicking has advanced significantly during the past three decades, automated seismic fault interpretation lags behind. Fortunately, recent applications of artificial intelligence (deep learning) processes for identifying faults provide significant promise for the future.

Added on 01 December, 2021

Explorer Article By Barry Friedman

What Role Will Super-Giant Fields Play in the World’s Future Energy Mix?

Super-giant oil fields, by definition, are those fields containing at least 5 billion barrels of known recoverable crude oil or gas. It is believed they account for up the 40 percent of the world’s petroleum reserves, so their collective health – how much energy is being created at present, as well as how much can be – will play an oversized role in meeting the world’s future energy needs. “The interest in future oil supply waxes and wanes depending on price and supply, and these days climate takes up all the discussion about energy supply,” said Richard S. Bishop, past AAPG president and currently an international oil and gas consultant based in Houston.

Added on 01 December, 2021

Explorer Historical Highlights By Oliver Kuhn

Big Drilling in Ancient China

It has become something of an old chestnut in the West that China will often claim to have achieved famous scientific advancements and inventions first, often hundreds of years before the West. The investigation of these sorts of disputes – and deciding who gets bragging rights – is probably best left to serious historical researchers, but there is firm evidence of many interesting early technical achievements from the Middle Kingdom. Ancient China’s development of deep drilling techniques predates similar advancements in the West by hundreds of years.

Added on 01 November, 2021

Explorer Article By Heather Saucier

Solar Geoengineering Offers Hope for Cooling the Planet

As the United States and other countries continue to pledge to reduce emissions, a growing number of researchers are studying courses of action to ward off the worst effects of warming, should mitigation and adaptation prove insufficient. Solar geoengineering – an umbrella term for different approaches to increase the Earth’s reflectivity to offset the effects of accumulated gases in the atmosphere – was an obscure field 20 years ago. Now, it is a subject of growing interest and study among scientists and governments around the world.

Added on 01 October, 2021

Explorer Emphasis Article By Emily Llinás

All the World’s a Stage

For the past 20 years, the International Pavilion has been a standard fixture in AAPG’s annual convention and flagship international conferences. Visitors to the IP expect to see maps and flags and hear a variety of languages spoken in the area dedicated to connecting countries with hydrocarbon and mineral resources with companies seeking to explore and produce them. At the 2021 AAPG/Society of Exploration Geophysicists’ International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy taking place in Denver this month, the traditional rows of white exhibitor stands will be replaced by a 60-square-meter IP Theatre showcasing energy opportunities around the world.

Added on 01 September, 2021

Bulletin Article By Hugh Daigle,Kehua You,P. Kevin Meazell,Peter B. Flemings,Stephen C. Phillips,Yi Fang

Prediction of multiple origin overpressure in deep fold-thrust belt: A case study of Kuqa subbasin, Tarim Basin, northwestern China

The method of predicting overpressure developed in this study produces more accurate results than with Eaton’s method and is more appropriate for predicting the overpressure of intense tectonic compression, faulting, and exhumation fields in deep fold-thrust belts.

Added on 30 July, 2021

Bulletin Article By Hugh Daigle,Kehua You,P. Kevin Meazell,Peter B. Flemings,Stephen C. Phillips,Yi Fang

Origins of overpressure in the central Xihu depression of the East China Sea shelf basin

Overpressure in the central Xihu depression results from hydrocarbon generation and tectonic compression in source rocks and by pressure transfer and tectonic compression in nonsource rocks. The authors used empirical methods combined with a comprehensive geological analysis.

Added on 30 July, 2021

Publications

About Us

Region Office Contacts

STAY CONNECTED: