Publications

Explorer Historical Highlights By Michael Morton

It was Feb. 15, 1954 and the operation known as “DEF” was in full swing. Unusual for a geological survey party, the geologists were accompanied by 100 men of the Muscat and Oman Field Force. It was a measure of the Iraq Petroleum Company’s determination to penetrate central Oman that it paid for the troops and equipped the force with the latest modern conveniences. As the geologists reflected, they were entering a world where tire marks had never been seen before.

Added on 01 May, 2020

Explorer President’s Column By Mike Party

When Black Swans Come in Flocks

What a difference a month makes. I discussed black swan events in last month’s President’s Column. Let me tell you, the AAPG and the oil industry just got hit with three black swan events all at once: the coronavirus, the stock market’s major drop and the oil price plunge. While the drop in the stock market and the drop in demand for oil have a direct tie to the coronavirus, the unwinding of OPEC+ has added to the oil price drop. Understandably, the events of this past month have caused an increased amount of anxiety for many people.

Added on 01 April, 2020

Explorer Emphasis Article By Heather Saucier

Oman Sees First Deepwater Well

In the wake of a long hiatus from discoveries that nearly made Oman obsolete in the industry, potential is brewing again. This time, it is offshore where Eni recently began drilling the country’s first deepwater well. Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi announced, “The first drilling that we are doing in the region will be in Oman in February. It will be the first (deepwater) offshore drilling in Block 52 in Oman, so it’s quite important.” Block 52 is a vast area of approximately 90,000 square kilometers off the southern and southeastern seaboard of Oman, with water depths up to 3,000 meters. The exploration well was planned just seven months after the completion of seismic data acquisition and is likely to show gas-condensate.

Added on 01 April, 2020

Explorer President’s Column By Mike Party

Righting the Ship in Stormy Waters

This Executive Committee and the past five EC have been working hard on your behalf. AAPG had a couple black swan events in 2014 and 2015. The Executive Committees during these few years have been working very hard to cut costs and bring the budget into balance in this new commodity price environment. The bottom line to all this is that in five years we have righted the ship, bailed the water, and are sailing once again.

Added on 01 March, 2020

Explorer Emphasis Article By David Brown

Solving for Subjectivity in Machine Learning

Subjectivity in interpretation is a persistent problem in the use of machine learning for oil and gas exploration. This and other topics will be discussed at the 14th Middle East Geosciences Conference and Exhibition in Bahrain this month.

Added on 01 March, 2020

Explorer Emphasis Article By Heather Saucier

Underexplored Rub' al Khali Basin Could Hold Major Unconventional Potential

It is one of the most remote places on the planet and home to the largest sand desert in the world. Virtually uninhabited and underexplored, the Rub’ al Khali basin, known as “the Empty Quarter” in Arabic, covers more than a fourth of the southeastern part of the Saudi Arabian peninsula. While the area has been explored in the past, perhaps most notably by Max Steineke, the American geologist known for making the first oil discovery in Saudi Arabia in 1938, and then publicly again in the early 2000s by international oil companies, the basin appears to be of increasing interest once more.

Added on 01 March, 2020

Bulletin Article By Alexei Milkov,Jack Samis

Using polygonal layer-bound faults as tools to delimit clastic reservoirs in the Levant Basin offshore Lebanon

The Levant Basin offshore Lebanon contains an array of layer-bound normal faults in the Oligocene–Miocene units. The faults are believed to have nucleated in fine-grained sedimentary rocks similar to polygonal fault systems worldwide, and as a result, they may be influenced by lithological heterogeneities in the host-rock unit.

Added on 24 February, 2020

Explorer President’s Column By Mike Party

The Importance of Mentorship

I encourage all of our more senior members to help out the next generation of geologists. Remembering back to when we all started our careers, most of us were fortunate that someone took an interest in us and acted as a mentor. Look around and find a YP that you might be able to help to navigate their early career path.

Added on 01 February, 2020

Explorer Director’s Corner By David Curtiss

Usher in ‘A Fascinating New Era’ with GEO 2020

Traveling to the Middle East is something that I get a lot of questions about, particularly from colleagues and friends in the United States and Europe who have never done so. Based on the headlines they read, they’re surprised to hear me say that it is one of my favorite places to travel. The people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia warmly welcomed IPTC attendees, and a spirit of hospitality pervades cultures in the Middle East. You need to experience it. And next month we, AAPG, together with EAGE and SEG, will enable you to do just that as we launch GEO 2020, the 14th Middle East Geosciences Conference and Exhibition in Bahrain, with the theme “Geosciences in the Digital World: 2020 and Beyond.”

Added on 01 February, 2020

Explorer Article By David Brown

Sanctions on Iranian Oil are 'Untenable'

Geopolitical tensions thrust Iran into an international spotlight in January, in a series of events that briefly unnerved oil markets. The aftermath could have serious, longer-term effects on the oil and gas industry, although those repercussions are difficult to predict. There is one certainty, though, according to one analyst: Iran’s situation under continued U.S.-enforced sanctions is untenable.

Added on 01 February, 2020

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