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Explorer Director’s Corner By David Curtiss

Four of every five people on the planet are in emerging and developing economies. These are people just beginning to move up the economic ladder, and they need energy to do so. Scott Tinker, a past president of AAPG, has been talking about energy systems for much more than a decade, and launched a non-profit organization, the Switch Energy Alliance, to elevate the public conversation about the value and realities of the energy choices we face. Earlier this year Tinker participated in a TEDx event at the University of Texas at Austin. His talk, “The Dual Challenge: Energy and Environment” was released online last month. The choice, if you listen to policymakers and the media, is one of either energy or the environment. But this isn’t the choice at all.

Added on 01 June, 2022

Explorer Regions and Sections By Linda Sternbach

Franklin Mountains Field Trip Offers Clues to Unlocking Oil and Mineral Resources of West Texas

Many geologists have earned their field trip stripes in the Guadalupe Mountains in West Texas, but fewer have heard – and braved the dangers – of hiking the mysterious and mineral-rich Franklin Mountains north of El Paso. The Franklin Mountain region is a west-tilting series of horst blocks that became 5,000-7,200-foot tall mountains as a result of the Laramide orogeny. The sheer eastern escarpment exposes rocks dating from the Pennsylvanian down to 1.25-billion-year-old basement granite. It was a “field trip through time” focused on the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian formations, representing more than 100 million years of geologic history.

Added on 01 June, 2022

Explorer Readers Forum By Charles Sternbach,John Casiano,Kristie Luchtel-Ferguson,William DeMis

It’s a Good Time to Be in the Oil and Gas Industry

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.

Added on 01 June, 2022

Explorer Regions and Sections By Linda Sternbach

Southwest Section Explores ‘Resology’ at Midland Convention

The AAPG Southwest Section Convention explored a four-dimensional multiverse of geology and reservoirs, combining regional overviews with multi-scale measurements of rocks and sediments, and analyzing rocks in the fourth dimension of geologic time. The result is “Resology,” which general chair Ben Davis defines as “the study of geology and rock reservoirs at big and small scales.” He told conference attendees, “The goal of Resology is effective and efficient hydrocarbon production.”

Added on 01 June, 2022

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

Refining of Geobody Amplitude Anomalies Using Seismic Attributes

The September 2021 Geophysical Corner was an article entitled ‘3-D Visualization and Geobody Picking of Amplitude Anomalies in Deepwater Seismic Data,’ in which we reviewed the use of geobody tools to rapidly visualize the extent of geologic features that give rise to a strong seismic amplitude response. For seismically thin reservoirs, the response of a gas-saturated sandstone gives rise to a trough at the top and a peak at the base. In this case, we would need to select two separate geobodies to map the reservoir.

Added on 01 June, 2022

Explorer Historical Highlights By Leaman D. Harris

The Life and Times of an Oilfield

The small town of Cunningham, Kansas lies about 65 miles straight west of Wichita on U.S. Highway 54. It was incorporated in 1887 as a commercial center for farmers and ranchers in that part of south-central Kansas. Hard winter wheat was the main cash crop, while herds of beef and dairy cattle were a close second source of income. This activity characterized the culture of Cunningham into the early years of the 20th century. That is, until a new industry was introduced to Kansas when, in 1915, oil was discovered in the El Dorado field northeast of Wichita.

Added on 01 June, 2022

Explorer Article By Barry Friedman

Raising Capital in Current Year: Guidance for Petroleum Geologists

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.

Added on 01 June, 2022

Explorer Emphasis Article By David Brown

URTeC 2022: Going Back to Work

And we’re back. With high oil and gas prices and strong demand driving renewed interest in production, the energy industry is returning to the unconventional resources business in a big way. The upcoming Unconventional Resources Technology Conference is once again an in-person meeting, back in Houston this month, June 20-22, with a major emphasis on practical ways to boost output and introduce efficiencies.

Added on 01 June, 2022

Explorer Emphasis Article By David Brown

Can Unconventionals Come to the Rescue?

Put pressure on the United States to increase oil and natural gas production and the burden mainly falls on unconventional resources. Will operators be up to the challenge? Near-term projections call for U.S. oil output to grow by 1 million barrels per day. A difficult operating environment will make that increase a struggle, but the very nature of unconventionals offers cause for optimism.

Added on 01 June, 2022

Explorer Article By Emily Llinás

AAPG Members Mobilize Support for Ukrainian Geologist Refugees

Wars and international conflicts often bring out the worst in humanity, but they also inspire acts of resilience, solidarity and generosity. The 2022 war between Russia and Ukraine is no exception. While images shared through news broadcasts and social media posts have shocked a global audience and led many to despair, they have also served to mobilize others to reach out and do their part to relieve the suffering. This article is the first in a two-part series about Ukrainian geologist refugees who fled the conflict in their homeland and received assistance from the geoscience community in Poland and abroad. Their stories provide a glimmer of hope and a call to action during a time of tremendous challenge and opportunity.

Added on 01 June, 2022

Hot Items

Explorer Article By David Brown

What Will it Take to Get CCUS Ready for Prime Time?

Nihal Darraj, carbon capture and storage researcher at Imperial College, London shares barriers to CCUS commercialization, including costs, technology, permitting and more.

Added on 01 March, 2024

Explorer Director’s Corner By David Curtiss

Introducing the New EXPLORER, New Digital Newsletters

Perhaps you did a double take pulling the April issue of EXPLORER from the mailbox. What is this? If you joined AAPG in the last 40 years, you’ve only known EXPLORER in its long-standing tabloid format. It worked well for many years as our advertisers – particularly seismic companies – loved the large format and the ability to display their data on a sweeping canvas. For readers, it was a little more awkward.

Added on 01 April, 2024

Explorer Article By Barry Friedman

How the U Adds Value in CCUS

Carbon capture and sequestration reduces emissions, but it cannot work past cost barriers without the revenue opportunities provided by utilization and storage.

Added on 01 March, 2024