Explorer Article

Where is one of the best places on Earth to find sea monsters? In a desert, of course. The Sahara, to be more specific. The “Sahara Sea Monsters” fossil exhibit was the topic of a webinar hosted recently by AAPG’S Energy Minerals Division and co-sponsored with the Division of Environmental Geosciences.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Foundation Update

“Practical Geocommunication” is an initiative that has been endorsed by geoscience organizations on a global scale and features some of the world’s leading geocommunication experts. AAPG Foundation Trustees approved support for the program at their recent meeting.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer President’s Column

We are at the point that we either evolve or fade away. I’m reminded of a quote: “We stand now where two roads diverge. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road – the one less traveled by – offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth.”

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

This year’s Division of Professionals Affairs theme of “Renew and Engage” continues as we kick off the second quarter of 2023. Planning for the AAPG/SEG IMAGE’23 conference is underway.

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

Think back to how you first decided to become a geoscientist. Odds are good that it was because of an interaction with someone who you admired and who encouraged you to consider it. That was certainly my experience as a freshman political science major, taking geology to satisfy my general education laboratory science requirement. “What are you going to do with a political science degree?” my professor asked when I finished that first semester. “You should take historical geology next semester.” And that, as they say, was that.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Historical Highlights

The decade of the 1960s was both hectic and productive in the international petroleum industry. During those years, I worked for three oil and gas companies: Shell; the state-owned Corporacion Venezolana de Petróleo, or CVP; and Philips Petroleum Corporation. The geographical locations were diverse: surface exploration in western Venezuela; the Maracaibo oilfields and Caracas; The Hague, in the Netherlands; Balikpapan, Indonesia; Bartlesville, Okla.; and Lafayette, La. One of my most fruitful experiences took place in Maracaibo, when I had the opportunity to work with a four-man team from the Institut Français du Pétrole, known as IFP – the French Petroleum Institute. They had been sent to Venezuela to conduct regional geological studies in support of the newly created CVP.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

I have read with genuine excitement about new technologies for direct air capture of CO2, electrolytic conversion of water to hydrogen and then using the H2 to make ammonia and using CO2 from direct air capture and combining it through electrolysis to make jet fuel. These technological advances are truly impressive from a scientific perspective. However, you will need to forgive me for being rather simple-minded as I look at these impressive accomplishments.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

There’s an old adage that “the Stone Age didn’t end because we ran out of stones.” What does this have to do with oil and gas? According to Carlos Garibaldi, executive secretary of ARPEL, plenty. He said it’s a sentiment that should be both reassuring and motivating to those in the oil and gas industry, especially as the future energy landscape is so in flux.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Cultivating an archive of relevant information and a robust professional network ranked first and second, respectively, in the values geoscientists most associate with AAPG, as revealed in a survey completed in the fourth quarter of 2022. The study, commissioned by AAPG’s Executive Committee, sought to gauge the interests, roles and outlooks of geologists working in the energy industry and related fields. The Association’s leaders also wanted feedback on AAPG governance and program issues, industry conditions and ideas about how to best serve geoscience professionals going forward.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

If there are secrets hidden in and around the Hockley Salt Dome, geologist Mike Allison wants to find them. To do that, he uses his company’s drone technology. He founded Raptor Aerial Services, which specializes in aerial drone photography and videography.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

Hot Items

Explorer Historical Highlights

The Paris Basin offers times of both discoveries and failures, from its first well drilled near Normandy in the 1920s to today. 

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

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

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

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.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

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

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

Headquarters Contacts

Susan Nash
Susan Nash Director, Innovation and Emerging Science and Technology, AAPG +1 405 314 7730