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DEG-Related Articles

Explorer Article By Doug Cook

We are proud of the accomplishments and science achieved with the exploration of the moon by Apollo crews culminating in 1972 with Apollo 17, 50 years ago. No time since has offered so much promise for crews to return to explore the moon and deep space. There are signs of hope that that’s about to change, though.

Added on 01 July, 2022

Explorer Article By David Brown

‘We Need to Raise Our Energy IQ’

Scott Tinker holds numerous official titles. Unofficially, he’s a visionary-in-residence for the oil and gas industry and an expert frequently quoted in the media on energy topics. Since 2016, Tinker has served as chairman of the Switch Energy Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to energy education and collaborative work on energy challenges. Tinker shared his thoughts about the current state of the oil and gas industry and other issues in a recent interview with the EXPLORER.

Added on 01 July, 2022

Explorer President’s Column By Gretchen Gillis

An Attitude of Gratitude

Like many people, I take inspiration from music to motivate me during workouts, soothe me while traveling and generally improve my mood. As my term as AAPG president concludes, “Lake Shore Drive” by Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah reminds me that I will have more time for visiting my beloved daughter in Chicago. It also reminds me of the joy of Ferris Bueller – in his best friend’s father’s red Ferrari – escaping the frustration of a sunny day stuck in a classroom.

Added on 01 June, 2022

Explorer Division Column DEG By Miriam Winsten

The Petroleum Industry is the Backbone of Energy

After the past year as president of the Division of Environmental Geosciences, my three big takeaways are that the world needs energy, all forms of energy are in transition, and geoscientists are needed to explore for and develop energy – now and in the future. In every future energy scenario, oil and gas will be needed for decades at various levels to contribute to the global energy mix.

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 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 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 Article By Gretchen Gillis,Steven Goolsby

Formulating Viable Strategy for AAPG

The AAPG Advisory Council is entrusted with matters involving ethics and discipline, long-range planning, constitutional review, nominations for officers and honors and awards and other special projects as requested by the Executive Committee. That long-range planning piece is very important, yet easily lost in the flurry of nominations and honors and awards. Fortunately, under the leadership of past presidents Rick Fritz, Mike Party and Denise Cox, the AC is examining the status of geoscientists and how they are viewed within the industry and by the public, the future of petroleum and energy, and the future for geoscientists.

Added on 01 May, 2022

Explorer Article By Ken Milam

Examining the Unintended Consequences of Energy Transition

The global shift from greenhouse gas-intense, carbon-based fuels toward alternative energy sources and technologies sometimes produces unintended negative impacts. Experts at the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin are mounting a major study of these effects – the Comparing Electricity Options research consortium – with the intention of helping to identify and mitigate such unintended outcomes.

Added on 01 May, 2022

Hot Items

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 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 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