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Explorer Historical Highlights By Jeff Aldrich,John Seidle

The Elusive and Elastic History of 'Sweet Spots'

People in the oil and gas industry often speak of, and always seek to find, the “sweet spot” of a given play, field or reservoir. Ask anyone in the oil patch, “What is a sweet spot?”, and you will often get an answer long on colorful recollections and short on hard details. Ask a follow-up question about the history of sweet spots and you will probably receive only a baffled look.

Added on 01 March, 2021

Explorer Article By Emily Llinás

Long-Term Strategies for Colombia’s Offshore

Last year started with promise for the Colombian offshore industry. Shell EP Offshore Ventures Limited and Ecopetrol, S.A. signed an agreement for Shell to acquire an interest in and operate the Fuerte Sur, Purple Angel and Col-5 blocks located in the southern Colombian Caribbean basin. Noble Energy opened an office in Barranquilla and announced plans to drill a prospect at 8,500 feet on the Col-3 block in the Guajira Basin in northern Colombia. Ecopetrol and Petrobras prepared to mature the 2014 Orca discovery on the Tayrona block, also in Guajira. Then COVID-19 came to the Americas in March 2020, and everything changed.

Added on 01 March, 2021

Explorer Article By David Brown

'The Longest Year We've Ever Had'

University geoscience programs face a challenging future as the world emerges from the coronavirus pandemic – one that could have significant and even dire implications for oil and gas. Educators, mostly outside the United States, are already sounding an alarm.

Added on 01 March, 2021

Explorer Director’s Corner By David Curtiss

An Opportunity in Disguise?

First there was Peak Oil, the Malthusian fear that the world was running out of oil. This idea has been around for a long time but had its most recent renaissance in the mid- 2000s with a host of books warning that global demand was going to overwhelm the industry’s ability to supply. The expansion of unconventional oil and natural gas production quieted concerns about supply constraints. The world is not running out of hydrocarbons.

Added on 01 February, 2021

Explorer Historical Highlights By Gustavo Coronel

Chevron in Ecuador

In February 2011, the court in the small Ecuadorian town of Lago Agrio sentenced Chevron Corporation to pay $9.3 billion to a group of about 30,000 Ecuadorian residents of the Amazonian region where Texaco, later acquired by Chevron, had been producing oil for 26 years. The trial was the stuff of which Hollywood movies are made. This legal saga combined fundamental environmental issues, political intrigue, judicial corruption, corporate greed and cliff-hanging courtroom drama. Above all it unveiled the tragedy of a young and brilliant U.S. lawyer who felt he could obtain big money from a giant oil corporation while becoming a hero for the underdogs of this world.

Added on 01 February, 2021

Explorer Article By Emily Llinás

Beyond Exploration

AAPG members throughout the world are proving that geologists can be highly beneficial to the oil and gas companies that employ them in areas beyond just exploration alone. Two of them are Karyna Rodriguez, vice president of global new ventures at Searcher in London, and Eduardo Vallejo, program lead of technologies and subsurface knowledge at YPF Tecnología in Buenos Aires. In interviews with the EXPLORER, both shared stories about their careers and provided advice to the next generation of professionals.

Added on 01 February, 2021

Explorer President’s Column By Rick Fritz

Predicting the Future and How It Impacts AAPG

I went to a talk years ago by a speaker who was introduced as a “futurist” for his ability to predict. I’ve always wanted the title of “futurist,” but I’ve not earned it. I’ve been reading a lot of predictions for 2021 from various magazines, papers and blogs. Now I’m as close to a futurist as I will ever get, so here are a few predictions from the experts (I agree with) and how they may impact AAPG.

Added on 01 February, 2021

Explorer Article By Dave Larue

The One Where Gilligan and Frankenstein Chase Goldilocks

Not surprisingly, that idea met with an abundance of caution, and even skepticism, from an industry that experienced the severe downturn of 2014-16 followed by the worldwide COVID pandemic of 2020. Still, “I think there’s plenty to be excited about, especially given the recent upsurge in oil prices,” says one analyst.

Added on 01 February, 2021

Explorer Article By David Brown

Can Oil Explorers Dare to Hope in 2021?

As oil prices continued to rise in early 2021, explorers had to grapple with an unfamiliar and even somewhat bizarre possibility. Is the business outlook for the oil and gas industry going to be better than almost anyone expected?

Added on 01 February, 2021

Explorer Article By Heather Saucier

The Heat Beneath Our Feet

On the island of Nevis in the Caribbean, its 11,000 residents are on the verge of an energy transformation. In about two years, their cost of electricity will no longer fluctuate with market prices, and not even a hurricane will stop it from flowing. In fact, over a 25-year period, residents will save an estimated $100 million in energy costs, based on today’s pricing. How is this possible? It is the result of a strategic conversion to geothermal energy developed by GeoFrame Energy, a newly created partnership between Schlumberger New Energy, AAPG Member Bruce Cutright and business partner Dan Pfeffer. Their goal is to make geothermal energy the most cost-effective and reliable means for providing clean, sustainable power.

Added on 01 February, 2021

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AAPG publications are widely read by geologists, geophysicists and reservoir engineers. Are they your target audience? Then take advantage of the many advertising opportunities available in AAPG’s news and journal magazines.

Added on 13 April, 2018

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AAPG 2022 Strategic Planning Survey Results

Results of the 2022 AAPG Member/Customer Planning Survey.

Added on 05 April, 2023

wwwUpdate Blog By Grant Smith

Free Access to AAPG's Discovery Series 10 and 15 Full Data Set Tutorials

Courtesy of AAPG and AAPG Datapages, two Discovery Series data sets have been donated free of charge for use as online teaching materials. Discovery Series 10 – Sandstone Petrology: A Tutorial Petrographic Image Atlas 2nd Edition and Discovery Series 15 – Carbonate Petrology: Interactive Petrography Tutorial, both authored by Kitty Milliken, have been posted online for easy accessibility.

Added on 11 May, 2020

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AAPG 2022 Strategic Planning Survey Summary

Executive summary of the AAPG 2022 Member/Customer Planning Survey

Added on 05 April, 2023

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Hackbarth Assumes Presidency of AAPG

Claudia J. Hackbarth, a Houston-based geologist who has held a variety of management and leadership positions for the Royal Dutch Shell Group, assumed the presidency of AAPG on July 1.

Added on 30 June, 2023

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