Explorer Director’s Corner

The application of technology and analytical techniques has always been a hallmark of our profession, but this year ACE had special sessions dedicated to machine learning and AI in petroleum geoscience. The trend toward increased automation and greater efficiency in our workflows will affect how the petroleum explorationist works in the decades to come. Helping our members prepare for this future is something to which AAPG is committed.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Latin America Blog

AAPG and the Brazilian Association of Petroleum Geologists invite you to join us for GTW Brazil 2019: Solutions for Appraisal and Development of Onshore and Offshore Fields, a Geosciences Technology Workshop (GTW) to be held at the Hilton Rio de Janeiro in Copacabana on 13-14 June. The workshop features a series of technical presentations, panels, roundtable discussions and networking opportunities with leaders and experts from Petrobras, Shell, Total, Enauta, and other local and international operators.

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Learn! Blog

Great breakthroughs have been made in strategic exploration and development of shale oil and gas. To further promote the theoretical research and technological innovation on shale oil and gas exploration and development, AAPG will be holding a GTW in October 2019 in the Dagang Oilfield in Tianjin, China.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

You’ve heard of it before: the “Big (bad) Crew Change.” Will we have enough qualified people to fill the shoes of the large proportion of career experts getting ready to retire? It was a huge deal in the ‘90s, but what about now? Is it still really an issue, or are we just beating a dead horse?

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

On April 11, the University of Tulsa announced an alignment – a “Reimagining,” it was called – of its curriculum and identity. It is a plan that will cut its majors by more than 40 percent, from 196 to 112. These cuts will hit the humanities the hardest – and these get the lion’s share of the media coverage – but the reductions in programs and degrees are not just limited to theater, music, philosophy and foreign languages. The school’s Department of Geosciences will also be hobbled when the plan takes effect.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Laura Branch teaches high school science courses and is one of only a few credentialed Earth science teachers in Santa Barbara County and has the only upper-level high school geology class in the county. As a geoscience instructor, Branch is able to teach her students about the petroleum system and the seepage of oil and heavy oil in the coastal area.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Saudi Arabia is reportedly considering a move away from the U.S. dollar in pricing its international crude shipments. That sounds like surprising news, but it’s actually part of a story that’s played out for almost 20 years. Now this story has a new twist. Actually, several twists. The issue is NOPEC, the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act – proposed legislation that has kicked around the U.S. Congress for a couple of decades.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Call it an exploration recovery. Call it a rebound. But it feels like the oil and gas industry is returning to health in fits and starts. That could be because the patient was sicker than we realize. Any measure of how far exploration has come back should take into consideration how far back it started.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

Welcome to an interview with Tom Glover, Senior Industry Analyst of Upstream Intelligence, the organizers of the Data-Driven Drilling and Production (DDDP) conference, which takes place in Houston in June. The conference features industry decision-makers who work with data scientists who use new analytics to optimize upstream and midstream operations.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Middle East Blog

This technical workshop will be dedicated to sharing knowledge, experience and formation evaluation pertaining to low-resistivity and low-resistivity-contrast pay. This event is essentially an attempt to bring the global talent to the table to exchange expertise gained over the years from fields located in different regions and divergent geological setups, on manifestation and causes of low-resistivity and low-resistivity-contrast pay locally and also experience in dealing with the complexity of the formation evaluation through new tool technology and algorithms. You can now register for this innovative workshop taking place on 7-9 October 2019 in Muscat, Oman. The workshop will be 2.5 days, consisting of oral presentations, poster presentations and breakout sessions where participants will be able to discuss and investigate a specific theme that is of mutual interest.

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Hot Items

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 Geophysical Corner

Advancements in processing and imaging techniques have continued over the last several decades, which have gradually improved the quality of the processed surface seismic data. When the quality of the existing seismic data is not adequate to perform an interpretation task reasonably, then the interpreter looks for other options. Is it feasible to acquire a new survey? In the absence of an improved survey, will reprocessing of seismic data be a good option?

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

It isn’t news to anyone that prediction is difficult, especially when it’s the future (as a great man once said). Uncertainty and unpredictability are just a part of the job of tracking and predicting the future supply and demand of energy. That being the case, when energy analysts say that the current level of uncertainty is particularly high, it might be easy to dismiss it as a “dog bites man” story. It isn’t.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

A new type of buoyancy model can be used to understand the source of residual oil zones, both thick and thin, to help determine the likelihood that economically viable recoverable oil resides in transition zones of imbibition reservoirs. Application of a buoyancy and breech model will fill a void in reservoir characterization. It will help distinguish between TZs and ROZs, the first of which allows application of primary and secondary (waterflooding) oil recovery methods and the second of which requires more difficult CO2-enhanced oil recovery projects.

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Explorer Historical Highlights

The Casablanca oil field, discovered in 1975 and located on the Mediterranean shelf edge, has been greatly significant in the world’s offshore oil industry activity, besides being by far the biggest oil field in Spain.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

Headquarters Contacts

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