Learn! Blog

Discover the basic fundamentals of structural geology, the response of natural materials to deformation, and what changes occur due to the application of stress and or strain energy. Practical Geomechanics will be covering the many aspects of exploration, assessment and production phases of petroleum reservoir development.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Energy Policy Blog

As the U.S. increases its production of crude oil, pressure continues to build to allow crude exports. U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has been asked to study the economic impacts of potentially lifting the ban and those studies are expected to be released in the late 2014/early 2015 timeframe.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Energy Policy Blog

Arctic exploration and production is heating up: Shell plans to resume drilling in the arctic offshore Alaska in 2015, and in the spring of 2015 the U.S. is assuming the leadership of the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum created to address the concerns to Arctic nations and the region’s indigenous peoples. Undiscovered Arctic oil and gas resources are huge, as are producing onshore fields. There are only a few producing fields in the offshore arctic, but that number could expand with planned drilling offshore Russia and Alaska.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

Looking at a formation as a source rock, then turning around and considering it a viable reservoir requires you to be able to shift your thinking and to analyze a great deal of data in a new way. If you don’t, you risk not understanding the nature of “sweet spots” and how to accurately complete or use reservoir characterization studies.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Policy Watch

Ronald Reagan stated in an April 2, 1988, radio address that “ … although basic research does not begin with a particular practical goal, when you look at the results over the years it ends up being one of the most practical things government does.” This widely held opinion has been notoriously hard to verify or quantify, leading to questions about appropriate funding levels.

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

As AAPG Division of Professional Affairs president I am often asked, “What is the DPA’s purpose?” I decided one of the best ways to answer this question is take the Letterman approach with a Top 10 list of purposes and reasons to be part of DPA.

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

As this issue of EXPLORER goes to print, geoscience students and industry recruiters are gathering on the plains of Wyoming for the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous, the annual job fair of AAPG’s Rocky Mountain Section.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

The second annual Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, which once again threw a multidiscipline spotlight on new approaches, technology and science being used to develop unconventional plays, attracted more than 5,000 attendees– a 25 percent increase over last year’s inaugural event – to Denver’s Colorado Convention Center in late August.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Colombian geophysicist Jaime Checa, the current president of AAPG Affiliated Society Asociación Colombiana de Geólogos y Geofísicos del Petróleo (ACGGP), is dedicating his presidency, and much of his free time, to combating misinformation related to seismic acquisition in Colombia.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

It might be a well-worn saying, but it fits perfectly in today’s industry environment: When the exploration business sneezes, the seismic business gets the flu. Seismic acquisition companies have financial aches and pains this year because of a reduction in capital expenditures for oil and gas exploration work, especially by international oil companies.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

Hot Items

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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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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)
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 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

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)

Headquarters Contacts

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