Explorer Geophysical Corner

Seismic inversion for acoustic impedance is widely used in our industry today, mainly due to the ease and accuracy of interpretation of impedance data, but also because it allows an integrated approach to geological interpretation. In a series of three prior articles of Geophysical Corner, the application of the different methods for transformation of stacked, prestack and multicomponent seismic data into impedance data were described. In this month’s column we revisit one of the methods, namely colored inversion, to describe in detail the methodology entailed and its application to a seismic dataset from Denmark.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

At a session entitled, “From Petroleum Industry to Energy Industry: Global Young Professionals’ Perspectives on a Sustainable Future,” at the International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy conference recently held in Denver, speakers representing the World Petroleum Council’s Young Professionals Committee attributed their career decisions to the ongoing need for oil and gas, opportunities to help the industry decarbonize and a growing number of geoscience-related fields that are in need of their skillsets to thrive.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

When it comes to biomass – and, specifically, the burning of scrap lumber and forest debris – people on both sides of the debate agree that not only do trees release carbon dioxide when burned, but they are also the most effective tool we have at removing CO2 from the atmosphere. The question and disagreement, then, is what the net result is: do trees – the source of biomass for energy – capture the same amount of CO2 (through photosynthesis) while growing? “Almost half of the ‘renewable’ energy that Western Europe credits itself for is biomass of various kinds,” said Scott Tinker, director of the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

It is no secret that deepwater depositional systems hold some of the largest petroleum reservoirs on Earth. To get those reserves out safely, effectively and economically from such depths requires technology, expertise, and a little bit of luck. The challenges associated with doing that – determining the presence, distribution and quality of those reserves – is the work of the Quantitative Clastics Laboratory at the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

As the United States and other countries continue to pledge to reduce emissions, a growing number of researchers are studying courses of action to ward off the worst effects of warming, should mitigation and adaptation prove insufficient. Solar geoengineering – an umbrella term for different approaches to increase the Earth’s reflectivity to offset the effects of accumulated gases in the atmosphere – was an obscure field 20 years ago. Now, it is a subject of growing interest and study among scientists and governments around the world.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

For decades, reservoir characterization has played a crucial role in oil and gas projects – in identifying and extracting hydrocarbons from the subsurface. Now, some geologists and geophysicists are applying their industry expertise to the emerging fields of carbon storage and geothermal energy.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

For the past 20 years, the International Pavilion has been a standard fixture in AAPG’s annual convention and flagship international conferences. Visitors to the IP expect to see maps and flags and hear a variety of languages spoken in the area dedicated to connecting countries with hydrocarbon and mineral resources with companies seeking to explore and produce them. At the 2021 AAPG/Society of Exploration Geophysicists’ International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy taking place in Denver this month, the traditional rows of white exhibitor stands will be replaced by a 60-square-meter IP Theatre showcasing energy opportunities around the world.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Historical Highlights

Bibi-Heybat is an oil and gas-condensate field located on the Apsheron Peninsula on the west coast of the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan. Known as “the Land of Fire” for its ancient burning oil and gas seeps, it is generally considered the first oil-producing country in the world. Most of us know only a little about the history of oil in the Baku beyond the great fortunes made there by the Nobels and the Rothschilds, but the history of oil development in the area extends back three millennia.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

OPEC+ and the United Arab Emirates appear to have settled their spat over production levels for now, but the “prisoner’s dilemma” of the current oil market remains, and that could have long- term ramifications for the industry.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

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