Advance the science of geology

Visiting Geoscientist Program (VGP)

• 4 December – Flávio Feijó delivered the short-course "Introduction to Petroleum Systems" at UFPR in Curitiba, Brazil. 22 people attended.
• 5 December – Flávio Feijó delivered the lecture "Petroleum in 2019" at UFPR in Curitiba, Brazil. 16 people attended.
• 5 December – Flávio Feijó delivered the lecture “Global warming and the end of the Petroleum Age" at UFPR in Curitiba, Brazil. 17 people attended.
• 6 - 7 December – Pedro Alarcón delivered the talk "Geologist’s Role in the Exploration and Exploitation of Hydrocarbons" at UNSAAC University in Cusco, Perú. 30 students, 3 faculty members and 3 external persons attended.
• 6-7 December – Pedro Alarcón conducted a workshop “Reserves Estimation in a Petroleum Field” at UNSAAC in Cusco, Peru. 20 students attended.
• 3 - 7 December – Xavier Moonan and ran a field trip for Suriname Student Chapter, visiting geological sites across Trinidad. 14 students attended, 11 from Suriname and 4 from Trinidad.
• 7 December – Victor Vega delivered the lecture “Largest Discoveries in Latin America” at UNAM university in Mexico City, México. 15 students and young professionals attended.

Earth Science Week

Trinidad & Tobago

• 1 December – STEM Session on Geophysics taught by Shenille Samlal, Ministry of Energy. Shenille taught the students the basics and application of geophysics to oil and gas exploration. 25 students attended.
• 8 December – STEM Session on Petroleum Systems taught by Tanuja Balkeran, YP Trinidad & Tobago Chapter Secretary. Tanuja used all the previous classes to teach the students how the elements of a petroleum system are identified and about operations involved in drilling an exploration well. 25 students attended.

Promote the use of technology

GTW Mexico 2019: Unlocking Mexico’s Offshore Potential*

• 6-7 March, Hotel Marquis Reforma, Mexico City
• Session Themes:
  • Exploration, Appraisal and Development in Shallow Water
  • Exploration, Appraisal and Development in Deep Water
  • Enabling Technologies for Offshore Activities
  • Best Practices and Lessons Learned in Today’s Mexican Petroleum Industry
• Special Luncheon Session: Opportunities and Challenges for Unconventional Exploration in Mexico
• Poster Sessions:
  • Tectonic Session and Prospectivity in Mexico’s Offshore Basins
  • Tools & Technology to Optimize Exploration & Development
• Confirmed sponsorship from Chevron, BHGE, BHP Billiton, Spectrum & Gaffney, Cline & Associates, Schlumberger Western Geco, Shell and Talos
• Opened online registration
• Finalizing technical program and confirming speakers

GTW Brazil 2019: Solutions for Appraisal and Development of Onshore and Offshore Fields

• Rio de Janeiro, 12-13 June 2019
• Working with to define session themes, chairs, speakers and sponsors
• Session Themes:
  • Alternative solutions for field clusters
  • EOR solutions for mature fields
  • Value of information in appraisal activities
  • Use of technology in complex reservoirs

GTW Suriname 2019: Recent Discoveries and Exploration and Development Opportunities in the Guiana Basin:

• Paramaribo, 5-7 November 2019
• Working with to define session themes, chairs, speakers and sponsors
• Session Themes:
  • Tectonic Setting and Prospectivity in the Guiana Basin
  • Recent discoveries in Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana
  • Best practices for Development in Emerging Basins
  • Data, Tools and Technology to Optimize Offshore Operations
  • Beyond Guiana: Offshore Exploration Updates from throughout the Region
  • Government-Industry-Community: Collaborative Strategies for Emerging Hydrocarbon Economies

ICE Buenos Aires 2019: Expanding Frontiers and Unlocking Resources for Future Generations*

• 27‐30 August 2019, Hilton Buenos Aires Hotel & Convention Center
• Opened call for abstracts on 5 November; submission deadline 8 February
• Soliciting abstract reviewers to review proposals for eight technical session themes
• Finalizing contract with BaUniline to provide general contractor services and sales support
• Actively soliciting sponsors and exhibitors
• Working with team of editors in the US and Argentina to promote AAPG Memoir 120 focusing on Vaca Muerta

Serve AAPG members throughout the Region

Region website & social media as of 3 January 2019

• Facebook page has 1696 followers (increased 0.8%)
• Twitter account has 614 followers (increased 0.7%)
• LinkedIn account has 810 followers (increased 3.4%)

Promote awareness of AAPG

Corporate Advisory Board

• Steering Committee approved creating a LACR Corporate Advisory Board which could provide strategic and tactical guidance to leadership and help to provide ongoing support for education and workforce development initiatives

Chevron Africa & Latin America (CALAEP) Partnership

• Working with CALAEP to secure University Datapages subscriptions for universities in Suriname, Guyana, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Nigeria. (Subscriptions provided by 2018 funding) 
• 2019 CALAEP contribution for AAPG events will include support for ICE Buenos Aires and the Student Leadership Summits and Imperial Barrel Award Semifinal Competitions in both the Africa and Latin America & Caribbean Regions

Bolivia Partnership

• Working to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bolivian Ministry of Hydrocarbons to AAPG to promote technical and educational activities in Bolivia

Develop the next generation of geoscientists

Imperial Barrel Award*

• The Latin America & Caribbean Region competition includes 25 teams representing nine countries
• Three teams are participating for the first time (*)

Participating Teams:

Argentina

• National University of Cordoba (UNC)*
• Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)

Bolivia

• Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA)*

Brazil

• Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE)
• Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)
• Federal University of Sergipe (UFS)
• State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ)
• Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
• Universidad Federal de Paraná (UFP)*
• Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS)

Colombia

• EAFIT University
• Universidad de Caldas
• Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS)
• Universidad de los Andes (Uniandes)
• Universidad Nacional de Colombia – Bogotá (UNAL)
• Universidad Nacional de Colombia – Medellín (Unalmed)

Mexico

• Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN)
• Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM)

Peru

• National University of San Agustin (UNSA)
• Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM)
• Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería (UNI)

Suriname

• Anton de Kom University of Suriname

Trinidad and Tobago

• University of the West Indies (UWI) – St. Augustine

Venezuela

• Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV)
• Universidad Simón Bolivar (USB)

2019 LACR IBA Competition timeline:

• Dataset release: Friday, 4 January
• Virtual round (via WebEx): Friday, 1 March
• Semifinal Round, Rio de Janeiro: Friday, 5 April
• Global Finals, San Antonio, TX: Saturday, 18 May

2019 Student-Young Professional Leadership Summit*

• 30 August – 1 September 2019 in Buenos Aires
• Advertising Summit Sponsorship option in the ICE Buenos Aires 2019 sponsorship brochure
• Confirmed Sponsorships from Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell
• Formed organizing committee; developing timeline for event planning

Ready to Work Program Pilot

• The FY2019 Region budget includes funding to expand the Ready to Work Program in other parts of the region
• Will use best practices and lessons learned from the March-April 2018 Peru Pilot to develop programs in Colombia, Brazil and Argentina
• Identifying volunteers to develop Ready-to-Work initiative in Colombia; held meeting with Halliburton/Landmark in December

Student Chapters

• 12 September - 30 December - UNI, Peru, hosted the course/study group "Sedimentary environments" by Fritz Palacios. 32 students participated.
• 9 October - UDELAR, Uruguay confirmed and activated a new AAPG student chapter
• 7 November – students from UDELAR, Uruguay participated in the web seminar "The Geoscience We Do in the Petroleum Industry" By Ph.D. Fred Schroeder. 19 students attended.
• 23 November - UNSAAC, Peru, participated in the talk "Career Opportunities in the Energy Industry" and " "Methodology of the Exploration of Hydrocarbons, Resource, Estimation and Analysis of Risks and Uncertainties" by Jul Roldan Guevara. 70 students attended.
• 28-29 November - UNSAAC, Peru, participated in the workshop "Geological Mapping of the Subsurface Applied to Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production " by Kiko Valencia Cardenas. 50 students attended.
• 1-7 December - Suriname Student Chapter of AAPG attended a fieldwork "AAPG Field Guide to Key Outcrops in Trinidad" and visited the following sites:
• Day 1: San Fernando Hill, Debe anticline (Robertson trace forest formation), Upper Morne L'ever (Bheemul Trace MLE Formation) - Attended: 10 Suriname students, 4 Trinidad students and 2 lecturers.
• Day 2: Ravine Sable Sum Sum sandstone, Las Cuevas Maracas formation phyllites - Attended: 10 Suriname students, 3 Trinidad students and 2 lecturers.
• Day 3: Weatherford core session, MCG seismic ship tour - Attended: 10 Suriname students, 6 Trinidad students and 3 lecturers.
• Day 4: Palo Seco Lower Cruse turbidites, Anglais Pt Mud volcano, Pitch lake: Attended: 10 Suriname students, 2 Trinidad students, Clyde Griffith and 2 lecturers.
• Day 5: Cedros morne L'ever formation, Glafa Pt Cruse formation, Galfa Pt discovery 'uplifted beach', Columbus bay MLEEM - Attended: 10 Suriname students and advisor, 3 Trinidad students and 2 lecturers.
• Day 6: Mayo Limestones (TCL), Wellsite visit Touchstone Exploration - Attended: 10 Suriname students and advisor, 3 Trinidad students and 2 lecturers.
• Day 7: Mayaro MB1 - MB9 - Attended: 10 Suriname students and advisor, 2 Trinidad students and 1 lecturer.
• 3 December - UFS, Brazil, held the activity "More Geology” with the theme: Petroleum Systems by Francielly Soares de Sá. 10 students attended.
• 3 -14 December - UERJ, Brazil, held the activity " UERJ Geology Student Chapters Christmas Campaign". More than 60 toys were collected and donated to a social project.
• 3-28 December - UFRuralRJ, Brazil held the activity "Campaign to raise donations to the Institute Paulo César Filho". 9 students attended.
• 4 December - IPN, Mexico organized the First Polytechnic Summit of Petroleum post-event meeting with SPE IPN student chapter. Provided feedback of about the event and signed a collaboration agreement for future years.
• 6 December – UNSAAC, Cusco Peru, participated in the talk "Role of the Geologist in Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production " by Pedro Alarcon Medina. 40 students attended.
• 6 December – UNMSM, Lima, Peru, held the short course "Petrophysics: a Critical Tool for Reservoir Characterization. Uncovering Reservoir Potential in Challenging SubAndean Basins" by Jose Vasquez, EAGE. 16 students and 10 professionals attended.
• 6-7 December – UNSAAC, Cusco, Peru held the workshop "Estimation of Original Reserves in a Petroleum Field " by Pedro Alarcon. 20 students attended.
• 12 December - UFS, Aracaju, Brazil, held the activity "Coffee, Economy and Oil" by Eugênio Dezen, Luciano Seixas and Antônio José Rivas. 44 students and 8 professionals attended.
• 13-15 December- UFPR, Curitiba, Brazil, helped organizing and collaborated with the PALEO SC/PR 2018 event with the donation of books.
• 14 December - UNS, Bahía Blanca, Argentina, held the conference "Coal in the Buenos Aires Province: its Importance as an an Energy Resource," by José Kostadinoff, UNS. 40 students and young professionals attended.
• 14 December - UFS, Aracaju, Brazil, held the activity "More Geology” with the theme “Environmental Studies using Geoelectric Methods" by Matheus Oliveira Falheiros. 13 students attended.
• 15 December - UFS, Aracaju Brazil, participated in the "3rd State Meeting CREAJR-SE - Professionals 4.0: Impacting the Now!". 300 people attended.
• 19-20 December - UNISINOS, São Leopoldo Brazil, held the activity "Petrophysics course: Understanding Profiles: Use of Conventional Open Well Profiles for Formation Assessment, taught by PhD Mônica Marques da Fonseca. 8 people attended.
• 19 and 21 December - UERJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil held the short course "Applied Bioestratigraphy" by Rodolfo Dino. 8 people attended.
• 20 December – UWI, ST. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago attended the AAPG Annual Christmas Dinner, ''Christmas Wonderland.'' 31 students attended, as well as 18 invited guests including heads of department, lecturers, research assistants and AAPG T&T YP Chapter executives.
• 21 December - UFS, Aracaju, Brazil, held the activity "Solidarity Christmas of Geology - donation of gifts (clothes, toys and food) to the Beneficial Institution EBAL" by Empresa Júnior Terra Rara, Academic Center of Geology and Student Chapter AAPG-UFS. 100 students participated.

YP Chapters

Argentina

• 17 December – Chapter hosted the talk “Geological Characterization and Oil Potential of Intrusive Igneous Bodies of the Austral Basin, Argentina.” 20 people attended.
• 27 December – Provided an Imperial Barrel Award Overview to the 3 Argentine student groups that will participate in the 2019 competition.

Bolivia

• 2 December – Chapter hosted a Christmas Meet & Greet Social, including a reception, driving range, summary of AAPG LACR activities, 2018 YP Bolivia Chapter activities and presentation of winners CAPTUREGEO 2018 photography contest winners. Also included a barbecue meal and musical show. 55 attendees.
• 2 December – Published 2019 Calendar and Agenda containing of 12 amateur photos featuring geological formations or landscapes in Bolivia. Revenue from calendars sold will be donated to a charity pet association called “Mi Refugio”

Brazil

• 3 December – Article published in the YP webpage by Guilherme Sowek "How many geology courses are there in Brazil, and how does that affect your wallet?"
• 6 December – Participation in “Women in Energy” hosted by SPE in Rio de Janeiro. Priscila Amaral participated along with other young female leaders.
• 22 December – Leticia Correa organized the shape of YP's Bulletin for 2019.
• 25 December – Chapter published a Christmas post in the Facebook and LinkedIn page.

Mexico

• 7 December – Chapter members attended Victor Vega’s talk at UNAM. (See VGP section)
• 22 December – Chapter hosted end of the year and closure of annual activities, at Colonia Universidad, south of the city. 25 people attended.

Peru

• 14 December – Social Activity: "Geological BBQ Party" held at LCV. 50 participants.
• 28 December – Deisy Arriola delivered the talk "The role of the AAPG as a Window of Opportunity in the Oil Industry" at Technical Talks of the Imperial Geologists event in Cusco. 100 attendees.

Trinidad & Tobago


Students from Suriname and Trinidad visit the Mayo limestone Quarry as a part of the Trinidad Geotour
• 1-8 December – Chapter members helped to organize a Trinidad Geotour for the AAPG Student Chapter from Suriname. Tour leaders included Xavier Moonan (LACR Education Director), Ariana Osman (UWI PhD Student), Amrit Cooblal (YP President), Ibraheem Ali (YP PRO), Avinash Rambaran (UWI PhD Student). 
• The Chapter hosted Suriname students during a week of field trips covering the fundamentals of petroleum geology through visits to outcrops, industry tours and classroom sessions.  10 students and 6 YPs attended.