LAC Region Report April 2020

Published
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Advance the science of geology
Visiting Geoscientist Program (VGP)
  • Region continued its #TuesdayTalks Virtual VG Visits series and encouraged VGs to make other virtual visits as requested
  • 21 April – Ana María Goncalves delivered the talk “Importance of the Application of Balancing and Restoration Methods in the Exploration of Fold and Thrust Belts” for the University of the Andes in Mérida, Venezuela. 100 students attended.
  • 23 April – Xavier Moonan delivered the virtual talk “Unravelling the Aftermath at Los Iros” for The University of the West Indies-St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. 10 students attended
  • 23 April – Clemencia Gómez González held the talk “Importance of an Earth Science Professional in the Territories,” organized by the Mexico YP Chapter. 84 students and young professionals attended.
Tuesday Talks – April
  • 7 April – Edith Wilson delivered the talk “Conventional Wisdom in Unconventional Carbonate Plays!” via WebEx. 112 people from 22 countries attended.
  • 14 April – Juan Carlos Llinás delivered the talk “The Jurassic Proximal Carbonate Ramp in the NE Gulf of Mexico: A Setting for Thrombolite Buildups” via Zoom, in English and Spanish. 277 people form 27 countries attended in total.
  • 21 April – Ana María Goncalves delivered the talk “Importance of the Application of Balancing and Restoration Methods in the Exploration of Fold and Thrust Belts” via Zoom. 286 people from 19 countries attended.
  • 28 April – Cleveland Jones delivered the talk “Yet-to-Find Oil Potential of the Brazilian Presalt” via Zoom, in English and Portuguese. 198 people from 26 counties attended in total.
Earth Science Week

Region

  • 23 April – AAPG LACR and Colombian Association of Geologists and Geophysicists (ACGGP) launched “#Geoscience4All,”a public outreach contest to encourage students, teachers and professionals to record videos to teach others about geoscience using items found at home.
    • Submission deadline: April 29
    • A panel of judges will review the videos and announce winners in May. All videos meeting the competition criteria will be shared on AAPG and ACGGP websites
    • Contest winners will receive a digital book from AAPG bookstore or a virtual short course from ACGGP

Uruguay

  • 23 March - UDELAR Student Chapter at Montevideo, Uruguay, volunteered to assist with children and teens’ education in earth sciences topics, and they offered to answer questions, help with their homework and share educational material. 6 grade school students enrolled in the initiative.
  • 5 April – UDELAR Student Chapter at Montevideo, Uruguay, created the “Virtual Tutorships for Primary Education and High School” Facebook group to share information and contact emails to support primary and high school children with school assignments.

Trinidad and Tobago

  • 4 April – Ariana Osman presented the Virtual STEM Session: “Earth Processes: Surface” to students of St. Francis Boys' College and St. Stephen's College. 144 students attended.
  • 11 April – Saeed Khan presented the Virtual STEM Session: “Earth Processes: Subsurface” to students of St. Francis Boys' College and St. Stephen's College. 112 students attended.
  • 18 April – Faria Badhal presented the Virtual STEM Session: “Introduction to Geophysics” to students of St. Francis Boys' College and St. Stephen's College. 150 students attended.

Student/Young Professional Sustainable Development in Energy Projects Contest

  • AAPG LACR received proposals for the contest highlighting energy projects promoting sustainable development with social, environmental and economic impacts
  • Sponsors: ACGGP, NEOIL Exploration, Rock Whisperer LLC
  • Contest winners will receive cash to fund their projects
    • First place: $2,000
    • Second place: $1,000
    • Third place: $500
  • Contest timeline:
    • Proposals due:     30 April 2020
    • Winners announced:     30 May 2020
Promote geoscience and technology
Energy Opportunities Virtual Experiences*
  • AAPG’s LACR office launched Energy Opportunities Virtual Experiences, a global initiative designed to provide executives and decisionmakers in all energy sectors the opportunity to connect with the tools, information and people needed to be successful during challenging times and to move toward the future
  • EO Virtual Experiences have three components:
    • Executive Forums – panel discussions with Q&A and participant roundtables in breakout rooms held after each session. Held the last Thursday of each month starting June 25
    • Country Showcases – highlighting licensing rounds, open acreage and hydrocarbon potential in featured countries. Held the second Thursday of each month starting in July
    • Conference and B2B Session – full conference experience, including plenary sessions, Country Snapshots, U-Pitch Technology Showcase, Private B2B sessions and a virtual exhibition. Two half-days, 29-30 September 2020.
  • Currently working to develop websites and marketing materials and a calendar for Executive Forums and Country Showcases
  • Chevron transferred $20,000 in sponsorship of in-person Mexico City Conference to Energy Opportunities Virtual Experiences and will be a sponsor for all Executive Forums
GTW Colombia 2020: Exploration and Development in Southern Caribbean Basins
  • 27-28 October 2020
  • Event originally scheduled for 24-25 March postponed due to public health concerns and travel restrictions related to COVID-19
  • Committee made decision to move event from Barranquilla to Bogota to accommodate companies who will face travel restrictions through the end of the year
  • Committee is investing options for including virtual participation in the event
  • Confirmed sponsorships from Shell, Noble Energy, TGS and Petrobras Colombia
  • Sponsorship from Ecopetrol canceled due to austerity measures
  • ANH to confirm based on new workshop information
  • Session Themes:
    • Tectonic Setting and Petroleum Systems
    • Recent Discoveries and New Plays
    • Enhanced Imaging and AVO/DHI
    • Seismic Acquisition, Risk Reduction and Drilling Optimization
    • Special Session: Government Strategies to Support Colombia’s Energy Sector
Energy Opportunities Conference, Exhibition and B2B Session
  • In-person conference originally set to take place in Mexico City on 23-24 September 2020 postponed to September 2021
  • Event very likely will be moved Barranquilla, Colombia since the country has a stronger business environment than Mexico at this time
  • Contacted all committee members and speakers to notify them of the change; confirming participation in 2021 event

Mexico Offshore Workshop

  • Mexico City, February 2020
  • With Energy Opportunities in Mexico City canceled, AAPG LACR will organize a technology workshop designed to highlight Mexico’s offshore potential
  • Victor Vega and Ulises
  • Currently negotiating  with Camino Real Hotel to apply funds from Energy Opportunities deposit to the smaller event in 2020
Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTeC) Argentina
  • Hilton Buenos Aires, Argentina, 16-18 November 2020
  • Currently planning to hold in-person conference as scheduled; will continue to monitor COVID-19 and evaluate its potential impact on the event 
  • Call for Abstracts extended through June 11, 2020
  • Currently seeking abstract reviewers for all URTeC Session Themes:
    • Potential for New Unconventional Exploration and Development Plays
    • Integrated Reservoir and Play Characterization
    • Reserves Estimation and Production Forecasting
    • Geomechanics and Rock Physics
    • Well Construction and Design
    • Completions, Stimulation, and Implementation
    • Production, Operation, and Facilities
    • Seismic Applications for Unconventional Developments
    • Novel Technologies, R&D, and the Digital Oilfield
    • Social Performance and Stakeholder Management
Serve AAPG members throughout the Region
Region website & social media as of 4 May 2020
  • Facebook page has 2357 followers (increased 10.7%)
  • Twitter account has 827 followers (increased 2.9%)
  • LinkedIn account has 2123 followers (increased 14.3%)
Develop the next generation of geoscientists
Imperial Barrel Award (IBA)*
  • IBA LACR sponsors: Chevron ($5000-confirmed), Shell ($10,000-estimated, not confirmed), Schlumberger (Petrel licenses for Brazil teams)
  • Virtual round competition included 30 teams from nine countries held on March 6
  • In-person Region Semifinals to be held virtually on May 22 due to health concerns related to COVID-19 outbreak
  • Participants are:
    • Universidade Federal do Pampa (Brazil)
    • Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina)
    • Universidad Industrial de Santander (Colombia)
    • Universidad Simón Bolivar (Venezuela)
  • Semifinals judges include Freddy Corredor (GeoStrAp), Juan Pablo Lovecchio (YPF), Federico Seminario (Pluspetrol) and Antonio Velásquez (Ecopetrol)
  • Region Semifinal winner will compete in the Global Finals, scheduled to take place virtually on 5-6 June
2019 Student-Young Professional Leadership Summit*
  • 2-4 October 2020 in Bogotá, Colombia
  • Event originally scheduled to be held in Lima, Peru, but location changed to Bogota due to budget constraints and travel restrictions. (More AAPG staff and volunteers are based in Bogota.)
  • Confirmed sponsorships from Chevron ($5000)
  • Organizing committee developed timeline for event organization and is developing the event website and a plan to promote sponsorship to companies and associations
  • Currently developing program, reviewing event venues and developing strategies for in-person and virtual participation
Ready to Work (RTW) Program
  • Committees working in Argentina, Mexico, Suriname, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago developing programs for recent graduates being trained to work in the energy industry
  • The initiative is supported by the FY2020 Region budget, and additionally, though committees are seeking local support to strengthen the programs
  • The Mexico RTW Committee obtained $1500 in support from Shell Mexico
  • The Brazil RTW Committee, recipient of LACR funding in 2019, obtained $25,000 reais (approximately $US 5000) from ExxonMobil to conduct RTW activities in 2020
  • RTW committees originally planned to complete all activities by the end of AAPG’s FY 2020 fiscal year (30 June) but are developing new timelines that take into consideration public health concerns and university and business closures resulting from COVID-19
Student Chapters

March activities not previously reported

  • 2 March – UNSA, Arequipa, Peru, held the talk "Granulometry". 23 students attended.
  • 23 March – UDELAR, Montevideo, Uruguay, organized study groups with chapter members interested in taking online courses to exchange study materials, summaries, and support each other. 10 students attended.
  • 23 March – UDELAR, Montevideo, Uruguay, volunteered to assist University professors in the process of making online lessons for students, and also to create a support group for the students themselves. This support group includes all type of materials, such as summaries of the courses, videos, slides, disposition to answer any doubts 24/7. 9 chapter members participated.
  • 23 March – UDELAR, Montevideo, Uruguay, opened a YouTube channel for the chapter to upload recreational videos about geology and share with all general public. 3 chapter members participated.
  • 27 March – UNSA, Arequipa, Peru, held the virtual lecture "Structural Analysis and Introduction to Geomechanics" by Carlos Llerena Medrano, MSc. 55 students attended.
  • 23-30 March - UDELAR chapter at Universidad de la Republica, Montevideo, Uruguay, participated in “Quarantine with Geosciences” technical lectures organized by the Colombian Association of Petroleum Geologists and Geophysicists (ACGGP).

April activities

  • 1 April – IPN, Mexico City, Mexico. Hosted the talk " Master’s and PhD program scholarships in Artificial Intelligence” by Mohamed Bin Zayed-University of Artificial Intelligence. More than 80 Students attended.
  • 1 April – ESPOL, Guayaquil, Ecuador. Participated in "AAPG Youtube Video Awards". 5 students participated.
  • 2 April – UNMSM, Lima, Perú. Held the webinar "Fluvial Paleosystems in Peru: Petrology and Facies" by PhD. Aldo Alvan. 70 students, 10 young professionals and 2 professionals attended.
  • 3 April – IPN, Mexico City, Mexico. Hosted "Recruiting Session" by Schlumberger. More than 80 people attended.
  • 4 April – UNMSM, Lima, Perú. Held the webinar " Fold Belts and Structural Styles of the Sub-Andean Basins: Peruvian East" by Eng. Walther León. 80 students, 18 young professionals and 2 professionals attended.
  • 6 April - UDELAR, Montevideo, Uruguay. Held the first online course "Climate Change: Carbon Capture and Storage" on the website edx.org. 10 students attended.
  • 6 to 10 April – UNMSM, Lima, Perú. Held the workshop "Sedimentary Models in Paralytic Environments " by Eng. Edson Castillo. 41 students attended.
  • 9 to 16 April – UERJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Held the fieldwork photo competition on AAPG UERJ – Instagram profile. 24 people submitted pictures. The competition reached 20,815 views. The winner got 1,017 likes.
  • 10 April – IPN, Mexico City, Mexico. Held the activity "Another Possible Look at Women in the Earth Sciences". More than 80 students attended.
  • Apri 13 – UBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Published the online interview with Pablo Giampaoli, "The Role of the Geoscientist".
  • 13 April to 1 May – UERJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Held different activities on AAPG/UERJ Instagram profile, like a quiz of oil and gas (54 people attended), developed interaction templates and a petroleum dictionary. Recruited 101 new followers.
  • 14 April – IPN, Mexico City, Mexico. Held the talk “Definition of the Geological Model from the Interpretation of Seismic and Structural Attributes: Case studies from the Gulf of Mexico" by Dr. Fernando Alvarez San Román. 100 students attended.
  • 15 to 19 April - UNMSM, Lima, Perú. Held the workshop “Petroleum System" by Msc. Carlos Bianchi. 75 students, 10 young professionals and 1 professional attended
  • April 15 – UBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina, held the online activity "Carbon Reservoirs" by Luis Rebori. 60 students and professionals attended.
  • 20 April – UFRGS, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Held the activity "First AAPG UFRGS SC Online Meeting". 8 students attended.
  • April 20 – UBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Published the online interview to Luis Vernengo "The Role of the Geoscientist in the Energy Industry"
  • 22-23 April – UBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Held the online activity "the well image as a fundamental tool for the subsurface geologist" by Marta D`Angiola. 80 students and professionals attended.
  • 23 April – UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil. Held the technical talk "Faults and their relevance to Petroleum Geology" by Haakon Fossen from Bergen University (Norway), in live format, and in partnership with UNICAMP SEG Student Chapter. 240 people among students, young professionals, and professionals attended.
  • 23 April –UWI, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Held the virtual technical talk “Unravelling the Aftermath at Los Iros” by Mr. Xavier Moonan (AAPG Latin America VP) from Touchstone Exploration and UWI. 10 students, 18 young professionals and professionals attended.
  • 24 April – UVS, Paramaribo, Suriname. Attended the Main concepts of Sequence Stratigraphy” by Angel Molina, Exploration & Production Geologist, hosted by the AAPG YP Suriname. 4 student members and 10 young professionals attended.
  • 27 April – UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil. Held the technical webinar "Petrophysics Evaluation X Formation Test in Carbonate Reservoirs: Challenges, Technologies and Perspectives" by Bruno Menchio from Eneva and Anderson Pereira from UNIFESP, in partnership with SPE UNICAMP Student Chapter. 79 people among students, young professionals, and professionals attended.
  • 28 April – UTO, Oruro, Bolivia. Held the webinar “Chemiostratigraphy: Tool for Correlation of Ancient Geological Sequences” by Disnahir Pinto from Cardón IV S.A. (ENI y Repsol). 100 people attended, among students, young professionals and professionals.
YP Chapters

Argentina

  • No activities reported in April

Bolivia

  • 14 April – Held a chapter committee meeting to plan future activities.
  • 19 April – Held the “Virtual Round Table”, questions about petrophysics answered by senior professionals including Hector Busnego from Emerson.
  • April – Provided technical support to Bolivian Students Chapter to set up virtual talks.

Brazil

Brazil YP Chapter members participating in an online petrophysics short course.
Brazil YP Chapter members participating in an online petrophysics short course.
  • 8 April - posted on YP Brazil Geo-blog the article "New Oil Crisis: Considerations and Perspectives" by Carolina Amorim (https://www.aapgypbrasil.com/geo-blog). 272 views up to May 4th.
  • 15 April - performed the updating of the chapter's website in a new and more interactive format.
  • 20 April - published on YP Brazil webpage the "Bulletin nº3 - 2nd Semester of 2019 activities"
  • 24 April - held a live on Instagram in partnership with @geologando_ about "Young Professional's Perspectives for the Future" by Priscila Amaral. 40 people participated.
  • 27 April - 01 May - held the short course "Petrophysics - Module 1: Introduction to Petrophysics - Evaluation of Conventional Reservoirs" by Gabriel Feres (Petrobras). 20 young professionals attended.

Colombia

  • April 4 and 16 – Held a chapter committee meeting to discuss the need to open a call for volunteers, plan future activities and elect the chapter representative for AAPG LACR Student-YP Chapter Leadership Summit 2020, via Google Meet. 8 committee members attended.
  • April 25 – Launched the Permanent Call for Volunteers and held an informative meeting via Zoom with the interested people to present the chapter aims and tentative activities in the short-term. 18 people attended.

Mexico

  • 6 April – Held the talk “Principles of Geopolitics” by Mauricio E. Gaspar Garcia, as part of the video conferencing cycle “Youth with a Future”. 45 people attended.
  • 9 April - Held the informative session “AAPG Benefits and Educational Programs” via Zoom Meetings. More than 30 people attended.
  • 16 April – Launched the online video lectures cycle “Stay Home, Stay Ready” with the talk “How to go from an applicant to an ideal candidate” by the Psychologist Yescani Verónica Iyáñez Pérez. 35 people attended. The flyer in social media reached 1907 views, had 8 shares and 148 interactions.
  • 23 April – Held the talk “Importance of an Earth Science Professional in the Territories” by Clemencia Gómez González, as part of the “Stay Home, Stay Ready” online sessions. 84 people attended.
  • 29 April – Held the talk “Remote Sensors applied to exploration” by MSc. Guillermo De la Puente Flores, and Engineer Damian Zamora Rivas, as part of the “Stay Home, Stay Ready” online sessions. 21 people attend via Zoom. About the video, the publication in social media had 455 views, 8 people shared it, and had 148 interactions.
  • 30 April – Held the talk “Evaluation and proposals for remediation of polluted sites in Mexico” by Ana Alejandrína Castro Rodríguez, Enviromental Geologist, presented as part of the “Stay Home, Stay Ready” online sessions. 18 people attended. The flyer in social media reached 3488 views, had 13 shares, and 163 interactions.

Peru

  • April 1 - Held the workshop "Clearing Consultations in Petrophysics" by Engineer José Vásquez. 20 students, 30 young professionals and 45 professionals attended.
  • April 10 - Held the technical talk "Challenges in deep well drilling" by MSc. Jorge Albeiro. 25 students, 25 young professionals and 50 professionals attended.

Suriname

  • 9 and 22 April – Held a chapter committee meeting to discuss the RTW planning and plan virtual lectures.
  • 24 April – Held the virtual presentation “Main concepts of Sequence Stratigraphy” by Angel Molina, Exploration & Production Geologist. 14 young professionals/students attended.

Trinidad and Tobago

  • 1 April – Held the virtual technical talk “Challenges and Solutions to AI Application in E&P Decision-making” by Dr. Shengyu Wu. 67 persons attended.
  • 14 April – Held the virtual panel discussion “Let's Dig into It! - The Energy Industry during a Pandemic” with the panelists Javed Razack (moderator), Denise Cox (AAPG), Professor John Kaldi (AAPG), Susan Nash (AAPG), Kevin Ramnarine (former Ministry of Energy, T&T), Lynn Anderson (Touchstone Exploration), Neisha Ramdass (Energy Analyst). 56 people attended.
  • 20 April – Held the virtual technical talk “An Operator’s perspective on Surviving the Oil Glut” by Anton Paul. 57 people attended.

Venezuela

  • 10,13,15 and 17 April – Held the cycle of webinars entitled “Interpretation of oil records”, with a duration of 9 hours overall, by Eng. Gerardo Monsegui. 36 people attended.
  • 18-19 April – Held the cycle of webinars “Geophysical methods applied to prospecting for hydrocarbons”, with a duration of 6 hours overall, by MSc Alvis Campos. 38 people attended.
  • 30 April – Held the two-hour online conference “Principles of electrical tomography” by Eng. Juan Piret. 36 people attended from USA, Colombia, Perú, Ecuador, Bolivia, México, Venezuela and Argentina .
Upcoming Meetings
  • AAPGLAC Steering Committee Meeting: Thursday, 14 May, 16:00 Bogota/Lima/Mexico; 17:00 Port of Spain; 18:00 Buenos Aires/Rio de Janeiro

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