Table of Contents

 

Oklahoma! As-yet unlocked SCOOP and STACK plays have plen’y of room for maturation and development.

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Voting season for the 2014-15 AAPG Executive Committee officially opens March 3, with members having the option of casting a ballot either online or via mail.

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Statoil’s recent discoveries in the Canadian North Atlantic promises a rebirth of the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore oil industry.

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Energized by the recent Statoil ASA-operated Bay du Nord light oil discovery in Newfoundland’s offshore Flemish Pass Basin, earth scientists are gearing up to host the fourth Atlantic Realm Conjugate Margins Conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Aug. 20-22.

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In 2007, as part of its long-term strategic energy plan, the government of Newfoundland and Labrador created Nalcor Energy, its arms-length crown corporation responsible for leading the development of the province’s energy resources.

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The second annual Charles H. Taylor Fellowship meeting, held in late January under the leadership of elected editor Michael L. Sweet, once again threw a bright spotlight on AAPG technical publication efforts.

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Online registration is open for this year’s AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, which will be held April 6-9 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston – and reduced registration fees are still available for those who act fast.

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Emphasis: Seismic Advances

 

Seismic Outlook: After several years of plenty, 2014 is expected to be a comparatively lean year for the seismic industry, a few localized hot-spots around the world notwithstanding.

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Amid the backdrop of a comparatively soft market for the seismic industry in the coming year or so, oil and gas producers are watching Mexico with considerable expectation after the country passed historic constitutional reforms late last year to end the 75-year-old state monopoly on Mexico’s abundant oil and gas resources.

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Winning Hearts and Minds: Colombia and Latin American prospects offer high promise and difficult hurdles in the form of local political and public resistance.

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A multi-client seismic database maps prospects and pitfalls in the largely uncharted Arctic North Slope.

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Induced seismicity has been the bane of hydraulic fracturing’s public image, but research is underway to determine the precise culprit for seemingly unnatural earthquakes.

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Seismic data is an important asset in finding sweet spots in shale plays, as AAPG member Joanne Wang discussed at a recent workshop.

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Imagine the insight to be gained from showing every aspect of an already drilled prospect, whether good or bad, to an audience of your peers for scrutiny. We’re talking peers from a company other than your own. There’s an industry forum that exists for this purpose.

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If you’re a geologist who recognizes that you need to get up to speed on seismic technology, or a geophysicist with a yen to understand the geologic concepts needed for seismic interpretation, Bruce Hart may be the go-to guy for you.

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Denver’s 20-year-old 3-D Seismic Symposium has grown into an institution by fostering camaraderie and community and by launching careers.

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Standing Columns

Today, in my capacity as president of AAPG, working in concert with our very capable Executive Committee, I find myself dealing with a whole different breed of cows – the sacred ones.

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How can AAPG create and deliver value to its members, volunteers, customers, the oil and gas industry, and to society? After all, that’s why we exist as an organization. But what is value, anyway?

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A look at three main environmental issues that must be considered in the utilization of natural gas as a primary fuel source for the next several decades.

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The previous three Geophysical Corner articles have focused on the spectral decomposition of seismic data, describing some of the methods and their applications. This month we add another one on the same topic, showing the comparative performance of some of the methods commonly available in the interactive interpretation software packages.

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The first seismic surveys of the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) since 1988 could happen in the next two years – if the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) finalizes the required environmental impact statement (EIS) in the next few months.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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The AAPG BULLETIN, the standard-bearer of AAPG publications, is still the benchmark for peer-reviewed scientific publications in the field of hydrocarbon-related geology, even though competition exists today from other societies and for-profit publishers.

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This is a very significant year in Alberta and throughout the Canada Region, as it represents the 100-year anniversary of the Turner Valley gas field.

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The AAPG Foundation recently awarded 69 undergraduate grants to deserving students and their university geoscience departments, clubs or student chapters through its L. Austin Weeks Undergraduate Grant program awards.

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News & Features