This Month's Explorer Articles

Now referred to as a “super basin,” the Gulf of Mexico Basin has joined other top super basins in the world that, despite their maturity, have the potential or have proven to be significant new plays all over again. The driving force behind this renaissance is, for a large part, the evolution of technology over the last two decades that has jumpstarted both offshore and onshore basins.

As basins such as the Permian have crushed the concept of “peak oil” by doubling past production rates using new ideas and technology, their newly dubbed “super basin” status is inspiring operators on practically every continent to do the same.

I was involved in the 2006 discovery of Parshall Oil Field in the Bakken reservoir of North Dakota, one of the largest oil fields in North America. My prospect idea was based on meager geologic data that included two key wells and used the potential of new horizontal drilling technology.

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico often receives attention for its hydrocarbon potential in the Upper Jurassic and younger rocks in deep and shallow water. Increasingly more people are looking to another potential habitat for hydrocarbons, the syn-rift and associated sections, also known as the Gulf of Mexico pre-salt.

In the arena of super basins, what’s old is new again. With new technology, oil finders are finding great success by returning to basins once thought to be mature. While exploration continues along new frontiers, the industry has returned to the world’s richest petroleum-bearing basins with an all-out effort to optimize extensive infrastructure using new technology.

The quality of geoscience education is dramatically improving in several K-12 schools across America, thanks largely to the AAPG Foundation. In this case, teachers are the ones “going to school,” and the beneficiaries are their students and the future of geosciences

The end of the year is popularly depicted as a grizzled old man, stooped under the care and worry of the year gone by, ready to relinquish his responsibilities and pass the baton to the rosy-cheeked, diapered baby crawling expectantly into a new year. I’m not sure if this depiction is true this year, because I’m not sure where 2019 went – it feels like we barely got out of adolescence. And now, here we are, beginning anew. Happy New Year!

Earlier this year Mary Barrett, past president of the Division of Environmental Geology, wrote an article about “belonging.” I would like to expand on that theme and raise the bar to “What does it mean to be an Active Member?”

Looking forward to this year’s schedule of conventions, the 2020 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition will be held the first week of June and is progressing very well. The Convention Committee believes that there is something for everybody, thus giving everyone a reason to attend.