HomeScience

Science

Explorer Article

As the global energy sector gains momentum and companies enter licensing rounds, the need for quick access to data holds fundamental importance. Increasingly, operators large and small are turning to multiclient companies who have the information and images that help them make decisions about entering a new area.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

“Undoubtedly, yes, the world must accelerate its transition to renewable energy. Cost is no longer a major barrier for renewables.” That’s Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, chairman of the United Nations Global Compact Foundation, an organization dedicated to finding what it calls “lasting solutions” to the world’s pressing global needs, including, for our purposes here, energy.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

While many see the energy transition as the switch from carbon-based to non- carbon-based fuels, Scott Tinker sees a broader definition. Tinker, past AAPG president, director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and Texas state geologist, suggested the goal of a successful transition is lifting some 2.5 billion people out of poverty by addressing energy poverty, as well as by minimizing environmental impacts.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Wind, solar and biofuels have a long way to go before they’re sufficiently reliable to replace fossil fuels as the world’s primary energy source, but in the meantime, carbon capture and storage will play an integral role in the global transition to sustainable energy.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Lower cost and lower carbon. That’s the energy future for which geoscientists need to start preparing now, according to Neal Anderson, president and CEO of Wood Mackenzie in Edinburgh, one of the world’s leading energy research and consulting firms.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

How can operators increase the stimulated reservoir volume in multi-stage horizontal well completions? That is the key to increasing ultimate recovery and taking an edge off decline curves. Welcome to an interview with Jenna Robertson, ThruTubing. In addition to this interview, she will also be explaining how the technologies work at AAPG's Success with Difficult Unconventionals, Nov 12-13, in Houston.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Geophysical Corner

These days acoustic and elastic impedance are commonly derived from 3-D seismic data, which help us compute porosity and reservoir fluid estimates. Somewhat less commonly, vertical fracture density and fracture orientation in the reservoir rocks are derived from seismic data, enhancing our ability for optimum placement of horizontal wells and optimal recovery. To achieve the latter objective, good quality seismic data are required, which might be acquired not only with such objectives in mind, but also to yield data with good signal-to-noise ratio.

Show more
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Historical Highlights

I was once asked during a job interview, “Is geology a science or an art?” I am still wondering what the correct answer is to something that sounds like a trick question, but what I do know is that both scientists and artists require inspiration. This can come in all manner of forms, but we can definitely be inspired by those who have paved the way for our ongoing endeavors. For our profession, that means being inspired by the great geologists. The history of geoscience is marked by the work of exemplary scientists who changed the way we think about the Earth, its history, processes and resources.

Show more
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

The AAPG Student Poster Competition began in 1996, when a single first-place award was given to Ian Robert Gordon of UT Austin for his poster. Since then, the program has expanded, soon including international schools, leading to 2019, when four awards were given, some to international students. Jack Kenning, a second-year doctoral student in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department at UH, won with a poster entitled “Controls of Cenozoic Mass Transport Deposits on Hydrocarbon Prospectivity of the Mexican Ridges Fold-Belt, Western Gulf of Mexico.”

Show more
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

As I indicated in my candidate statement, AAPG is a business and our purpose is to provide material to our membership that will help them as professional geologists. As a business, we have to consider the purpose of the Association. The AAPG editor is the de facto scientific leader of the AAPG and my task is to deliver publications that are significant to our membership and to manage the legacy publications.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Monday, 27 May Wednesday, 29 May 2024, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

In order to support the energy transition, optimizing exploration and production from complex stratigraphic-diagenetic conventional and unconventional plays remains highly important. At the same time, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) poses new technological challenges that will impact both the industry and academia for decades to come. This 2nd edition will present reviews and discuss technology developments in geological process-based forward modeling achieved during the last 2 years. New perspectives for future technology developments and implementation in industry workflows will be discussed and with the additional focus on CO₂ storage and other sustainability-related applications, the scope of the workshop will be considerably extended.

Show more
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tuesday, 30 January Wednesday, 31 January 2024, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

AAPG and EAGE have teamed up to deliver the upcoming New Discoveries in Mature Basins workshop to be held from 30-31 January, 2024 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Save the date! Registration to open soon.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Khobar, Saudi Arabia
Monday, 4 December Wednesday, 6 December 2023, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

The fifth annual AAPG Siliciclastic Reservoirs of the Middle East Workshop will take place in Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia from 4-6 December 2023. This workshop will bring together professionals from the region to share their knowledge and experience related to siliciclastic reservoirs and showcase the best success stories in the industry on understanding and utilizing oil and gas siliciclastic reservoirs in the region.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Khobar, Saudi Arabia
Monday, 4 March Wednesday, 6 March 2024, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Join us for the 4th Edition of: "Stratigraphic Traps of the Middle East" workshop. The workshop will be hosted by AAPG in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia 4-6 March 2024.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Paramaribo, Suriname
Wednesday, 17 January Thursday, 18 January 2024, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Plan now to attend an interactive in-person workshop with industry leaders, government representatives and technical experts working in the Guyana-Suriname Basin.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

This presentation is a survey of subsurface machine learning concepts that have been formulated for unconventional asset development, described in the literature, and subsequently patented. Operators that utilize similar subsurface machine learning workflows and other data modelling techniques enjoy a competitive advantage at optimizing the development of unconventional plays.

Request a visit from Shane Prochnow!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

For well over a century there have been conflicting indications of the strength of the crust and of faults and what controls them.  Much of our ignorance comes quite naturally from the general inaccessibility of the crust to measurement--in contrast with our understanding of the atmosphere, which is much more accessible to observation as well as more rapidly changing.  Crustal strength is best understood in deforming sedimentary basins where the petroleum industry has made great contributions, particularly in deforming petroleum basins because of the practical need to predict. In this talk we take a broad look at key issues in crustal strength and deformation and what we can learn from boreholes, earthquakes, active fault systems, and toy models.

Show more

Request a visit from John Suppe!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

As oil and gas exploration and production occur in deeper basins and more complex geologic settings, accurate characterization and modeling of reservoirs to improve estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) prediction, optimize well placement and maximize recovery become paramount. Existing technologies for reservoir characterization and modeling have proven inadequate for delivering detailed 3D predictions of reservoir architecture, connectivity and rock quality at scales that impact subsurface flow patterns and reservoir performance. Because of the gap between the geophysical and geologic data available (seismic, well logs, cores) and the data needed to model rock heterogeneities at the reservoir scale, constraints from external analog systems are needed. Existing stratigraphic concepts and deposition models are mostly empirical and seldom provide quantitative constraints on fine-scale reservoir heterogeneity. Current reservoir modeling tools are challenged to accurately replicate complex, nonstationary, rock heterogeneity patterns that control connectivity, such as shale layers that serve as flow baffles and barriers.

Show more

Request a visit from Tao Sun!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

President Biden has laid out a bold and ambitious goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions in the United States by 2050.  The pathway to that target includes cutting total greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and eliminating them entirely from the nation’s electricity sector by 2035. The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management will play an important role in the transition to net-zero carbon emissions by reducing the environmental impacts of fossil energy production and use – and helping decarbonize other hard-to abate sectors.

Show more

Request a visit from Jennifer Wilcox!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

While there are many habitats that are associated with the deposition of organic-rich marine and lacustrine source rocks, one important pathway is linked to the onset of increased basin subsidence associated with major tectonic events. A key aspect is that this subsidence is spatially variable, with the uplift of basin flanks contemporaneous with the foundering of the basin center, resulting in a steeper basin profile.

Request a visit from Kurt W. Rudolph!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
VG Abstract

The Betic hinterland, in the westernmost Mediterranean, constitutes a unique example of a stack of metamorphic units. Using a three-dimensional model for the crustal structure of the Betics-Rif area this talk will address the role of crustal flow simultaneously to upper-crustal low-angle faulting in the origin and evolution of the topography.

Request a visit from Juan I. Soto!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
VG Abstract

The carbonate sequences that were deposited in the now exhumed Tethyan Ocean influence many aspects of our lives today, either by supplying the energy that warms our homes and the fuel that powers our cars or providing the stunning landscapes for both winter and summer vacations. They also represent some of the most intensely studied rock formations in the world and have provided geoscientists with a fascinating insight into the turbulent nature of 250 Million years of Earth’s history. By combining studies from the full range of geoscience disciplines this presentation will trace the development of these carbonate sequences from their initial formation on the margins of large ancient continental masses to their present day locations in and around the Greater Mediterranean and Near East region. The first order control on growth patterns and carbonate platform development by the regional plate-tectonic setting, underlying basin architecture and fluctuations in sea level will be illustrated. The organisms that contribute to sequence development will be revealed to be treasure troves of forensic information. Finally, these rock sequences will be shown to contain all the ingredients necessary to form and retain hydrocarbons and the manner in which major post-depositional tectonic events led to the formation of some of the largest hydrocarbon accumulations in the world will be demonstrated.

Show more

Request a visit from Keith Gerdes!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

Local sea-level changes are not simply a function of global ocean volumes but also the interactions between the solid Earth, the Earth’s gravitational field and the loading and unloading of ice sheets. Contrasting behaviors between Antarctica and Scotland highlight how important the geologic structure beneath the former ice sheets is in determining the interactions between ice sheets and relative sea levels.

Request a visit from Alex Simms!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
VG Abstract

In comparison with the known boundary conditions that promote salt deformation and flow in sedimentary basins, the processes involved with the mobilization of clay-rich detrital sediments are far less well established. This talk will use seismic examples in different tectonic settings to document the variety of shale geometries that can be formed under brittle and ductile deformations.

Request a visit from Juan I. Soto!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

Why H₂ is generated in subsurface? Which are the reactions and the promising geological setting? Example in countries where H₂ have already been found: Australia, Brazil. Kinetic reactions: i.e., Is the natural H₂ renewable? What we don't know yet about this resource and about the H₂ systems (generation/transport/accumulation). Overview of the current landscape (subsurface law, permitting, E&P activity)

Request a visit from Isabelle Moretti!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

Related Interests