Explorer Article

A field that can be touted as an industry showpiece for what can be accomplished with the right technology in combo with the right commodity price sometimes attains its lofty status only after years of expensive trial and error -- and frustration -- on the part of the operators.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Division Column EMD

The success of technological plays such as the Barnett Shale and other shales has proven the potential of shale-gas resources -- and if the recent number of technical sessions, short courses and workshops on gas shales is any indication of its significance, gas shales will be an important component of the world gas supply in the future.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Challenges in both new and old shale gas plays are forcing operators into innovative approaches.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

The continent of Antarctica is distinctive in myriad ways, including its massive ice cap, mountain peaks and intriguing penguin population. It also has the distinction of being the only continent in the world where an oil exploration well has never been drilled.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

A March announcement that the U.S. Geological Survey had identified undiscovered oil reserves 18 times the amount originally thought in a certain location and three times the amount of natural gas there likely caused many a Pavlovian response. Whetted appetites may have dried a bit with the realization of the potentially lucrative site’s location: northern Afghanistan.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Arkoma Basin gas play. The next big thing? Explorers are scrambling to grab leases in the Arkoma Basin’s shale-gas play.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

The next big thing? The Suriname Basin is proving itself an appealing target for exploration efforts.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer A Look Back Column

Perhaps a review -- and awareness -- of the past may make us better geologists in the future.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Scott W. Tinker could be the industry's leading forward-thinker on oil and gas research.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

Paleozoic North America has experienced multiple mountain building events, from Ordovician to Permian, on all margins of the continent. These have had a profound effect on the resulting complex basins and their associated petroleum systems. Subsequent uplift, erosion and overprinting of these ancient systems impedes the direct observation of their tectonic history. However, the basin sedimentary records are more complete, and provide additional insights into the timing and style of the mountain building events. In this study, we employ ~90 1D basin models, ~30 inverse flexural models, isopachs, and paleogeographic maps to better understand the Paleozoic history of North America.

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Request a visit from Kurt W. Rudolph!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
VG Abstract

Production from unconventional petroleum reservoirs includes petroleum from shale, coal, tight-sand and oil-sand. These reservoirs contain enormous quantities of oil and natural gas but pose a technology challenge to both geoscientists and engineers to produce economically on a commercial scale. These reservoirs store large volumes and are widely distributed at different stratigraphic levels and basin types, offering long-term potential for energy supply. Most of these reservoirs are low permeability and porosity that need enhancement with hydraulic fracture stimulation to maximize fluid drainage. Production from these reservoirs is increasing with continued advancement in geological characterization techniques and technology for well drilling, logging, and completion with drainage enhancement. Currently, Australia, Argentina, Canada, Egypt, USA, and Venezuela are producing natural gas from low permeability reservoirs: tight-sand, shale, and coal (CBM). Canada, Russia, USA, and Venezuela are producing heavy oil from oilsand. USA is leading the development of techniques for exploring, and technology for exploiting unconventional gas resources, which can help to develop potential gas-bearing shales of Thailand. The main focus is on source-reservoir-seal shale petroleum plays. In these tight rocks petroleum resides in the micro-pores as well as adsorbed on and in the organics. Shale has very low matrix permeability (nano-darcies) and has highly layered formations with differences in vertical and horizontal properties, vertically non-homogeneous and horizontally anisotropic with complicate natural fractures. Understanding the rocks is critical in selecting fluid drainage enhancement mechanisms; rock properties such as where shale is clay or silica rich, clay types and maturation , kerogen type and maturation, permeability, porosity, and saturation. Most of these plays require horizontal development with large numbers of wells that require an understanding of formation structure, setting and reservoir character and its lateral extension. The quality of shale-gas resources depend on thickness of net pay (>100 m), adequate porosity (>2%), high reservoir pressure (ideally overpressure), high thermal maturity (>1.5% Ro), high organic richness (>2% TOC), low in clay (<50%), high in brittle minerals (quartz, carbonates, feldspars), and favourable in-situ stress. During the past decade, unconventional shale and tight-sand gas plays have become an important supply of natural gas in the US, and now in shale oil as well. As a consequence, interest to assess and explore these plays is rapidly spreading worldwide. The high production potential of shale petroleum resources has contributed to a comparably favourable outlook for increased future petroleum supplies globally. Application of 2D and 3D seismic for defining reservoirs and micro seismic for monitoring fracturing, measuring rock properties downhole (borehole imaging) and in laboratory (mineralogy, porosity, permeability), horizontal drilling (downhole GPS), and hydraulic fracture stimulation (cross-linked gel, slick-water, nitrogen or nitrogen foam) is key in improving production from these huge resources with low productivity factors.

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Request a visit from Ameed Ghori!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

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