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Basin Modeling and Geochemistry

Explorer Article

The world’s top 20 super basins contain about 57 percent of the biggest oil fields in the world. Until recently, though, there wasn’t a comprehensive repository where industry professionals and scientists could access information about those fields, especially as it pertained to their commerciality, geoscience architecture, infrastructure and above-ground challenges. There is now.  With the release of the fourth installment of the “Super Basin Special Issue Series” of the AAPG Bulletin, scheduled for this August and coinciding with the AAPG-SEG International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy, the work is complete.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Energy super basins grabbed the attention of the oil and gas industry during the past five years, with good reason. Now a period of re-evaluation has kicked in. Producers are looking beyond total resource potential to apply other criteria, including economic, environmental and regulatory considerations. Those yardsticks could help identify which basins will dominate energy production in the decades ahead.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Historical Highlights

A century ago, a gusher helped transform Venezuela from an agricultural country known as an exporter of coffee, cacao and cattle into one of the world’s largest oil producers. It was front-page news on the world’s most important newspapers. The country’s most significant 20th-century discoveries took place in the Maracaibo Basin between 1910 and 1925 and were based on surface geological exploration of concessions held by American and European companies. One of the strikes, the large La Rosa Field, was discovered in 1917 by Venezuelan Oil Concessions, a Royal Dutch Shell affiliate, on a 3,000-square-mile concession.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

In the world of oil and gas, an increasing number of plays in stratigraphic traps are being made – in large part due to ever-evolving seismic technology. The Discovery Thinking forum at the annual IMAGE conference in August served to highlight some of these plays in offshore frontier basins and the role that geophysics played in their discovery. “We are seeing more giant stratigraphic fields, and seismic is the key,” said past AAPG President Charles A. Sternbach, chair of the Discovery Thinking forum. “And, we are seeing more oil found at greater depths. Unconventional plays are migrating outside of the Western Hemisphere.”

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Geophysical Corner

Deepwater turbidite reservoirs hold some of the largest petroleum reservoirs and thus are important exploration targets. By identifying and mapping the diverse architectural elements of the turbidite system and placing them within the correct geologic framework, a skilled interpreter can predict which components of the system are more likely sand or shale prone. Seismic data and seismic attributes also provide insight into the connectivity or compartmentalization of different parts of the reservoir which can be used to estimate the number of wells needed to drain the reservoir.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

This debate began decades ago: How much of the planet's natural gas is abiotic – made up of methane with nonbiological origins? At times, the scientific back-and-forth argument has resembled a slow-motion tennis match, with a new volley coming every few years. Now, Daniel Xia thinks he has helped deliver a winning smash across the net. His findings were most clearly laid out in a recent article “Validity of geochemical signatures of abiotic hydrocarbon gases on Earth,” by Xia and coauthor Yongli Gao, published in the Journal of the Geological Society.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Historical Highlights

In 1949 an historic oil field was discovered under the Caspian Sea. The field was named “Neft Dashlari, which in Azerbaijani means “Oil Rocks,” and it was a milestone in the development of the global oil industry. Oil Rocks, an iconic “city in the sea,” pointed the way to modern offshore drilling as we know it today.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

NASA’s Perseverance rover is currently exploring the delta front of Jezero Crater on Mars. It has traveled 7.4 miles and drilled twelve core samples. For Katie Stack Morgan, geologist and deputy project scientist for the Perseverance Mars rover, the first close-up image of layered rocks at the base of Jezero Crater’s ancient river delta grabbed her imagination. “These are the layered rocks that we came for!” she said.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Global events of recent years have driven the oil and gas industry to make major changes to its workforce and operations, and the professional and scientific associations that serve the industry have had to evolve and adapt to accommodate those changes, particularly with regard to the programs they offer. The Imperial Barrel Award competition is no exception. An AAPG staple since 2007 and one of the Association’s most prestigious and visible programs, the IBA has undergone multiple changes during the past two years.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Middle East Blog

Another success story to add to the list of outstanding Middle East geosciences events! The AAPG Geological Process-Based Forward Modeling GTW was held from 23-25 May 2022 at the Westin Golf & Spa hotel in Abu Dhabi, UAE with the main purpose of identifying and discussing key challenges in geological process-based forward modeling, finishing with a concluding session to define a practical way forward.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Field Seminar
Houston, Texas
Saturday, 1 February 2025, 8:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Everyone in Houston lives within a few miles of a bayou. Some people think of them as permanent, but the bayous are constantly changing, especially during high water events like Hurricane Harvey. This trip is a 2.5 mile walk down a section of Buffalo Bayou where we will look at the archives of past storms and discuss what to do for future storms.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 29 October 2009, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

Expanded package for CEU credit is $100 for AAPG members, and $145 for non-members. Special Student Pricing: $25 for Webinar only; $35 for Expanded package.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 17 March 2011, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

This e-symposium will provide information on which tools, processes, and procedures all geoscientists, engineers, and technical professionals working in shale plays need to understand and implement.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Thursday, 1 October 2020, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

Join AAPG Asia Pacific to hear Agus Ramdahn, PhD to hear about a method of combining Bowers Method with density-sonic cross plots to estimate overpressure in the shelfal area of the Lower Kutai Basin This webinar will be presented via Zoom on Thursday 1 October at 11:00 Singapore Time

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 19 May 2011, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

This e-symposium presents and discusses the results of laboratory tests and research relating to determining shale prospectivity in general, and specifically in the Black Warrior Basin, Alabama.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 26 September 2013, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

The presentation will discuss key reservoir information and how to develop a predictive pressure model.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Tuesday, 2 December 2014, 2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.

The gas transport in organic-rich shales involves different length-scales, from organic and inorganic pores to macro- and macrofractures. In order to upscale the fluid transport from nanoscale (flow through nanopores) to larger scales (to micro- and macrofractures), multicontinuum methodology is planned to be used.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Thursday, 27 August 2020, 3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

There are over 300 known active onshore mud volcanoes globally, and many more offshore. Mud volcanoes are subsurface fluid escape features in which high pore pressures drive fluids, gases, and subsurface sediments to the surface. This talk will summarize mud volcanoes around the world and examine mud volcano plumbing systems and their link to petroleum systems.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 28 April 2011, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

The Niobrara Petroleum System of the U.S. Rocky Mountain Region is a major tight petroleum resource play.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Tuesday, 9 June 2020, 4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

Visiting Geoscientist Susan Morrice shares her personal experience and insight in this talk about opportunities for geoscientists. “Geoscientists have advantages ... They are Time Travellers and have open minds. Bringing this creativity and innovation to your company or starting your own! Challenging times bring silver linings!”

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Wednesday, 9 February 2022, 8:00 a.m.–9:00 a.m.

 This talk will provide information to better understand the principles of surface geochemistry (SG), how best to use SG data in exploration or development programs, how to develop a cost effective sampling and analytical program, and will also explore best practices for the interpretation and integration of SG data.

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)
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)

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