Explorer Emphasis Article

Hot, hot, hot: The Niobrara play joins the list of hot shales – even being dubbed the “NeoBakken.” An industry-sponsored consortium evaluates the complexities of this giant play to help further its economic success.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Old habits die hard – Not! The prolific California Monterey shale is revisited, but this time with an unconventional approach.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

A new view of a familiar area: A recently published AAPG memoir provides fresh information on the Mexican side of the Gulf of Mexico’s petroleum systems.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Well data isn’t the geologists only tool to assess potential of deep basins or frontier areas. Think 'source rock.'

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

AAPG’s Distinguished Lecture program is reloaded and already off to a fast start for a season that will send speakers around the world, in some cases, to places never before traveled by the program.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Action in the red-hot Haynesville shale play in North Louisiana continues on the fast track.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Oil and gas finders are enamored with the Williston Basin these days, looking for the next big find in the upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian Bakken formation.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Behind the scenes: You’ve heard about a new report that points to the Arctic as having great potential for hydrocarbon resources. But have you heard how the report was made?

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

While you were sleeping: Those who have decried a perceived dearth of discoveries haven’t been paying enough attention to the list of this century’s game-changing plays.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

A look at the work and methods that led to the U.S. Geological Survey’s report on oil and gas potential north of the Arctic Circle – findings that will be presented at the AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in Denver.         

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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