HomeScience Discipline Business and Economics

Business and Economics

Explorer Division Column EMD

AAPG’s Energy Minerals Division is excited to present a strong and informative technical program at the 2016 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in Calgary, Canada. EMD has an intriguing program this year, covering a variety of unconventional energy topics of current interest to both EMD and AAPG members.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Director’s Corner

Lateral thinking is something we can all employ, whether freshly minted graduates or seasoned veterans looking for the next career move. In fact, it’s common in our cyclical industry that petroleum geoscientists have to pivot, change and reorient to launch and advance their careers.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

As the industry grows leaner, its data banks grow ever fatter. With data in the terabyte and exobyte range, many petroleum companies have launched “big data” initiatives to use the vast amounts of information to increase success rates and trim costs.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Latin America Blog

Interested in finding solid science and effective strategies to survive and thrive in the current industry downturn?

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Policy Watch

In late February, the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipment left the United States. It sailed into an economically difficult global market with excess supplies of LNG, sluggish growth in energy demand, and exceptionally low oil prices against which global LNG prices are often set. However, many analysts and policymakers see reasons to expect growing demand for U.S. LNG.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Dry hole. Two of the worst words in offshore exploration. When per-well costs offshore can reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars, no one wants to drill a duster. So are dry holes nothing but failures? “Not if they provide information that sets up the next discovery,” said AAPG member John Snedden.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico’s crude oil production is estimated to increase to record high levels in 2017, despite record low price.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

In a time of low energy prices and market volatility, it is more important than ever for energy professionals to develop the tools to stay competitive and efficient. The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), set for May 2-5 in Houston, provides the perfect opportunity.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Oil companies and environmentalists are popularly – albeit inaccurately – perceived as natural enemies by the general public. But, the marine life dwelling offshore California and other oil-producing locales knows nothing of this supposed antagonism. All they know are the drilling rigs where they thrive.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Oil and gas companies usually need loans to operate and survive, so these lending determinations can be crucial. If banks cut back on lending to the industry, drilling can grind to a halt, companies can fail, jobs will be lost. Now there are signs that banks might be ready to do just that.

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)
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)
DL Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) seismic-reflection surveys provide one of the most important data types for understanding subsurface depositional systems. Quantitative analysis is commonly restricted to geophysical interpretation of elastic properties of rocks in the subsurface. Wide availability of 3D seismic-reflection data and integration provide opportunities for quantitative analysis of subsurface stratigraphic sequences. Here, we integrate traditional seismic-stratigraphic interpretation with quantitative geomorphologic analysis and numerical modeling to explore new insights into submarine-channel evolution.

Show more

Request a visit from Jacob Covault!

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

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)
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)
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

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

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.

Show more

Request a visit from Kurt W. Rudolph!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

Around 170 million years ago, the Gulf of Mexico basin flooded catastrophically, and the pre-existing landscape, which had been a very rugged, arid, semi-desert world, was drowned beneath an inland sea of salt water. The drowned landscape was then buried under kilometers of salt, perfectly preserving the older topography. Now, with high-quality 3D seismic data, the salt appears as a transparent layer, and the details of the drowned world can be seen in exquisite detail, providing a unique snapshot of the world on the eve of the flooding event. We can map out hills and valleys, and a system of river gullies and a large, meandering river system. These rivers in turn fed into a deep central lake, whose surface was about 750m below global sea level. This new knowledge also reveals how the Louann Salt was deposited. In contrast to published models, the salt was deposited in a deep water, hypersaline sea. We can estimate the rate of deposition, and it was very fast; we believe that the entire thickness of several kilometers of salt was laid down in a few tens of thousands of years, making it possibly the fastest sustained deposition seen so far in the geological record.

Show more

Request a visit from Frank Peel!

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)

Related Interests

See Also ...