Explorer Article

With the U.S. Department of the Interior calling for updated assessments of the oil and gas resources on Alaska’s North Slope, most surprisingly the tightly regulated 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, geologists are preparing for the possibility of exploring a frontier believed to be rich in hydrocarbon resources.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Conventional geophysics has hit a few speed bumps, but ongoing research into seismic anisotropy offers new keys to imaging unconventional resources.

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

When considering the future of our industry, innovation and new technologies are always discussed. It might be splitting hairs but I believe that having a “view” toward the future could be more important.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer President’s Column

Many years ago, I was on the undergraduate Columbia College eight man rowing team in New York. As I think back fondly on those college days, I realize that I learned a lot from my crew team experience on guiding and leading people. I learned that “leadership” is doing the right things, while “management” is doing things the right way. AAPG needs both.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

The United Kingdom has long flirted with the prospect of attempting to emulate the United States’ success with hydraulic fracturing for cheap and plentiful shale gas, but a recent study raises doubts.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Cindy Yeilding of BP America discusses the production history and geology of one of the world’s most prolific hydrocarbon super basins.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

The resurgence of the Permian Basin in the United States led directly to the concept of the “super basin”: a mature basin that can be rejuvenated to produce as much or more oil and gas than it has so far. Another archetype for super basins lies 1,000 miles southeast of the Permian, in the onshore/offshore Sureste Basin of Mexico.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

Innovations Bring Once-dying Shale Plays Back to Life Join us in Houston Texas, on April 26, 2018 to uncover the technologic innovations applied to the Haynesville gas play, that have seen a spike in production due to these advances.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Middle East Blog

The second edition of the AAPG Stratigraphic Traps of the Middle East workshop took place on 11 – 13 December 2017 at the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah hotel, Muscat, Oman. This year we had seventy two attendees from ten different countries.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

The Energy and Environmental Science & Technology Directorate at the Idaho National Laboratory has scientists working diligently to better understand how fluids might flow through the small pores in shales where the silt- and clay-size particles can measure as small as less than 0.004 millimeters.

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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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

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