Explorer Foundation Update

Being an AAPG Distinguished Lecturer, from the very first speaking tour in 1941, was always a prestigious achievement and a source of honor and pride for those selected as speakers. It was always recognized and praised as an important vehicle for the profession’s top geoscientists to share the latest in industry insights and advances. It always showcased geologists who truly were distinguished. What it wasn’t always, was easy.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Geophysical Corner

To achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the demand for renewable energy is increasing exponentially, with offshore wind farms as one potential area of investment. Offshore wind farm development requires effective mapping of near subsurface for turbine foundation design and construction, which faces many challenges related to seafloor topography mapping, shallow geohazard detection, structure interpretation and modeling, soil type analysis and geotechnical property estimation, among other considerations.

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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 Article

The Peruvian Congress’s ousting of President Pedro Castillo on Dec. 7 led to two weeks of protest throughout the country, with at least 50 reported dead in clashes with law enforcement. In Arequipa, Peru’s second largest city located 400 kilometers from the southern border, AAPG members Luis Alexander Alvarez and Alexandra Del Castillo took refuge in their homes. Alvarez, a mining and hydrocarbon geologist, said the social unrest directly affected him and his family.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Large institutions and asset managers are diversifying away from traditional oil and gas projects, sometimes driven by climate concerns, but their investments haven’t fallen far afield. Those organizations think in terms of billions of dollars when evaluating a potential investment sector. And so far, they haven’t hesitated to invest in energy. What has changed, and what keeps changing, is where they put those investment dollars. It’s an energy-investment transition that parallels today’s ongoing energy transition.

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

Last month the world’s political and industrial leaders gathered in Egypt for COP27. This annual event convened by the United Nations is an opportunity to engage in dialogue on the topic of climate change and to discuss a coordinated global response. If you’ve been paying attention for any length of time, you know that the topic of climate change and meetings like COP divide AAPG members. An individual member may or may not agree with the proposed policies or the concerns expressed at COP. But for many of our members worldwide, the topic of climate change and its impact on our industry and profession is existential – it has or will directly impact their careers and ability to practice their profession. That is why we must discuss this topic.

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

The first U.S. oil well was drilled 1859 in Titusville, Penn., and the first commercial gas well was even earlier in 1825 in Fredonia, N.Y. There are two centuries of oil and gas drilling in the United States, and many of the wells in the first 150 years did not have the best plug-and-abandonment methods in place. Some of these wells are in urban areas and can endanger the residents. The number of orphaned and abandoned wells varies greatly depending on their definition. There might be millions of old and improperly plugged oil and gas wells leaking methane or contaminating groundwater in the United States, and plugging them will cost billions.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Readers Forum

I have the honor of leading the executive secretariat of ARPEL, the Association of Oil, Gas and (as of lately) Renewable Energy Companies of Latin America and the Caribbean. ARPEL is a key factor in the development and transformation of the oil and gas sector of our region. We foster cooperation and coordination on strategic and operational aspects among our member companies, and with sister trade and professional associations (such as AAPG), governments, regulators, academia and other stakeholders. ARPEL held its 6th conference in Lima, Peru in November.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Colombia is a land of contrasts – of tradition and innovation, wealth and poverty, triumphs and tragedy. Newly elected Colombian President Gustavo Petro highlighted Colombia’s contrasts in an address at COP27 recently, delivering an eloquent but confrontational discourse. His political agenda includes accelerating the energy transition. Other leftist leaders in Latin America have supported the national oil companies and continued exploration and production, but Petro’s policies advocate an immediate cessation from dependence on petroleum and coal, which he likens to cocaine addiction.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Natural disasters worldwide, public debate, policy decisions and shareholder pressure are just some of the factors motivating companies to seek alternatives to traditional oil and gas to fuel the ever-increasing demand for energy worldwide. One of those alternatives is hydrogen – a renewable energy source that proponents believe brings a wealth of opportunities and challenges. Argentina’s national energy company YPF is one such proponent. They are considering using natural gas from the massive Vaca Muerta play to produce “blue hydrogen,” which is produced by combining natural gas and steam.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Monday, 2 October Tuesday, 3 October 2023, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

AAPG and EAGE have teamed up to deliver the upcoming New Discoveries in Mature Basins workshop to be held from 2-3 October 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Save the date! Registration to open soon.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Khobar, Saudi Arabia
Monday, 9 October Wednesday, 11 October 2023, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

The fifth annual AAPG Siliciclastic Reservoirs of the Middle East Workshop will take place in Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia from 9 – 11 October 2023. This workshop will bring together professionals from the region to share their knowledge and experience related to siliciclastic reservoirs and showcase the best success stories in the industry on understanding and utilizing oil and gas siliciclastic reservoirs in the region.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Khobar, Saudi Arabia
Monday, 4 March Wednesday, 6 March 2024, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Join us for the 4th Edition of: "Stratigraphic Traps of the Middle East" workshop. The workshop will be hosted by AAPG in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia 4-6 March 2024.

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)
Field Seminar
Lisbon, Portugal
Tuesday, 20 June 2023, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Come along on this 1-day field seminar and tour outcrops in the Serra de Montejunto, just north of Lisbon and on the coast from Porto Novo to Paimogo. Instructors: Ricardo Pereira, GeoBioTec - Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Gil Machado, ChronSurveys Lda & Instituto Dom Luiz Fees: €190 - Local VAT applicable Limit: 20 Participants Includes: Ground Transportation Snacks and Refreshments Lunch and Dinner Guidebook Departure Time/Location 20 June 2023 8:30am Hotel Dom Pedro Note:Transportation to start point is not included in the costs of this trip. Please bring clothing for hot day time temperatures (sun hat/ sun glasses/ sun cream etc.). Participants must wear suitable and comfortable light trekking shoes. Aims To gain or increase an understanding of the tectono-sedimentary processes of continental extension and rifting supported by outcrop observations, with focus on deep-depositional marine systems. Discuss implications for prospective petroleum systems. Promote debate and nourish new insights between attendants. About the Field Trip The Lusitanian Basin records the proximal events of syn- to post rift evolution of the hyper-extended West Iberian Margin, showing some outstanding examples of the combined tectono-stratigraphic depositional systems. Here, the Late Jurassic reveals diverse aspects of mixed marine depositional systems including not only submarine fans and turbidites, but also the build-up of carbonate reefs and shoreface to fluvial clastic sequences. Throughout the field trip the different depositional aspects can be observed in detail to demonstrate how such depositional systems can vary in time and space. Observation of these outcrops allows a better understanding on how deep-water depositional systems can change within a sub-basin and help improving the understanding of reservoir properties.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Lisbon, Portugal
Wednesday, 21 June Thursday, 22 June 2023, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

This 3-day conference brings together diverse experts working on modern and ancient turbidite, MTDs, contourite and hybrid/mixed systems in order to improve the present-day knowledge, models and predictive power.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 16 February 2012, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

This presentation describes a proven workflow that uses a standard narrow azimuth 3D seismic, conventional logs, image logs and core data to build five key reservoir properties required for an optimal development of shale plays.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 9 February 2012, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

Projects in several shales will be discussed, including Marcellus, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Fayetteville, Montney, and Barnett, as will several seismically-detectable drivers for success including lithofacies, stress, pre-existing fractures, and pore pressure.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Thursday, 12 November 2020, 5:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.

Contourites have come of age – both scientifically and economically. These deepwater sedimentary systems, driven by long-slope bottom-current processes, are a fundamental component of many continental margin successions. They are inter-bedded with and interact with down-slope systems, pelagic systems, and deep tidal processes. The contourite play clearly works – now we need to make it a primary target in future deepwater exploration.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
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
Wednesday, 26 May 2021, 7:00 p.m.–8:30 p.m.

Join us for 'Pivoting 2021: Imaging Technologies'. Panelists will discuss new ways to acquire data that is then processed into interpretable images, and they will discuss the technologies as well as the techniques. Webinar will be presented via Zoom 7pm - 8:30pm CDT, 26 May 2021.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Friday, 11 December 2020, 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

In a world moving to net-zero emissions during the COVID-driven oil price collapse, there remain important scientific and business opportunities for geoscientists, particularly those with expertise in stratigraphy, sedimentology, reservoir geology and hydrocarbon production. In this webinar, Dr. Julio Friedmann, senior research scholar, Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University discusses the challenges this community faces which are not scientific or technical, but rather involve shifts in business model, policy and global market trends. Webinar presented via Zoom on 11 December 2020 at 11:30 am CST (UTC-6).

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

This presentation discusses one operator’s approach to fully integrate data captured in the Marcellus Shale in order to optimize horizontal well performance.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Tuesday, 14 December 2010, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

Recent interest in unconventional gas resources has attracted several oil and gas explorers to sedimentary basins in Southern Quebec.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Wednesday, 12 January 2022, 8:00 a.m.–9:00 a.m.

Using global examples and based on 40 years’ experience in mainstream geology and in Petroleum Systems Analysis, Andrew Pepper will discuss how re-thinking some of our paradigms can open up our minds to new Discovery Thinking in any old or new basin.

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

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.

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Request a visit from Jennifer Wilcox!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

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