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)
Explorer Emphasis Article

If the world had a comprehensive plan to address climate change, what would it look like? That’s an important question, even a crucial question for industry and businesses globally, especially the energy industry. Companies need to plan for significant climate-related action coming in the years and decades ahead. “The world does have a climate plan – or rather, a lot of plans. There’s a ton of economic and climate models that have been done around various pathways,” said Derek Pankratz, senior research manager with the Center for Integrated Research in Deloitte Services LP.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

Growth through strategic acquisition and the disciplined and responsible stewardship of oil and gas assets, coupled with a pro-active plan to clean up orphaned wells is a unique business strategy which Diversified Energy has adopted, starting with Appalachia and then moving to the Midcontinent and beyond. Welcome to an interview with Brad Gray, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer with Diversified Energy.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Embracing the exploration spirit so often embodied in the annual Halbouty Lecture, Cindy Yeilding, retired senior vice president of BP America, rallied and encouraged her audience at the August 2022 IMAGE conference to repurpose their geoscience knowledge and skillsets for the energy transition. As the world searches for viable ways to decarbonize, it will not be uncommon to hear people say, “That technology will never work at scale, or it might work but it’s never going to make any money,” Yeilding said. “Those are all parts of the energy transition conversation, which tells us that using our exploration mindset is right for new exploration opportunities.”

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

“We’re probably at least 10 times larger. I mean, it just dwarfs any other project in North America.” That’s Vincent Ramirez, CEO of 3PL Operating, Inc., talking about a large and valuable lithium discovery his company has made in Railroad Valley, Nev. As lithium will play a vital role in the world’s changing energy landscape, generally, and because much of the known lithium deposits are in Chile, Australia, Argentina and China, specifically, 3PL’s find in central Nevada is potentially a very big deal.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Because petroleum figures so prominently in our lives today, petroleum geologists play a vital role in raising public awareness of the relationship between Earth science and sustainability. That’s why you are invited to bring your education, experience and expertise to the 25th annual Earth Science Week, which celebrates the theme of “Earth Science for a Sustainable World.” Earth Science Week 2022 is Oct. 10-16.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Short Course
Houston, Texas
Friday, 28 April 2023, 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

To go through the different stages of a CCS project and discuss which geophysical data/methods are pertinent: workshop format with short presentation and lots of discussion/Q&A

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Short Course
Houston, Texas
Friday, 28 April 2023, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

As part of the international effort to combat global warming, significant attention is being given to ways to sequester (store for the long-term) carbon dioxide, which is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect. This one-day course will look at some of the ways in which carbon dioxide can be stored and provide a detailed review of the SRMS framework prepared by the Society of Petroleum Engineers to classify and categorize the storage volumes.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Lviv, Ukraine
Thursday, 21 September Friday, 22 September 2023, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Join us for a workshop where experts will  explore the Carpathian foreland and the Dnieper-Donetsk rift basins with a focus not only on hydrocarbons, but the utilization of geothermal resources, hydrogen exploration and CCUS.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Wednesday, 3 June 2020, 7:00 p.m.–8:30 p.m.

Join us for 'Analytics-Based Opportunities in Double Black Swan Times' where we will discuss the steps companies are taking, business considerations in cross-industry analytics -start-ups to majors, analytics agility in a double black swan world, enabling the workforce to utilize and exploit data remotely using the cloud and machine learning. Webinar will be presented via Zoom 7pm - 8:30pm CDT, 3 June 2020.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 25 March 2010, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

The presentation describes a well established fracture modeling workflow that uses a standard 3D seismic, conventional logs, image logs and data from one core to build predictive 3D fracture models that are validated with blind wells.

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

This seminar focuses on the role geoscience leaders and mentors play in retaining top talent.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Tuesday, 14 April 2020, 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.

La Formación Smackover del Jurásico Superior (Oxfordiano) es una de las productoras de petróleo y gas más prolíficas de la llanura costera del noreste del Golfo de México, depositada en una rampa de carbonato proximal. Este estudio es una caracterización integral del ambiente de depositación de la Formación Smackover basada en datos sísmicos 3D y de pozos en los campos Vocation y Appleton situados en las subcuencas de Conecuh y Manila, en el suroeste de Alabama.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 10 May 2012, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

Recognition and Correlation of the Eagle Ford, Austin Formations in South Texas can be enhanced with High Resolution Biostratigraphy, fossil abundance peaks and Maximum Flooding Surfaces correlated to Upper Cretaceous sequence stratigraphic cycle chart after Gradstein, 2010.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online Certificate Course
Tuesday, 1 January 2013, 12:00 a.m.–1:00 a.m.

Renewable & Non-Renewable Resources is an online course that enables participants to review, analyze, and evaluate opportunities in the rapidly expanding market for renewable energy.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Tuesday, 25 January 2011, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

This esymposium takes a close look at workflows associated with resource plays, and analyzes where integration must occur between disciplines, data, and workflows at all phases of the process.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Tuesday, 9 September 2014, 2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.

Water cut is a big factor in gauging the success of horizontal drilling in the Mississippi Lime Play (MLP). The contributing factors are related in part to the spectrum of producing lithofacies and reservoir quality encountered that varies laterally and vertically, sometimes dramatically. 

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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