Explorer Geophysical Corner

Seismic interpreters have always desired to extract as much vertical resolution from their data as possible – and that desire has only increased with the need to accurately land horizontal wells within target lithologies that fall at or below the limits of seismic resolution.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

If you’re looking for a promising frontier area to implement your exploration skills, head to Ireland. The country’s Atlantic Basins are an under-explored frontier petroleum province with proven working hydrocarbon systems.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

There is intense interest by the industry in the Keathley Canyon and Garden Banks region of the Gulf of Mexico following major discoveries there, like BP’s Gila discovery announced late last year, and the multibillion-barrel Tiber oil field. Consequently, rival geoscience companies will offer competing surveys of the area.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

When it comes to U.S. energy policy, there arguably is no topic that creates more heated debate than that of the federal OCS (Outer Continental Shelf) leasing program.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Size Matters: Rockhopper Exploration takes a “mom and pop” small business approach to getting big hauls from offshore Falkland Islands.  

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Geophysical Corner

There are a number of seismic attributes that are derived from seismic amplitudes to facilitate the interpretation of geologic structure, stratigraphy and rock/pore fluid properties.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Energy Policy Blog

BOEM has just issued its programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for comment--through April 7. In announcing the decision, BOEM stated, that its review of geological and geophysical surveys in the Mid- and South-Atlantic planning areas '...establishes multiple mitigation measures designed to minimize the impacts to marine life while setting a path forward for survey activities that will update nearly four-decade-old data on offshore energy resources in the region.'

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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.

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Request a visit from Jacob Covault!

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.

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Request a visit from Frank Peel!

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)

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