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Explorer Article

The energy transition has been getting so much press that a hypothetical visitor from Mars could be forgiven for believing it will be completed “by next Tuesday.” Some universities and organizations are dropping any mention of petroleum in the interest of appearing forward-looking. We see this as timely folly based on a lack of historical perspective. History shows that energy transitions are lengthy and complicated. They never follow a prescribed path; they wander down dead-ends and evolve with pragmatic solutions unforeseen today.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

The geoscience community at large now has access to a major trove of data gathered by ExxonMobil in the 1980s and ‘90s. ExxonMobil will share the results of its behind-the-outcrop coring program through a website created by the Society for Sedimentary Geology.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Shell has made a significant oil and gas discovery at the Graff-1 well offshore Namibia. The well results have so far shown at least two reservoirs in the Upper Cretaceous, with a light oil column reported in the Santonian, in high quality channel sands. This discovery is in the deep water of the southernmost sector of the Orange Basin offshore Namibia.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Asia’s increased appetite for natural gas ranks as one of the most important global energy stories of the past 10 years, and one of the most often overlooked. It appears likely to drive Asian exploration and energy trading for the near future.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

As the United States looks for ways to decarbonize its energy sources, some believe the nation’s abundant gas reserves – estimated at 495 trillion cubic feet in 2019 by the U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves – can play an important role. Using the steam methane reforming process, the numerous petrochemical plants along the Gulf Coast are the No. 1 producers of hydrogen in the nation. Because this hydrogen is produced with a CO2 byproduct, it is not considered a clean energy. However, by integrating carbon capture, utilization and storage into the SMR process, a clean form of hydrogen could be produced and used for process heating, in gas turbines that generate electricity, in shipping vessels and in the petrochemicals industry.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Adventure enthusiasts should enjoy the story of Angelo Pitoni, a larger- than-life geologist whose story includes exploits rivaling any of those portrayed on the big screen. This article focuses specifically on a chapter of his life that took place in my country, Venezuela, and forms part of our country’s oil exploration history.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Colombia’s indigenous U’wa community is rooted in tradition, and community members follow ancient ancestral customs, including living without electricity. Life changed for U ́was living near El Chuscal, Guandalay, in Northeast Colombia in November 2021, when a project developed by the University of Pamplona geoscience students brought electricity to their community for the first time.

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

Many members of the Energy Minerals Division are researching or working to develop non-fossil energy resources, including geothermal, critical and nuclear minerals, and some “colors” of hydrogen, all in service to human civilization’s ongoing energy transition. Over the years, there has been a variety of reasons given for why the current transition is necessary. These are very real and important concerns, but what often gets left out of the public discourse on the energy transition is how complex and disruptive it will be, especially if we’re going to meet any of the ambitious goals set for this century.

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

Last month I wrote about the substantial increases in E&P investment necessary to ensure the availability of oil and gas supplies in the future to reduce price volatility and enhance global energy security. I drew on the analysis in a recent report of the International Energy Forum and IHS Markit. Business activity and investment in E&P remains on my mind this month, as I look forward to the upcoming NAPE Summit, from Feb. 8-11, at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Historical Highlights

John S. Wold was a man of such prolific industry and accomplishment that his life story reads less like a narrative and more like a series of escalating and expanding accomplishments in one field after another. Along with being a successful petroleum geologist and mineral resource producer, this award-winning AAPG Member was also an accomplished inventor, scientist, academic, entrepreneur, rancher, philanthropist and public servant. He had the distinction of being the first professional geologist in the U.S. Congress – and a petroleum geologist at that.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Short Course
Fort Worth, Texas
Thursday, 18 January 2024, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Instructor: Jon Rotzien First 100 Registrants will also receive a copy of The Explorer’s Mindset: Lessons in Leadership in the Applied Geosciences and Energy Industry Short Course to be offered Jan. 18 and 19

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Palermo, Italy
Monday, 22 April Wednesday, 24 April 2024, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

This Symposium marks a collaborative event that brings together AAPG Europe and AAPG Middle East, with a central focus on carbonates and mixed carbonate systems worldwide, while highlighting their significance within these two regions. The primary objectives are an overview of controls that govern the evolution of these systems in time and space and the characterization and prediction of their properties across scales.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Field Seminar
Neuquén, Argentina
Thursday, 30 November – Sunday, 3 December 2023, 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

This field trip will provide attendees with the overview of the Vaca Muerta Formation geology and development. Classic outcrops of the Vaca Muerta Fm. in the Neuquen Basin will be explored, visiting areas located nearby Neuquen, Zapala and Chos Malal cities.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Monday, 27 May Wednesday, 29 May 2024, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

In order to support the energy transition, optimizing exploration and production from complex stratigraphic-diagenetic conventional and unconventional plays remains highly important. At the same time, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) poses new technological challenges that will impact both the industry and academia for decades to come. This 2nd edition will present reviews and discuss technology developments in geological process-based forward modeling achieved during the last 2 years. New perspectives for future technology developments and implementation in industry workflows will be discussed and with the additional focus on CO₂ storage and other sustainability-related applications, the scope of the workshop will be considerably extended.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tuesday, 30 January Wednesday, 31 January 2024, 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 30-31 January, 2024 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Save the date! Registration to open soon.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Khobar, Saudi Arabia
Monday, 4 December Wednesday, 6 December 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 4-6 December 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)
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.

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Request a visit from Tao Sun!

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

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.

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Request a visit from John Suppe!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

This presentation is a survey of subsurface machine learning concepts that have been formulated for unconventional asset development, described in the literature, and subsequently patented. Operators that utilize similar subsurface machine learning workflows and other data modelling techniques enjoy a competitive advantage at optimizing the development of unconventional plays.

Request a visit from Shane Prochnow!

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.

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Request a visit from Kurt W. Rudolph!

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)
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

Why H₂ is generated in subsurface? Which are the reactions and the promising geological setting? Example in countries where H₂ have already been found: Australia, Brazil. Kinetic reactions: i.e., Is the natural H₂ renewable? What we don't know yet about this resource and about the H₂ systems (generation/transport/accumulation). Overview of the current landscape (subsurface law, permitting, E&P activity)

Request a visit from Isabelle Moretti!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
VG Abstract

The carbonate sequences that were deposited in the now exhumed Tethyan Ocean influence many aspects of our lives today, either by supplying the energy that warms our homes and the fuel that powers our cars or providing the stunning landscapes for both winter and summer vacations. They also represent some of the most intensely studied rock formations in the world and have provided geoscientists with a fascinating insight into the turbulent nature of 250 Million years of Earth’s history. By combining studies from the full range of geoscience disciplines this presentation will trace the development of these carbonate sequences from their initial formation on the margins of large ancient continental masses to their present day locations in and around the Greater Mediterranean and Near East region. The first order control on growth patterns and carbonate platform development by the regional plate-tectonic setting, underlying basin architecture and fluctuations in sea level will be illustrated. The organisms that contribute to sequence development will be revealed to be treasure troves of forensic information. Finally, these rock sequences will be shown to contain all the ingredients necessary to form and retain hydrocarbons and the manner in which major post-depositional tectonic events led to the formation of some of the largest hydrocarbon accumulations in the world will be demonstrated.

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Request a visit from Keith Gerdes!

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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