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Explorer Emphasis Article

Saudi Aramco hopes to push the boundaries of exploration by creating and encouraging new technologies. The company said it is pursuing the promise of “the fourth industrial revolution” through Big Data and supercomputing and investigations into nanotechnology applications.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

The date is important – Aug. 11, 2014. That was the day Mexican President Peña Nieto signed a package of laws designed to attract and encourage foreign investment into the country’s oil, gas and electrical grids. With the reform codified, the country was open for business and companies like Shell, Total, BP, Petronas Repsol and BHP rushed in.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Carlo Doglioni, professor of Earth Science at Sapienza University in Rome, is one of this year’s recipients of the Robert R. Berg Outstanding Research Award.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Oil companies made huge cuts in their exploration budgets during the 2015-17 industry downturn, canceling or postponing up to $1 trillion overall in scheduled and planned projects. At the same time, success rates for international exploration dropped to 50-year lows. The outlook for future reserves has stumbled, if not tumbled.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Middle East Blog

AAPG, EAGE and the Technical Program Committee for the Shale Gas Evolution Symposium are pleased to invite you to submit a poster abstract for the upcoming event which is being held Under the Patronage of His Excellency Shaikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa, Minister of Oil, Kingdom of Bahrain, AAPG.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

Deep learning for predicting behaviors is becoming indispensable in the oil industry. Understanding the fundamentals and having a hands-on experience with hacking Python code in order to predict reservoir flow was the experience provided by the first AAPG-Halliburton Hackathon, which took place July 19 in Houston. Led by the AAPG’s Deep Learning Technical Interest Group (TIG) and Halliburton, the event attracted more than 120 registrants who were primarily geoscientists, engineers, and data scientists who worked together in teams that competed against each other and were judged by a panel of experts. The hackathon was powered by the OpenEarth® Community and supported by a team of Halliburton experts in Python software, code, ideation, and strategy – as well as by domain experts and judges from the Deep Learning TIG.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Canada Blog

These are by far the best and the worst career decisions I have ever made. They are the best because I was able to work outdoors in some very remote locations.

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

While some of you know my past as a sedimentary geologist interested in reservoir dynamics and improved recovery, both in industry and later as a college professor, about 23 years ago I became hooked on the history of oilfield waste and its impact in the United States. I have dedicated myself to finding and saving as much publicly available documentation as possible on the history.

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

It’s unusual for an article in the EXPLORER to create an online firestorm. But as you can see, if you’ve paged through this issue to the Readers’ Forum, or followed the back and forth on Twitter or reviewed the comments submitted on the EXPLORER webpage, that’s what occurred in response to an article by veteran correspondent Ken Milam entitled, “Are There Benefits to Climate Change?” in last month’s issue.

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

Sustainable development was a key theme throughout AAPG’s inaugural Energy Opportunities Conference held Aug. 22-23 in Cartagena, Colombia. This high-profile event convened 202 industry executives and government officials representing 94 organizations and 21 countries.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tuesday, 18 February Wednesday, 19 February 2025, 7:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Join us for AAPG Orphan, Abandoned, Idle and Marginal Wells Conference 2025.This workshop will focus on orphan, abandoned, idle, and marginal wells and the business opportunities and technology associated with plugging and repurposing wells, reducing methane emissions, protecting water supplies, and extending the lives of marginal wells.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Short Course
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Thursday, 20 February 2025, 7:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

This introduction to methane monitoring, measurement, and quantification is for all those who would like to understand the requirements and regulations regarding methane emissions and to be able to design a measurement and monitoring solution, complete with the appropriate types of technologies, techniques, and safety protocols.

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

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

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)
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

Engineering of wind farms, development of carbon sequestration projects in shelfal waters, the proliferation of communication cables that connect the world, all of these things suggest that it is time to re-examine what we know about shelf processes both updip-to-downdip and along shoreline, and the influence of shelf processes on erosion and transport of sediments.

Request a visit from Lesli Wood!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

Physics is an essential component of geophysics but there is much that physics cannot know or address. 

Request a visit from John Castagna!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

The Energy sector is a changing business environment. Throughout the 20th century fluctuations of oil supply and demand produced changes in the barrel price that pushed the growth or shrinkage of the industry. In this 21st century, new challenges such as diversification of the energy mix, boosting gas demand, require the exploration of critical minerals and development of new technologies as well.

Request a visit from Fernanda Raggio!

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

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)
DL Abstract

Subsurface risk and uncertainty are recognized as very important considerations in petroleum geoscience. And even when volume estimates are relatively accurate, the reservoir characteristics that determine well placement and performance can remain highly uncertain. In analyzing results and work practices, three aspects of uncertainty are reviewed here.

Request a visit from Kurt W. Rudolph!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

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