Explorer Article

Joshua Rosenfeld’s article in the April EXPLORER issue’s Historical Highlights provides an interesting compilation of observations selected to support an unproven hypothesis: that the large influx of Paleogene Wilcox sandstones in the Gulf of Mexico can be linked to a major evaporative drawdown of the basin, loosely aligned with and possibly triggering the Paleocene-Eocene thermal event. We offer our observations based on decades of oil industry experience working the Wilcox play, more than 55 peer- reviewed academic papers and one book on Gulf of Mexico sedimentary basin.

Show more
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Historical Highlights

It all started in 2002, when Unocal revealed that its Trident-1 well had found 400 meters of 70-percent net Lower Wilcox Formation sand in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, about 400 kilometers beyond the contemporaneous shelf break offshore south Texas. Art Berman and I gazed at a GOM activity map and pondered how that amount of sand could have been deposited so far out into the basin. Our working hypothesis was that this sand deposit was due to a drop in base level, but we also knew that the worldwide sea level was not in decline at that time. A log of the nearby Shell Great White well shows that this sand deposition began suddenly and ended suddenly. This was also puzzling, since we were trained to expect gradational coarsening-upward bedding during regression and fining-upward during transgression, rather than the sharp contacts we were seeing. Sudden avulsion of a major river in a deltaic environment could produce something like this, but how could it happen far beyond the shelf edge?

Show more
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico often receives attention for its hydrocarbon potential in the Upper Jurassic and younger rocks in deep and shallow water. Increasingly more people are looking to another potential habitat for hydrocarbons, the syn-rift and associated sections, also known as the Gulf of Mexico pre-salt.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Wind, solar and biofuels have a long way to go before they’re sufficiently reliable to replace fossil fuels as the world’s primary energy source, but in the meantime, carbon capture and storage will play an integral role in the global transition to sustainable energy.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Correlator Article

Technical Chair Linda Sternbach, provides details about the Gulf Coast Association’s newly named conference, GeoGulf. GeoGulf tackles all the most pressing topics facing the field—from oil, shale and natural gas to Big Data and business strategies—GeoGulf is an indispensable source of education, practice, and professional development. Here, you’ll share ideas with fellow thought leaders, delve into the depths of scientific discovery, explore new and emerging research, and walk away with the collective knowledge of colleagues and exhibiting companies who are all committed to advancing the field of geology in the Gulf Coast region. The GeoGulf 2019 Conference takes place in Houston, Oct. 23-25.

Show more
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale has been a tantalizing target for many years. It's an important source rock, but it has been difficult to successfully complete and produce. Now there is new hope as researchers and their work is receiving support. Welcome to an interview with Mehdi Mokhtari at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette. His Tuscaloosa Marine Shale consortium has recently received support from the United States Department of Energy to explore new technologies for economically drilling and completing the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale.

Show more
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Events Blog

We're bringing in the latest applications of big data and deep learning, and we're making connections to deepwater and shelf reservoirs. This workshop updates your skillsets and your knowledge with presentations over new findings, technologies, and case studies as well as updated 'how-to' processes and procedures.​

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

The 7th Annual AAPG Deepwater and Shelf Reservoirs Geoscience Technology Workshop will bring together the latest developments in geology, engineering, geophysics, and geochemistry in order to determine the best possible ways to understand and develop fields, as well as identify bold new exploration targets.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Following many years of on again/off again activity, the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) was, at long last, being proven in recent months to be a viable commercial play, but the market has done a 180-degree spin owing to the unanticipated, near-devastating drop in oil prices.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

January and early February are going to be busy months for AAPG’s Distinguished Lecture program, with several speakers set to make tours.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 11 February 2010, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

Gas hydrates, ice-like substances composed of water and gas molecules (methane, ethane, propane, etc.), occur in permafrost areas and in deep water marine environments.

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 e-Symposium
Friday, 20 January 2012, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

The Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas is one of the more exciting shale plays in the United States at the current time.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 11 November 2010, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

This e-symposium is ideal for geologists, geophysicists, engineers and other geoscientists who are involved in gas shale exploration and production.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 20 August 2009, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

This e-symposium covers advances in geothermal energy, integration with petroleum operations, and lessons learned in recent cases.

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)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 19 May 2011, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

This e-symposium presents and discusses the results of laboratory tests and research relating to determining shale prospectivity in general, and specifically in the Black Warrior Basin, Alabama.

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

This presentation will look at well placement vertically in the pay, well azimuth and well trajectory with explanations of how geology and post-depositional effects can make the difference between a successful well and a failure.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

States in the Section

Sections

Regions