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Explorer Director’s Corner By David Curtiss

'Going the Distance' with the World's Premier Offshore Event

While shale oil and shale gas deliver quick returns and product to markets, it’s the deepwater and other offshore discoveries that yield significant reserve additions and long-lasting production.

Added on 01 April, 2019

Explorer Article By XIUGANG PU

Major Oil Discovery Made in China's Bohai Bay Basin

A game-changing discovery has been made in China with the successful completion and production of terrestrial shale reservoirs, which have maintained a natural flow for more than 260 days. This success ushers in a new era for China’s successful development of its complicated, deep, lacustrine-origin shales.

Added on 01 April, 2019

Explorer Geophysical Corner By Brett Carpenter,Folarin Kolawole,Molly Turko

The Intra-Basement Reflectors in the STACK Area of Oklahoma

In Oklahoma, seismic reflection data from different areas show distinct, systematic patterns of reflectors within depth intervals dominated by the crystalline basement. It is necessary to better understand the origin and composition of these characteristic layers in the Oklahoma basement, as it will fill a major gap in the understanding of its tectonic and thermal history.

Added on 01 April, 2019

Explorer Historical Highlights By Ellen Walker Rienstra

Spindletop Revisited: The Second Field

Spindletop’s glory days were gone, or so it was believed. That landmark discovery on Jan. 10, 1901 at Spindletop Hill near Beaumont, Texas had defied existing American geological thought and changed the course of history, but had faded into memory by the 1920s. But, a novel geological hypothesis would soon change all that.

Added on 01 April, 2019

Explorer Article By Barry Friedman

Making Sense of Gas-Oil Ratio in Unconventional Reservoirs

Owing to the unique performance characteristics in unconventional reservoirs, gas/oil ratio models, which are predictive in conventional wells, may or may not be accurate in determining the success or failure of the unconventional.

Added on 01 April, 2019

Explorer Article By Emily Llinás

Argentina's Neuquén Basin Offers 'Tremendous Growth Opportunities'

While oil production has been going strong in Argentina’s Neuquén Basin for the past 100 years, geologists with Shell and YPF say the region’s true hydrocarbon potential has yet to be discovered.

Added on 01 April, 2019

Explorer Article By Emily Llinás

Scarcity, Uncertainty and Hope for the Future: Part 2 of 2

The political and economic turmoil in Venezuela has taken its toll on every sector of society, geoscience education in particular. This concludes the EXPLORER’s two-part series on how geoscientists are faring in the ongoing crisis.

Added on 01 April, 2019

Explorer Article By Barry Friedman

Norway's Offshore Tech Lab

“The Norwegian continental shelf may historically be described as a giant offshore technology laboratory.” That’s Jon Are Rørtveit, vice president and commercial director of the Offshore Northern Seas Foundation, talking about the unique dynamic and possibilities to be found off the Norwegian continental shelf. Norway’s offshore exploration industry is well-established as an international exporter of smart technologies and innovative solutions.

Added on 01 April, 2019

Explorer Article By David Brown

Offshore Production in the Americas is 'Alive and Well'

With lots of promising prospects, especially off Guyana and Mexico and Brazil, the offshore basins of the Americas continue to roar.

Added on 01 April, 2019

Learn! Blog By Susan Nash

Interview with Joel Núñez, Co-Founder of ExoEstrato, Andalusian Society of Astrogeology

Please meet Joel Núñez, one of the founders and promoters of ExoEstrato, a young association whose members are lovers of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences. ExoEstrato is supported by the Andalusian Society of Astrogeology in Granada in Andalusia, Spain. The founders explain the reasons for the ExoEstrato. 'Due to the scarcity of projects related to Planetary Geology in the spanish universities, we have decided to start this project, with the idea of disseminating, educating other people and research in the fascinating and transcendent field of Astrogeology. In spite of our short journey as an institution, we have already organized and carried out a significant number of activities, from public astronomical observations to conference cycles, including the organization of the I Course on Introduction to Astrogeology at the University of Granada, which will take place next month, or the upcoming launch of EXOJOURNAL, an astrogeological magazine. We also plan to organize this summer, with a view to develop it in the end of 2018, the I Andalusian Congress of Young Astrogeologists (CAJA, in spanish), proposing an attractive program of activities and inviting several speakers specialized in astrogeological issues.'

Added on 26 March, 2019

DL Abstract By Shane Prochnow

Subsurface Machine Learning Approaches at Hydrocarbon Recovery and Resource Forecasting for Unconventional Reservoir Systems

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.

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Added on 14 September, 2023

DL Abstract By John Suppe

Probing What Makes the Crust Strong (or Weak): Insight from Boreholes, Earthquakes, Active Fault Systems, and Toy Models

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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Added on 14 September, 2023

DL Abstract By Jacob Covault

Submarine-Channel Evolution From Seismic Stratigraphy & Numerical Models: Patterns and Predictions Revisited

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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Added on 20 July, 2022

DL Abstract By Kurt W. Rudolph

Tectonic Controls on Source Rock Deposition

While there are many habitats that are associated with the deposition of organic-rich marine and lacustrine source rocks, one important pathway is linked to the onset of increased basin subsidence associated with major tectonic events. A key aspect is that this subsidence is spatially variable, with the uplift of basin flanks contemporaneous with the foundering of the basin center, resulting in a steeper basin profile.

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Added on 14 September, 2023

DL Abstract By Jennifer Wilcox

The Role of Carbon Capture in Meeting Net-Zero Carbon Goals

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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Added on 20 July, 2022

DL Abstract By Sherilyn Williams-Stroud

Atmospheric and Social Climate Change: Implications for the Future Geoscience Workforce

Climate change is not only happening in the atmosphere but also in the anthroposphere; in some ways the former could drive or exacerbate the latter, with extreme weather excursions and extreme excursions from societal norms occurring all over the earth. Accomplishing geoscience for a common goal – whether that is for successful business activities, resource assessment for public planning, mitigating the impacts of geological hazards, or for the sheer love of furthering knowledge and understanding – can and should be done by a workforce that is equitably developed and supported. Difficulty arises when the value of institutional programs to increase equity and diversity is not realized.

Request a visit from Sherilyn Williams-Stroud!

Added on 14 September, 2023

DL Abstract By Kurt W. Rudolph

The Assembly of Pangea, a View from Laurentia: Paleozoic Orogenies and their Impact on Basin Evolution and Petroleum Systems

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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Added on 14 September, 2023

DL Abstract By Tao Sun

Integrated Reservoir Characterization and Modeling with Computational Stratigraphy

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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Added on 20 July, 2022

DL Abstract By John Castagna

Beyond Physics in Geophysics

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

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Added on 14 September, 2023

DL Abstract By Isabelle Moretti

The Natural H₂ Exploration Started: Why, Where and by Who?

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!

Added on 13 September, 2023

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