Energy Policy Blog

January 8 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a new rule on offshore hydraulic fracturing that takes effect on March 1. The rule adds additional effluent limits and monitoring requirements. Operators would be required to maintain an inventory of chemicals used in drilling operations and report any released into surrounding waters. The new EPA rule applies only to existing development and production platforms, and new exploratory drilling operations in federal waters off the Santa Barbara coast. There are 23 existing production platforms in California federal waters.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Energy Policy Blog

Peer-reviewed research from the ongoing EPA hydraulic fracturing study is available, well ahead of the final report that is expected at the end of 2014.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Policy Watch

The recent National Academies’ Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on its late-April 2012 workshop, “Health Impact Assessment of Shale Gas Extraction,” describes many potential health impacts of shale gas development and identifies the data gaps.

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

Have you ever heard a phrase in conversation or through the media and thought that you had a vague understanding of the meaning – but carried on with your misunderstanding?

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

Welcome to 2014, where here at AAPG we look forward to a new year of advancing the world of petroleum geosciences.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

The request to speak at a Florida Legislature Energy Briefing on hydraulic fracturing came from Edie Allison, AAPG’s GEO-DC director, one week before the event.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Presentation matters as much as the prospect itself, a veteran geologist says, as he offers tips on how to market a prospect to potential buyers.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

The second annual Playmaker Forum will build on the success of last year’s event, offering professional development, networking, and tricks of the trade from some of the best oil finders in the world.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Discoveries were comparatively sparse, but they persisted steadily throughout the year. Here are some of the more significant discoveries of the past year.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

A review of major oil and gas discoveries of 2013 shows a down year in terms of quantity—but that’s not the whole story.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

Hot Items

Explorer Article

It isn’t news to anyone that prediction is difficult, especially when it’s the future (as a great man once said). Uncertainty and unpredictability are just a part of the job of tracking and predicting the future supply and demand of energy. That being the case, when energy analysts say that the current level of uncertainty is particularly high, it might be easy to dismiss it as a “dog bites man” story. It isn’t.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Historical Highlights

The Casablanca oil field, discovered in 1975 and located on the Mediterranean shelf edge, has been greatly significant in the world’s offshore oil industry activity, besides being by far the biggest oil field in Spain.

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

Perhaps you did a double take pulling the April issue of EXPLORER from the mailbox. What is this? If you joined AAPG in the last 40 years, you’ve only known EXPLORER in its long-standing tabloid format. It worked well for many years as our advertisers – particularly seismic companies – loved the large format and the ability to display their data on a sweeping canvas. For readers, it was a little more awkward.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

A new type of buoyancy model can be used to understand the source of residual oil zones, both thick and thin, to help determine the likelihood that economically viable recoverable oil resides in transition zones of imbibition reservoirs. Application of a buoyancy and breech model will fill a void in reservoir characterization. It will help distinguish between TZs and ROZs, the first of which allows application of primary and secondary (waterflooding) oil recovery methods and the second of which requires more difficult CO2-enhanced oil recovery projects.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Geophysical Corner

Advancements in processing and imaging techniques have continued over the last several decades, which have gradually improved the quality of the processed surface seismic data. When the quality of the existing seismic data is not adequate to perform an interpretation task reasonably, then the interpreter looks for other options. Is it feasible to acquire a new survey? In the absence of an improved survey, will reprocessing of seismic data be a good option?

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

Headquarters Contacts

Susan Nash
Susan Nash Director, Innovation and Emerging Science and Technology, AAPG +1 405 314 7730