Explorer Article

We are proud of the accomplishments and science achieved with the exploration of the moon by Apollo crews culminating in 1972 with Apollo 17, 50 years ago. No time since has offered so much promise for crews to return to explore the moon and deep space. There are signs of hope that that’s about to change, though.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Scott Tinker holds numerous official titles. Unofficially, he’s a visionary-in-residence for the oil and gas industry and an expert frequently quoted in the media on energy topics. Since 2016, Tinker has served as chairman of the Switch Energy Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to energy education and collaborative work on energy challenges. Tinker shared his thoughts about the current state of the oil and gas industry and other issues in a recent interview with the EXPLORER.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

Helium and natural gas are hitting record high prices, triggered in part by a severe shortage caused by recent events. In some parts of the world, helium is associated with natural gas. Welcome to an interview with Steve Tedesco, Ph.D., who provides insights into the current situation and opportunities based on his more than 40 years of experience.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

Welcome to an interview with Victor Villamizar, Stryde, who talks to us today about some of the reasons why new technology is making seismic acquisition easier and less environmentally damaging than in the past.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Middle East Blog

Another success story to add to the list of outstanding Middle East geosciences events! The AAPG Geological Process-Based Forward Modeling GTW was held from 23-25 May 2022 at the Westin Golf & Spa hotel in Abu Dhabi, UAE with the main purpose of identifying and discussing key challenges in geological process-based forward modeling, finishing with a concluding session to define a practical way forward.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

We have ways to collect and store data, but it’s still remarkably hard to talk about it. Join us as we talk to Hamed Soroush of Petrolern about new ways to visualize data sets and to collaboratively analyze and discuss it. An interview with Hamed Soroush from Petrolern

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Learn! Blog

Cores and core analyses are more important than ever as we start to use subsurface pore spaces and structure in ways we never dreamed of only a few years ago. Welcome to an interview with Diego Ibáñez from the National University of Bogotá. He goes into detail about the cutting edge National Liloteca, a library of subsurface information from throughout Colombia.

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

After the past year as president of the Division of Environmental Geosciences, my three big takeaways are that the world needs energy, all forms of energy are in transition, and geoscientists are needed to explore for and develop energy – now and in the future. In every future energy scenario, oil and gas will be needed for decades at various levels to contribute to the global energy mix.

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

Four of every five people on the planet are in emerging and developing economies. These are people just beginning to move up the economic ladder, and they need energy to do so. Scott Tinker, a past president of AAPG, has been talking about energy systems for much more than a decade, and launched a non-profit organization, the Switch Energy Alliance, to elevate the public conversation about the value and realities of the energy choices we face. Earlier this year Tinker participated in a TEDx event at the University of Texas at Austin. His talk, “The Dual Challenge: Energy and Environment” was released online last month. The choice, if you listen to policymakers and the media, is one of either energy or the environment. But this isn’t the choice at all.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Foundation Update

Ahmed Ismail, a passionate geoscience educator who not only showed potential but also sensed a career calling as early as grade school, has been named this year’s recipient of the AAPG Foundation’s Inspirational Geoscience Educator Award. Ismail, who has international experience in academia, the energy service sector (Schlumberger) and with the Illinois State Geological Survey, is an assistant professor at the Boone Pickens School of Geology at Oklahoma State University, where he has taught since 2016.

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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)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 23 April 2015, 2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.

Recent laboratory studies have revealed previously unknown behaviors in shale gas which unlock secrets of permeability and sweet spots in shale gas reservoirs. The presentation presents the findings and also goes into detail about how the new information can be applied in order to potentially improve recovery in reservoirs.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Thursday, 13 August 2020, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

Geologic interpretations are the basis of most exploration workflows, whether building a 3-D framework, a geocellular model, or modeling HC basins and estimating HC reserves. All these workflows rely on the most realistic and accurate interpretation in order to produce high-confidence results. Join us to hear from Catalina Luneburg, founder and director of TerraEx Group and specialist in the validation of HC basins and structural geology modeling.

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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)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Saturday, 3 October 2020, 8:00 a.m.–9:00 a.m.

Join us to hear KB Trivedi,  Petroleum Geologist, discuss the paradigm of sequence stratigraphy has it enters a new phase. Webinar will be presented via Zoom on 03 October 2020, 8:00 am CST

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Tuesday, 5 March 2024, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

This AAPG Academy webinar touches on three topics related to evolving energy innovations.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Thursday, 19 November 2020, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

Another in a series of AAPG Visiting Geoscientist Presentations organized by the Manchester University AAPG Student Chapter. Sponsored by BP. Presented by Visiting Geoscientist Elda Miramontes, University of Bermen, Germany Webinar presented via Zoom on 19 November at 5:00pm (GMT-0)

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Webinar
Virtual Webinar
Monday, 15 June 2020, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

Ray Leonard will be talking to us about 'Climate Change, Covid-19 and the Effect on Energy’s Future'. Fossil fuels have led to a profound increase in world living standards but resulting emissions of CO2 and methane into the atmosphere are a primary factor in climate change. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 has resulted in a significant decrease in world economic activity, which in turn has led to a major, if temporary, decrease in greenhouse gas emissions, particularly CO2. Join Ray Leonard via Zoom on June 15 at 12:00 GMT+1

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 23 July 2009, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

As commodity prices have dropped, many shale plays have become uneconomical as statistical plays and have increasingly become recognized as geological plays demanding new insights from data.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Online e-Symposium
Thursday, 22 October 2009, 12:00 a.m.–12:00 a.m.

This course can help you gain the ability to describe the complex and highly variable reservoirs, which are typified by complex internal heterogeneity.

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

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

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

Around 170 million years ago, the Gulf of Mexico basin flooded catastrophically, and the pre-existing landscape, which had been a very rugged, arid, semi-desert world, was drowned beneath an inland sea of salt water. The drowned landscape was then buried under kilometers of salt, perfectly preserving the older topography. Now, with high-quality 3D seismic data, the salt appears as a transparent layer, and the details of the drowned world can be seen in exquisite detail, providing a unique snapshot of the world on the eve of the flooding event. We can map out hills and valleys, and a system of river gullies and a large, meandering river system. These rivers in turn fed into a deep central lake, whose surface was about 750m below global sea level. This new knowledge also reveals how the Louann Salt was deposited. In contrast to published models, the salt was deposited in a deep water, hypersaline sea. We can estimate the rate of deposition, and it was very fast; we believe that the entire thickness of several kilometers of salt was laid down in a few tens of thousands of years, making it possibly the fastest sustained deposition seen so far in the geological record.

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Request a visit from Frank Peel!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
DL Abstract

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.

Request a visit from Kurt W. Rudolph!

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)
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)
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

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

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)

Other Interests

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