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Explorer Director’s Corner By David Curtiss

The Offshore Technology Conference is Back

In February, TotalEnergies announced a significant light oil discovery in the Orange Basin, offshore Namibia. Reuters reported a source suggesting that the Venus-X1 well may have found more than 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent. This was the second significant discovery announced in the basin that month. The offshore continues to deliver new oil and natural gas discoveries worldwide. And as this issue hits your inbox, the offshore is the primary topic of discussion in Houston as the 2022 Offshore Technology Conference returns to NRG Park from May 2-5.

Added on 01 May, 2022

Explorer President’s Column By Gretchen Gillis

Making a Difference for People Who Are Different

Listening to “King of the Mountain” by Midnight Oil, a song about a foot race up the wickedly steep Mount Cooroora in Australia, prompted me to think about whether it is good to be the king, or to be in a position to just help others get to the top of the mountain. We do not need royal powers or superhuman running ability to make a difference for people participating in AAPG activities. Making a difference can be much simpler and just requires the will to make the climb and help others along the way.

Added on 01 May, 2022

Explorer Readers Forum By Dan Billman

Rudeness versus Unethical Behavior: Where’s the Line?

Supposedly Walt Disney said, “I don’t know if it is art, but I know I like it.” I am reminded of this quote and feel the need to paraphrase it: “I don’t know if it is rude (or worse), but I know I don’t like it.” I think we’d all agree that we live in an amazing time – the Digital Age. With a few keystrokes we can communicate, almost instantly, with friends and colleagues next door or halfway around the world. I think we’d also agree that sometimes non-face-to-face discussions can lead to communication that is not always well thought out, complete and properly tempered. Also, non-face-to-face communications sometimes loses the nuances of facial and physical gestures.

Added on 01 May, 2022

Explorer Readers Forum By William Houston

AAPG Bylaws Fundamentals: What is the Ethics Committee For?

Upon acceptance into the membership of AAPG, all members are obliged to follow the AAPG Constitution and Bylaws in matters of Association business, professional conduct and personal decorum. The AAPG Ethics Committee is a standing committee composed of five members appointed by the Executive Committee. The committee is charged with evaluating and recommending improvements to matters of AAPG ethics and discipline, providing general advice on professional behaviors and receiving and evaluating ethics complaints submitted by members.

Added on 01 May, 2022

Explorer Geophysical Corner By James Howard,Joshua Lomeo,Lisa Ma

Microscale Structural Analysis for Relative Permeability Prediction

The challenges in acquiring quality laboratory flow measurements in very low-permeability reservoir rock samples has furthered the development of image-based rock physics simulations of multiphase transport properties. The concept of “digital rocks” originated 50 years ago and has become more widespread recently with advances in imaging technology, computing power and robust algorithms for representing complex multiphase flow behavior at the pore scale. Simulation results based on high-resolution images have the dual role of complementing laboratory measurements on conventional reservoirs and acting as a stand-alone predictive tool for unconventional reservoirs where the very low permeability values limit what can be measured in the laboratory.

Added on 01 May, 2022

Explorer Article By Charles Sternbach,John Casiano,Kristie Luchtel-Ferguson,William DeMis

Destroying the Environment to Save It

In the first part of this series, we showed the energy transition will follow an “all of the above” trajectory, irrespective of aspirational messages. Our conclusions are based on the inherent limitations of wind and solar low-density energy machines for generating base-load power: low-density energy machines would cover hundreds of millions of acres. Also in part 1, we discussed Princeton University’s Net Zero America report, an outstanding, 18-author study of five models to de-carbonize the United States by 2050. The report does not mention environmental impact of LDEMs.

Added on 01 May, 2022

Explorer Article By Heather Saucier

Demands for Geoscience Beyond Oil and Gas

While it is evident that the world will rely on oil and gas for years to come, some industry geoscientists are paving a path toward a future in alternative energy and other geoscience-related careers. Geoscientists are needed for research and development in areas of geothermal science, minerals and mining, and carbon and energy storage. They also are needed for projects that require knowledge of geology, subsurface imaging, reservoir development, satellite mapping, geotraining, multiphysics and smart data solutions.

Added on 01 May, 2022

Explorer Article By Barry Friedman

Geoscientists Protect Vulnerable Populations Against Natural Disasters

This is the story of two tragedies – one in Nepal, one in India – but more importantly, how humanitarian projects by Geoscientists without Borders may help prevent the devastation of the next two. And the tragedies after that. In 2015, an earthquake struck near Nepal’s capital city of Kathmandu, which is in the central part of the country. Almost 10,000 people were killed, many thousands more injured and more than 600,000 structures in Kathmandu and other nearby towns were either damaged or destroyed. Václav Kuna, a postdoctoral geophysics researcher was moved to do something about it.

Added on 01 May, 2022

Explorer President’s Column By Gretchen Gillis

Seeking Informed Dissonance

Listening to “Marcia Funebre” from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 as I write prompted me to think about what I have been hearing. Certainly, a wide range of emotions, from triumph and happiness to the misery of loss, along with beautiful dissonance. That’s why people listen to Beethoven again and again. Leaders are reminded repeatedly to publicly support decisions made by boards, even when they disagree. However, when decisions are made in an environment of misinformation, that best practice of publicly supporting decisions becomes insupportable.

Added on 01 April, 2022

Explorer Article By Barry Friedman

The Lingering Effects of COVID on the Oil Industry

That COVID-19 has affected some industries, devastated others, and has generally been playing peek-a-boo with the world’s economies for the past 24 months is no secret. And like those living with post-COVID syndromes, the oil and gas sector, too – even those in it who survived – could be considered “long haulers.”

Added on 01 April, 2022

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Explorer Article By J.K. Dietrich

Natural Increase of Oil Column Buoyancy and the Instability of Caprock Seals

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.

Added on 08 May, 2024

Explorer Article By Barry Friedman

US Energy Forecast: Even Cloudier Than Usual

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.

Added on 04 June, 2024

Explorer Historical Highlights By Jorge Navarro Comet

Casablanca: Spain's Biggest Oil Field

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.

Added on 01 March, 2019

Explorer Director’s Corner By David Curtiss

Introducing the New EXPLORER, New Digital Newsletters

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.

Added on 01 April, 2024

Explorer Geophysical Corner By Kenneth Bredesen,Kurt Marfurt,Ritesh Sharma,Satinder Chopra

Impact of Reprocessing Seismic Data

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?

Added on 01 December, 2023

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