Explorer Emphasis Article
By Louise Durham
If you’re looking for a promising frontier area to implement your exploration skills, head to Ireland. The country’s Atlantic Basins are an under-explored frontier petroleum province with proven working hydrocarbon systems.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 01 May, 2014
Explorer Article
By Susan Eaton
Energized by the recent Statoil ASA-operated Bay du Nord light oil discovery in Newfoundland’s offshore Flemish Pass Basin, earth scientists are gearing up to host the fourth Atlantic Realm Conjugate Margins Conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Aug. 20-22.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 01 March, 2014
Bulletin E-P Note
The petroleum trap for the Athabasca oil sands has remained elusive because it was destroyed by flexural loading of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin during the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene. The original trap extent is preserved because the oil was biodegraded to immobile bitumen as the trap was being charged during the Late Cretaceous. Using well and outcrop data, it is possible to reconstruct the Cretaceous overburden horizons beyond the limit of present-day erosion. Sequential restoration of the reconstructed horizons reveals a megatrap at the top of the Wabiskaw-McMurray reservoir in the Athabasca area at 84 Ma (late Santonian). The megatrap is a four-way anticline with dimensions 285 x 125 km (177 x 78 mi) and maximum amplitude of 60 m (197 ft). The southeastern margin of the anticline shows good conformance to the bitumen edge for 140 km (87 mi). To the northeast of the anticline, bitumen is present in a shallower trap domain in what is interpreted to be an onlap trap onto the Canadian Shield; leakage along the onlap edge is indicated by tarry bitumen outliers preserved in basement rocks farther to the northeast. Peripheral trap domains that lie below the paleospillpoint, in northern, southern, and southwestern Athabasca, and Wabasca, are interpreted to represent a late charge of oil that was trapped by bitumen already emplaced in the anticline and the northeastern onlap trap. This is consistent with kimberlite intrusions containing live bitumen, which indicate that the northern trap domain was charged not before 78 Ma. The trap restoration has been tested using bitumen-water contact well picks. The restored picks fall into groups that are consistent both with the trap domains determined from the top reservoir restoration and the conceptual charge model in which the four-way anticline was filled first, followed by the northeastern onlap trap, and then the peripheral trap domains.
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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 28 February, 2014
Explorer Emphasis Article
By Louise Durham
The Final Frontier: The Arctic Circle’s vast, untapped treasures of oil and gas resources beckon explorers to boldly go, despite the daunting technical, political and environmental challenges.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 01 February, 2014
Explorer Article
By Jeff Ottmann,Kevin Bohacs
'Breakthrough elegance': ExxonMobil geologists Jeff Ottmann and Kevin Bohacs shared their highly-coveted knowledge on sweet spots and producibility thresholds at a recent Geosciences Technology Workshop on Unconventional Reservoir Quality.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 01 February, 2014
Explorer Emphasis Article
By David Brown
The ability to see ahead of the drillbit while drilling, in real time, helps the driller avoid hazards, increase drilling efficiency and improve well results. Successful SWD captures seismic data without interrupting drilling operations, saving money and reducing risk.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 01 December, 2013
Bulletin Article
The Marcellus Shale is considered to be the largest unconventional shale-gas resource in the United States. Two critical factors for unconventional shale reservoirs are the response of a unit to hydraulic fracture stimulation and gas content. The fracture attributes reflect the geomechanical properties of the rocks, which are partly related to rock mineralogy. The natural gas content of a shale reservoir rock is strongly linked to organic matter content, measured by total organic carbon (TOC). A mudstone lithofacies is a vertically and laterally continuous zone with similar mineral composition, rock geomechanical properties, and TOC content. Core, log, and seismic data were used to build a three-dimensional (3-D) mudrock lithofacies model from core to wells and, finally, to regional scale. An artificial neural network was used for lithofacies prediction. Eight petrophysical parameters derived from conventional logs were determined as critical inputs. Advanced logs, such as pulsed neutron spectroscopy, with log-determined mineral composition and TOC data were used to improve and confirm the quantitative relationship between conventional logs and lithofacies. Sequential indicator simulation performed well for 3-D modeling of Marcellus Shale lithofacies. The interplay of dilution by terrigenous detritus, organic matter productivity, and organic matter preservation and decomposition affected the distribution of Marcellus Shale lithofacies distribution, which may be attributed to water depth and the distance to shoreline. The trend of normalized average gas production rate from horizontal wells supported our approach to modeling Marcellus Shale lithofacies. The proposed 3-D modeling approach may be helpful for optimizing the design of horizontal well trajectories and hydraulic fracture stimulation strategies.
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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 30 November, 2013
Explorer Emphasis Article
By Heather Saucier
Three new research facilities divide their focus between downstream and upstream technology for Aramco Services.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 01 November, 2013
Explorer Emphasis Article
By Louise Durham
Stealth apparently can come in all sizes so some countries are hesitant to accept the use of UAVs for research. Fortunately Norway is one of those places that have permitted geoscientists to drone on.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Added on 01 November, 2013