In this issue: Membership Update Upcoming Events Recent Events Ongoing Initiatives
People familiar with the energy business know that most existing vertical wells produce little oil or gas. They might be surprised how many horizontal wells fall into the same category. Under the right circumstances, this growing number of wells in decline could represent an investment opportunity. Or, it might become a giant abandonment headache for the oil industry.
I have had the privilege of serving as one of the AAPG Women’s Network co-chairs since 2020 and it has been a pleasure to watch the network grow over these last two years. In that time, our membership has grown from fewer than 100 to nearly 800 members. This growth can be attributed to the numerous opportunities our team has developed for the AAPG community, including technical training, career development, mentoring, networking and much more.
Producers finally got some relief in 2021. Oil and gas prices recovered from their pandemic lows and remained at high levels through most of the year, as increased production could not keep pace with a global demand recovery. It was a year when higher prices helped energy producers strengthen their balance sheets and improve their bottom lines.
One of the more provocative but less publicized initiatives introduced at the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow is an international effort to end oil and gas exploration and production. The Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, created by Denmark and Costa Rica, officially launched its program at COP26.
The pandemic has been a challenge for all networking and social events but geologists have a history of seeking interaction with our friends and colleagues, regardless of the number of people around us – whether at a conference or couch, it makes no matter! This well-known fact inspired the AAPG Women’s Network and the Association for Women Geoscientists to kick-off a series of online networking and educational events that have fondly become known as the “Geology of” series. Everything we love has an underlying geologic aspect, and the “Geology of” series explores the links between geologic components such as climate, bedrock, soil and water chemistry. Two events have been hosted thus far in 2021: “Geology of Wine,” which saw more than 80 attendees, and “Geology of Beer,” which drew more than 500.
Maria Capello said being named AAPG Distinguished Lecturer was her “hat trick.” She has now been a Distinguished or Honorary Lecturer for three major professional societies including AAPG, the Society of Exploration Geophysicists and Society of Petroleum Engineers (twice). Her tenure as AAPG lecturer will begin soon with 20-30 lectures planned, some virtual and some in person, on the topic of “Coupling Geoethics to Sustainability.” The role will once again take her to a number of countries around the globe.
Members of the AAPG Women’s Network are delighted to offer a variety of programs for the 2021 International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy. Whether you plan to attend in-person or virtually, we invite you to join us at IMAGE in September.
The International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy, or IMAGE ’21, the integrated annual event of AAPG and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists in conjunction with the Society for Sedimentary Geology, is all set to be held online and in Denver, Colo., Sept. 26 to Oct. 1. The event will bring together many of the greatest minds and leaders from multiple disciplines of the geosciences sector, which includes an impressive lineup of keynote speakers that include IHS Markit’s Daniel Yergin, Kirsten Siebach of the Mars Perseverance mission and Kirk Johnson of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
You might not know her name, but you definitely know her work. When you imagine the ocean floor, it is probably the Marie Tharp map that you see. As a major key to understanding plate tectonics, her work led to many important developments in identifying offshore drilling targets. The maps were displayed at the 100th anniversary of the Library of Congress in the Jefferson Building, along with treasures that included a rough draft of the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation and Lewis and Clark’s journals.
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A Synopsis of 3.8 Ga of Earth History, this volume contains 18 contributions that discuss the geology of Africa from the Archaean to the present day.
The volume documents shale tectonics from a variety of basins around the world, including the southern Beaufort Sea; the Krishna-Godavari Basin, India; the Niger Delta; eastern offshore Trinidad; offshore Brunei; and along the Spanish arm of the Mediterranean Sea. Product #1023. Price: Member $99/List $139
A collection of both qualitative and quantitative data on deep-water outcrops from around the world, this volume contains 154 chapters, and includes papers on all seven continents and 21 countries. Product #736. Price: Member $189/List $239.
Comprised of 48 chapters, this Memoir covers the biostratigraphy, ichnology, stratigraphy, depositional facies, diagenesis, and petroleum and mineral resources of the GACB. Product #787. Price: Member $184/List $304.
This 18-chapter volume is small enough to focus on the interplay among tectonics, sedimentation, and petroleum systems. Yet it is big enough to cover the diversity of structural styles in important petroliferous sedimentary basins around the globe. Product #1174. Price: Member $174 / List $174.