Triassic Park: Memories of Iraqi Kurdistan Arizona’S Petrified Forest
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VOL. 11, NO. 2 – 2014 GEOSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED geoexpro.com GEOTOURISM HISTORY OF OIL Triassic Park: Memories of Iraqi Kurdistan Arizona’s Petrified Forest TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED Rethinking Regional Reconnaissance GEOCHEMISTRY Think Molecular – It Translates into Pay! EXPLORATION Shale Gas: A Commercially Viable Alternative? NEW www.geoexpro.com GEOLOGY GEOPHYSICS RESERVOIR MANAGEMENT Interactive Website TGS | THE NORWEGIAN BARENTS SEA THE 23RD ROUND IS HERE. WE COVER YOUR NEEDS. TGS’ modern 3D database in the Norwegian Barents Sea now consists of more than 23,000 km2. All you need for the Norwegian 23rd licensing round. For more information, contact TGS at: Tel: +47 66 76 99 00 Email: [email protected] WWW.TGS.COM © 2014 TGS-NOPEC GEOPHYSICAL COMPANY ASA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PREVIOUS ISSUES: WWW.GEOEXPRO.COM 74 GEOSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED CONTENTS Vol. 11 No. 2 Some examples of organic compounds Geological SurveyUS This edition of GEO ExPro Magazine focuses on in petroleum. the Americas, the Arctic and Frontier Exploration COLUMNS FEATURES 5 Editorial 30 Exploration: 6 Update New Insights on the Alaskan Chukchi Sea 14 Licensing Opportunities 36 Seismic Foldout: 16 Market Update New Plays for Old – Gabon’s Salt Basin 18 A Minute to Read 58 Seismic Foldout: 22 Cover story: GEO Tourism – Triassic Park Beaufort West – A Complete Wilson Cycle 42 History of Oil: Memories of Iraqi Kurdistan 64 Technology Explained: Rethinking Regional Reconnaissance 48 GEO Profile: Wallace Dow – Pioneer of Petroleum Geochemisty 70 Exploration: Shale Gas – A Commercially Viable Alternative? 52 Recent Advances in Technology: BroadSeis in Exploration 74 GEO Chemistry: Think Molecular 56 What I Do: The Seismic Interpreter 80 Technical Foldout: 90 GEO Cities: Titusville – America’s First Oil Town Around the World in 59 Stages 92 Exploration Update 86 Industry Issues: Water – Truths, Damn Truths and Statistics 94 GEO Media: Promised Land 96 Q&A: Frontier Exploration Water for drilling 98 Hot Spot: Colombia mud, Oman – water 86 is a global issue. 100 Global Resource Management 58 30 © John Simmons 20 14 6 90 48 42 22 14 92 10 98 16 14 20 12 36 92 92 20 64 GEO ExPro MARCH 2014 3 arctic www.polarcus.com/ ARE YOU READY FOR THE ARCTIC? We are. As the only seismic services company with DNV acknowledged Arctic procedures offered behind a fleet of ICE-1A and ICE-1A* rated vessels, Polarcus has proven capabilities to take on the extreme Arctic challenges. Our specialized vessels will help you optimize time on prospect, improve productivity and minimize your environmental footprint whilst operating in this pristine environment. EDITORIAL Many Different Frontiers This edition of GEO ExPro magazine has GEOSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED a broad focus, as we shine the spotlight www.geoexpro.com on the Americas, the Arctic and frontier exploration. We move from the very GeoPublishing Ltd beginnings of the commercial industry – 15 Palace Place Mansion Kensington Court the ‘geocity’ of Titusville in Pennsylvania London W8 5BB, UK – to the future, and a discussion of +44 20 7937 2224 what exactly constitutes an exploration frontier: a notion which encompasses Managing Director geographical, geological, political and Tore Karlsson environmental concepts. Editor in Chief As I write, frontiers are very much Jane Whaley [email protected] in the news, with saber-rattling along Deep76/Dreamstime.com the Russo/Ukrainian border and Russia © Contributing Editors How can we best to communicate our science to the world? making its presence felt in Crimea. In Thomas Smith common with many disputes around [email protected] the world, the place of hydrocarbons and energy security cannot be ignored in this debate. Ken White Russia has the largest proven gas reserves in the world, and Ukraine is strategically located [email protected] between it and one of its main markets, gas-hungry Western Europe, particularly Germany, Halfdan Carstens which gets a large percentage of its energy through Russian gas. Many of the pipelines serving [email protected] this market pass through Ukraine, which itself relies on Russia for 50% of its own supply. The overthrow of the Ukrainian government in February by popular uprising was strongly driven Rasoul Sorkhabi [email protected] by social media and other modern communication methods – as were the public demonstrations and revolutions of the ‘Arab Spring’. There are now many different ways of getting a message out Paul Wood to the world, but as an industry we seem remarkably poor at harnessing them so that others can [email protected] understand the facts, importance and excitement of what we do. With this in mind, the AAPG are Editorial enquiries including in their annual meeting in Houston in April a discussion forum on ‘Communicating our GeoPublishing Science’ to debate how new media are changing our communications with each other and with Jane Whaley the public. A panel of professional communicators, including university professors, government +44 7812 137161 [email protected] advisors, a television presenter and an industry communications expert, as well as the editor of www.geoexpro.com your favourite geoscience magazine, will lead the discussion on how we can better communicate what we do – and its importance – to friends, colleagues, activists and the world in general. Marketing Director Kirsti Karlsson JANE WHALEY +44 79 0991 5513 [email protected] Editor in Chief Subscription GeoPublishing Ltd +44 20 7937 2224 15 Palace Place Mansion Kensington Court London W8 5BB, UK VOL. 11, NO. 2 – 2014 [email protected] GEOSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED geoexpro.com GEOTOURISM HISTORY OF OIL GEO EXPro is pub lished bimonthly Triassic Park: Memories of Iraqi Kurdistan Arizona’s Petrifi ed Forest for a base subscrip tion rate of GBP 60 a year (6 issues). We encourage readers to alert us to news for possible publication TRIASSIC PARK: Arizona’s Petrified Forest and to submit articles for publication. A cosmic array of colors explode from this polished section of a petrified log TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED at the Petrified Forest National Park’s visitors center. The park’s badlands Rethinking Regional Reconnaissance Cover Photographs: offer striking vistas and a peek back at life in the Late Triassic. GEOCHEMISTRY Main Image: Thomas Smith Think Molecular – It Translates into Pay! Inset: William Carter EXPLORATION Inset: The exploits and adventures of the early explorers for oil in Iraqi Shale Gas: A Commercially Viable Alternative? Kurdistan make for fascinating reading. Layout: Bookcraft Ltd. G E O L O G Y NEW G E O P H Y S I C S R E S E R V O I R Print: NXT Oslo Reklamebyrå M A N A G E M E N T www.geoexpro.com Interactive Website issn 1744-8743 © 2014 GeoPublishing Limited. Copyright or similar rights in all material in this publication, including graphics and other media, is owned by GeoPublishing Limited, unless otherwise stated. You are allowed to print extracts for your personal use only. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photographic, recorded or otherwise without the prior written permission of GeoPublishing Limited. Requests to republish material from this publication for distribution should be sent to the Editor in Chief. GeoPublishing Limited does not guarantee the accuracy of the information contained in this publication nor does it accept responsibility for errors or omissions or their consequences. Opinions expressed by contributors to this publication are not necessarily those of GeoPublishing Limited. GEO ExPro MARCH 2014 5 UPDATE Maximizing Recovery ABBREVIATIONS Offshore Croatia A new regulator and possible Scottish independence – Numbers (US and scientific community) interesting times for the UKCS. M: thousand = 1 x 103 A New Oil Province at the Heart of Europe 6 In an environment of increasing uncertainty regarding sovereignty of lucrative UKCS MM: million = 1 x 10 AA 0 9 SP: Offset: 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 82327 B: billion = 1 x 10 0.000 0.000 resources, oil companies operating in the mature North Sea Basin are being urged T: trillion = 1 x 1012 to do what the London and Scottish parliaments seemingly cannot do, and work Multi-Client 2D seismic section from Offshore Croatia more closely together. Liquids In June 2013 the UK government commissioned an independent review of offshore barrel = bbl = 159 litre oil and gas recovery – led by industry stalwart Sir Ian Wood – with a remit to engage boe: barrels of oil equivalent 1.000 1.000 with companies holding interests in the UKCS, along with institutions such as HM bopd: barrels (bbls) of oil per day Treasury, the Scottish government and regulators from the USA, Norway and Australia. bcpd: bbls of condensate per day The resulting report, published in February, suggests that the UKCS could deliver an bwpd: bbls of water per day additional 3–4 Bbo over the next 20 years, worth about £200 billion to the economy. Gas 2.000 2.000 The report recommends that industry works closely with government to MMscfg: million ft3 gas implement the UK Oil and Gas Industrial Strategy, and to develop the strategy for MMscmg: million m3 gas maximising the economic recovery from the UK Continental Shelf, by establishing a Tcfg: trillion cubic feet of gas new sector regulator, focusing on six key areas: • Exploration Strategy: ensure that economically recoverable resources are fully Ma: Million years ago 3.000 3.000 explored, appraised and exploited in a timely manner, by an appropriately tailored licensing regime and by encouraging data sharing. LNG • Asset Stewardship Strategy: ensure operators account for the proper stewardship of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) is natural gas (primarily methane) their assets, with consideration to adjacent resources. 4.000 4.000 cooled to a temperature of • Regional Development Strategy: development on a regional, rather than a field basis, approximately -260 oC.