Vol. 27, No. 10 October 2006

www.veritasdgc.com

OCTOBER 2006 3

On the cover: The Lunskoye LUN-A platform, located 15 kilometers $ 80 off the northeast coast of Russia’s Sakhalin Island, is a drilling and $ 70 production facility that operates in 48 meters of water. The big question AAPG Membership Dues/Year $ 60 surrounding Sakhalin operations is no longer whether there will be success, but who will best benefit. See story on page 6. Photo courtesy $ 50 of Sakhalin Energy Investment Co. $ 40 Price of Crude Oil/Barrel $ 30

$ 20 Sakhalin oil and gas projects continue to advance, 6 contributing to Russia’s oil and gas industry’s success. Just $10 how much non-Russian companies will benefit from the development remains to be seen. 1980 1990 2000 2006

Triumph from tragedy: AAPG members are trying to do 10 something about the traffic death-zone known as the Corniche in Cairo, Egypt. Products, Services Bottoms up? Maybe – and we’re not talking about happy 12 hour. This is about uncertainties in reservoir management.

AAPG returns to Australia as the International Conference 18 Benefit Members and Exhibition is about to open in Perth. By LEE T. BILLINGSLEY Foundation Library, In August I attended the North group insurance, Too nice for its own good? New Zealand, a beautiful part of 24 American Prospect Expo in Houston, also certification, etc. the world, may hold the potential to be a big part of the known as Summer NAPE (see related Any geologist or story, page 38). The show was a success company that world’s oil scene. Now, if they can just spread the word … with over 500 booths and 5,000 cannot derive at attendees, and it provided a great least the value of That was then, this is now: 4-D seismic, once exotic, is 28 opportunity as president of AAPG and one barrel of oil per becoming increasingly common – with good reason. vice president of Abraxas Petroleum to year per visit with a wide variety of geologists. membership I was surprised to receive a recurring (approximate cost of The big chill: Antarctica may or may not be a good place for 32 comment from geologists and attendees: our most expensive exploration, but how do you know until you look? “Thank you for serving as president of membership) is AAPG.” simply not using Wow! Sometimes the leadership of Billingsley AAPG’s available Book fare: AAPG’s Publication Pipeline Committee 44 AAPG and the staff focus so much energy resources. If you invested a lot of sweat equity in a project – its largest ever on why geoscientists are not members consider AAPG’s entire revenue from that we forget about all the appreciative dues of $1.7 million divided by the price – that will bring a mountain of information to geoscience ones that are members. I felt very of a barrel of oil (about $70), we only need students in Bangladesh. gratified and inspired by the appreciation. to help members find an additional I ask all readers of this column to thank 24,000 BO/year to “payout” our entire someone who is serving on behalf of your dues cost. profession. It will help them do a better With such a cost-efficient, productive job. That includes your local societies, organization, no wonder people are House of Delegates members, committee thanking me for serving. Washington Watch 40 Membership and Certification 51 chairs, AAPG staff, etc. Geophysical Corner 42 Foundation Update 52 Question: What is free for the giver, but ❐ Second, AAPG offers many indirect valuable to receiver; frequently gets benefits that accrue both to current and Professional News Briefs 46 Readers’ Forum 54 returned; and everyone has an unlimited future members. supply? If you look beyond your own personal In Memory 48 Classified Ads 55 Answer: “Thank you.” needs, how does AAPG contribute to Spotlight on Education 49 Director’s Corner 57 global energy supply? AAPG’s areas of * * * contribution include these specific Regions and Sections 50 DPA Column 57 examples: Reflecting on why geologists would ✓ Creator and curator of technical data Meetings of Note 50 thank me for serving AAPG, they – BULLETIN, special publications, obviously feel that their professional Datapages (digital publishing of all AAPG association is important. But what do we inventory plus an increasing volume of do that is so important? publications from affiliated societies), new AAPG Headquarters – 1-800-364-2274 (U.S. & Canada only), others 1-918-584-2555 and growing geospatial library. Communications Director Correspondents Advertising Coordinator ❐ First, we offer products and services ✓ Connecting professionals – Annual Larry Nation David Brown Brenda Merideth that directly benefit members. North American and international e-mail: [email protected] Louise S. Durham P.O. Box 979 The direct benefits are expanding and conventions and exhibitions, the Barry Friedman Tulsa, Okla. 74101 improving so rapidly that one of our big EXPLORER magazine, prospect expos Managing Editor telephone: (918) 560-2647 challenges is to communicate the new (Winter NAPE, Summer NAPE and Vern Stefanic Graphics/Production (U.S. and Canada only: benefits to members. I think most London APPEX), regional conferences e-mail: [email protected] Rusty Johnson 1-800-288-7636) prospective member decisions to join are (GEO in Baharain, recent European e-mail: [email protected] (Note: The above number is based on these direct benefits, such as conference in Mallorca). Editorial Assistant for advertising purposes only.) BULLETIN articles, the EXPLORER, ✓ Continuing education – Oral and Susie Moore fax: (918) 560-2636 access to conventions, short courses, e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] digital library and search capability, See President, next page

Vol. 27, No. 10 The AAPG EXPLORER (ISSN 0195-2986) is published monthly for members. Published at AAPG headquarters, 1444 S. Candidates’ Bios, Responses Online Boulder Ave., P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, Okla. 74101, (918) 584-2555. e-mail address: [email protected] Periodicals postage paid at Tulsa, Okla., and at additional mailing offices. Printed in the U.S.A. Note to members: $6 of annual dues pays for one year’s subscription to the EXPLORER. Airmail service for members: Biographies, pictures and information were provided by each $45. Subscription rates for non-members: $63 for 12 issues; add $67 for airmail service. Advertising rates: Contact statements from all candidates for candidate and edited only for Brenda Merideth, AAPG headquarters. Subscriptions: Contact Veta McCoy, AAPG headquarters. Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs and videos must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope to ensure return. AAPG office are now available for grammar, spelling and format. viewing on the AAPG Web site, This information, which will remain The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) does not endorse or recommend any products or services that may be cited, used or discussed in AAPG publications or in presentations at events associated with AAPG. www.aapg.org. online through the election period, also

Copyright 2006 by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved. The candidates were given the will be provided as hardcopy in the opportunity to respond briefly to the January EXPLORER. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to AAPG EXPLORER, P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, Okla. 74101. subject: “Why I Accepted the Invitation Online balloting will be made Canada Publication Number 40046336. to be a Candidate for an AAPG Office.” available in the spring of 2007. Ballots Canadian returns to: Station A, P.O. Box 54, Windsor, Ontario N9A 6J5 ❏ e-mail: [email protected] Responses and biographical will be counted on May 16.

OCTOBER 2006 4

New Distinguished Instructor Program Unveiled President from previous page A new program designed to help in ❐ Frank Peel, with BHP Billiton in ✓ Basic concepts and terminology. the dissemination of science is being Houston, will be the first domestic DI ✓ The stratigraphic building blocks of offered to geological societies by AAPG. speaker. He received the George C. depositional sequences. poster papers at conventions, short The AAPG Distinguished Instructor Matson Award for the best oral ✓ Recognition criteria for the courses, field trips, research conferences. program, intended to complement the presentation at the 2003 AAPG Annual identification of depositional sequences ✓ Recruitment of new professionals – Distinguished Lecture program, will Convention in Salt Lake City. and their components in outcrops, cores, Visiting Geoscientists Program, student comprise half-day, full-day and/or two- The tile and details of his course will well logs and seismic. grants, student job expos, AAPG student day short courses as opposed to one- be announced later. ✓ The application of sequence chapters, Youth Education Activities hour lectures. stratigraphy in non-marine, shallow (educational materials and instruction for The program will feature annual ❐ Vitor Abreu, with ExxonMobil marine and submarine depositional pre-college age). domestic and international tours. Exploration in Houston, will be the first settings. ✓ Public education – Public Outreach Although offered only to geological international DI speaker, and he will offer ✓ Implications in petroleum Committee and GEO-DC office. societies for its inaugural season, a two-day short course on “Sequence exploration. officials plan to eventually make it Stratigraphy for Petroleum Exploration.” The above list shows that AAPG is much available to university departments, and Abreu’s course is a “hands-on” Details on the DI tours are yet to be more than the BULLETIN and EXPLORER, to expand the program to include up to introduction to the concepts and announced. For more information a member’s most frequent, visible and three speakers annually for both the practical applications of sequence contact Karen Dotts at AAPG, 919-560- direct benefits. Having a large, vibrant domestic and international arenas. stratigraphy. The course, using a mix of 2621; or e-mail [email protected]. ❏ membership allows us to develop new The first Distinguished Instructors are: lectures and in-class exercises, covers: products and services and to deliver them globally. For example, many petroleum geoscientists view prospect expos like the one I just attended as one of their most important business venues. Professional associations, including AAPG, began all such expos. Looking forward, AAPG can fulfill a critical role in supplying world energy by technically enhancing geoscientists worldwide and providing a medium for professional exchange. Our role applies to both current and future geoscientists. Take heart, if the papers in last month’s BULLETIN did not seem to apply to your current work project or you did not have time to read the EXPLORER; your dues were still being applied to the good of all mankind – and the profession.

* * *

In my short time as president I have frequently received input in the form of questions and suggestions, and I have learned to ask the question, “What do you want me to do?” It is simply a method to distill requests into potential actions. To turn that around at the end of this column, even though you did not ask, I will answer that question. If you are a member, I want you to recruit at least one new member. If you supervise geoscientists, I want you to invite and encourage them to join and recruit at least one new member. If you are a corporate manager, make it company policy to reimburse membership dues or recruit 100 or more members through our Corporate Membership category (contact AAPG Member Services for details). If you are a member in academia, recruit a colleague and encourage all your students to join (membership fees for students will be reimbursed). Anyone can print application forms off the Web site (aapg.org), or simply apply online. Some geoscientists with low incomes do have trouble paying their dues. Within the next few months the Executive Committee will review a report from the ad hoc Graduated Dues Committee and prepare a recommendation on dues structure for consideration by the House of Delegates. Last month I did recruit a former classmate of mine to join as an Active member. Welcome, Steve. Who will be my next happy convert?

‘Til next month,

P.S. AAPG-sponsored student job expos take place in early October in Laramie, Wyo., Buffalo, N.Y. and Houston (see page 34). Check AAPG’s Web site for details – it might not be too late to sign up.

OCTOBER 2006 5

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OCTOBER 2006 6 Meanwhile Gas Flows, Drilling Continues Politics Pose Sakhalin Questions

By DAVID BROWN EXPLORER Correspondent Call it a Russian miracle. Despite political, environmental and economic pressures, Russia’s Sakhalin oil and gas projects continue to advance. The Sakhalin-1 project began exporting light, sweet Sokol crude oil to Japan in September. Sakhalin-1 is expected to generate about 250,000 barrels of oil per day by mid-2007. New oil sources and engineering improvements, combined with OPEC limits on Saudi output, have made Sakhalin-6 includes a tract offshore Russia the world’s largest oil producer. the island’s east coast, with large, The Sakhalin-2 project will add a seismically defined anticlines. Seismic major LNG export capacity for the also has shown evidence of structural- country. stratigraphic traps in the Sakhalin-7 A loading platform and jetty were project area, southeast of the island. recently completed for Sakhalin-2, Sakhalin-8 and Sakhalin-9, west and scheduled to begin LNG plant south of Sakhalin Island, remain largely operations in 2008. undefined but may contain promising ExxonMobil holds a 30 percent sand reservoirs. interest in the Sakhalin-1 project consortium, and Shell currently has a 55 ‘Projects … Progressing Well’ percent interest in Sakhalin-2. But how much non-Russian Work at Sakhalin-2 now focuses on companies will be allowed to benefit building out the project’s LNG and from Sakhalin development remains to processing facilities and developing the be seen. 18.2 Tcf Lunskoye gas field, which will Russia’s grip-tightening on its produce most of the gas for the LNG domestic oil and gas industry could alter operation. the future for foreign participants. Ivan Chernyakhovskiy is principal AAPG member Gregory Ulmishek spokesman for Sakhalin-2 developer served for years as the U.S. Geological Sakhalin Energy Investment Co. Survey’s expert on Russian resources. “Our Phase 2 development is 75 When he retired and joined Direct Graphics, photos courtesy of Sakhalin Energy Investment Co. percent complete, consuming some 60 Petroleum in Denver, he began looking at An overview of operations at Russia’s Sakhalin Island, including platform locations. million man-hours per year, with small plays in Russia. approximately 17,000 people in Sakhalin His contacts and background give employed on the project,” him a uniquely clear view of today’s 1990s. Russia signed its first Production terminal in the Russian Far East. Chernyakhovskiy said. situation in the Russian oil and gas Sharing Agreement (PSA) for Sakhalin-2. Sakhalin-2 now draws most of the “All these projects are progressing industry. Sakhalin-1 includes the Chayvo, international industry’s interest, for two well, even though such scope of work in “It’s my general feeling,” he said, “that Odoptu and Arkutun-Dagi fields, with reasons: a severe frontier environment is nobody knows, for certain, what estimated recoverable reserves of 2.3 ✓ First, work there has progressed unprecedented for the world oil and gas happens now.” billion barrels of oil and 17.1 trillion cubic fairly rapidly toward the beginning of industry,” he noted. feet of gas. Production at Chayvo began commercial export two years from now. Chernyakhovskiy said Sakhalin-2 Defining the Play Oct. 1, 2005. ✓ Second, some observers believe development requires “simultaneous Partners in the Sakhalin-1 consortium Russia is creating obstacles for the execution of several major multi-million Sakhalin Island, narrow and are operator Exxon Neftegas Ltd., 30 project in hopes of gaining more control dollar, complex-engineering mega- elongated, stretches roughly north-south percent; Japanese company Sakhalin Oil for domestic companies. projects,” including: off Russia’s southeastern coast. It sits at and Gas Development, 30 percent; China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. ✓ A second production platform on the south end of the sea of Okhotsk, just India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd., 20 percent; (Sinopec) has begun exploration drilling the Piltun-Astokhskoye Field, in addition north of Hokkaido, the northernmost of and two affiliates of Russia’s state-owned in the Sea of Okhotsk for the Sakhalin-3 to tying in the existing Molikpaq platform Japan’s main islands. Rosneft – Sakhalinmorneftegas-Shelf, project, under a Sinopec-Rosneft joint for year-round production. As many as nine major exploration 11.5 percent, and RN-Astra, 8.5 percent. venture. ✓ A platform on Lunskoye, capable of and development projects are proposed The consortium recently Sakhalin-4 and Sakhalin-5 offer producing up to 17 Bcm/year of non- for the Sakhalin area. commissioned a 24-inch, 140-mile exploration opportunities over several associated gas. Negotiations for Sakhalin-1 and pipeline that will move Sakhalin oil west large structures, primarily in the island’s Sakhalin-2 development began in the to the new, year-round DeKastri loading northern waters. See Sakhalin, page 8

The view from above: The Sakhalin-2 LNG plant site at Prigorodnoye (left), at the southern end of Sakhalin Island; right, an onshore pipeline, winding through the countryside.

OCTOBER 2006 7

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The geologic setting for two giant like it should, he observed. Sakhalin fields of Sakhalin Island. The basins (Yukos was once one of the world’s from page 6 are: North Sakhalin, East Sakhalin, largest oil companies, producing 20 West Sakhalin, Tatar Strait, Kurile percent of Russia’s output. Its assets (partial, bottom right), Central and were acquired in controversial South Okhotsk (right), Sea of circumstances by the Russian ✓ An onshore processing facility for Okhotsk (right) and Tempoku government and was declared bankrupt the gas and condensate from both fields. (bottom). Basin type most in August.) ✓ 300 kilometers of offshore pipelines. responsibile for giants classified “It slowed down after 2003-2004, with ✓ 1,600 kilometers of oil and gas here as right-lateral strike-slip the problems of Yukos,” Ickes said. “The pipelines to the south of the island, motion between the North big problem with Russia is that all its new capable of delivering 18 bcm/year. American and Eurasian plates. Age oil is in hard-to-get-to places.” ✓ An oil export facility. of orogenic belts: purple (PM) = Also, Russia still hasn’t developed the ✓ The first LNG plant and associated Pennsylvanian to Lower Triassic; technical and engineering expertise export facilities in Russia, including two green (M2) = Upper Jurassic to required for its extensive production trains (liquefaction units) with a total Upper Cretaceous. operations and new projects. capacity of 9.6 million metric tons per “They need the technology – they year. Graphic from AAPG Memoir 78, should be more into petroleum “And, of course, island infrastructure Giant Oil and Gas Fields engineering than they are,” he said. upgrades and construction required for Of the Decade 1990-1999 “There’s sort of a conflict between the implementing all the above in a frontier need for the technology and assertion of environment and severe conditions,” he “I’m sorry to say the situation looks to approximately $5-6 per barrel, including control.” added. me in recent years more nationalistic,” capital expenditures for infrastructure Ickes recently co-authored a paper Although the LNG plant is still under Ulmishek commented. “Not nationalistic upgrades, the LNG plant and export describing how economic benefits, or construction, most of its future capacity is in the full sense, but to try to keep terminal. “rents,” flow into the Russian economy already sold under long-term contracts, outsiders out of the petroleum play in the “Assuming a forward oil price of $34 from its domestic oil and gas industry. according to Chernyakhovskiy. country. per barrel, the project will generate some “The big point is that these rents are “The company anticipates signing “They have put a lot of effort to make $50 billion of benefits to Russia over its widely distributed,” he said. “These binding Heads of Agreements for the a state company, Rosneft, a principal lifetime,” he said. companies pad a lot of their costs, so the remaining gas in the near future,” he player,” he said. “It seems that Rosneft “And since the current price of oil is rents are spread out.” said. “First LNG shipments are planned becomes stronger and stronger in that much higher, there is potential to for the summer of 2008.” market. And rules, actually, in that increase revenues even further,” he Balancing Act Shareholders in Sakhalin Energy are market.” added. Shell Sakhalin Holdings BV, 55 percent; Russian giant gas company Gazprom Russia’s petroleum industry supports Mitsui Sakhalin Holdings BV, 25 percent; reached an agreement with Shell to take Boom Times? or helps support many other domestic and Mitsubishi Corp. subsidiary Diamond a 25 percent interest in Sakhalin-2 in industries, like the machine-tool industry, Gas Sakhalin BV, 20 percent. exchange for an interest in selected Barry Ickes serves as a professor of Ickes noted. And Russia makes sure Siberian properties, but that agreement economics at Pennsylvania State local economies and businesses benefit Bright Future faltered when Shell doubled its cost University and finance director at the from major development work. estimate for Sakhalin-2. New Economic School in Moscow. “In the Sakhalin-2 PSA, Sakhalin Russian environmental agencies have “In 2005, we announced a revised Helped by high prices for its Energy undertook a commitment to mandated several changes to Sakhalin-2 cost estimate for Phase 2 of the order of petroleum exports, Russia has gone achieve a level of 70 percent Russian plans, including significant rerouting of $20 billion for the full project to 2014. through an economic resurgence. content, including labor, materials, pipelines, and have even called for This cost revisions was, and still remains, “Russia has a huge current account equipment and contract services, over suspension of development. our best estimate,” Chernyakhovskiy surplus and it’s paying off its debts. The the life of the entire project, That may – or may not – represent said. economy is doing quite well,” Ickes Chernyakhovskiy said. Russian pressure for a larger domestic According to Chernyakhovskiy, overall noted. share of the project. development costs for Sakhalin-2 are However, oil production isn’t booming See Russia, page 43

OCTOBER 2006 9

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Doing Good to Avoid Grief for Others Tragedy Stirs Volunteer Action

By BARRY FRIEDMAN seriously injured or maimed in road EXPLORER Correspondent accidents, adding untold suffering and “It is DEADLY out there.” incalculable economic loss. The e-mail came from Dave And there’s this from the U.S. State Blanchard, an AAPG member who Department: tragically lost his daughter three years “Driving in Egypt, a country with one ago when she tried to cross a street in of the highest incidences of road Cairo, Egypt. fatalities per miles driven in the world, is But this wasn’t a message from a challenge. Traffic rules appear to be 2003. It was received last month. routinely ignored by impatient drivers. Which is why ever since Deana Drivers should be prepared for unlit Blanchard was hit by a bus on the vehicles at night, few if any road Corniche, the infamous six-lane markings, vehicles traveling at high thoroughfare on the east bank of the rates of speed, vehicles traveling the Nile, her father has been trying to get wrong way on one-way streets, divided the Egyptian government to build a highways and connecting ramps, pedestrian tunnel underneath it. pedestrians constantly dodging in and (The e-mail he sent refers to a fatality out of traffic and a variety of animals … suffered by one of his Egyptian co- And then the warning ends: workers on the way from Alexandria a “Pedestrians should also exercise few weeks back, proving the situation is extreme caution when traversing still dangerous.) roadways, especially in high- For Blanchard, who is with Devon volume/high-velocity streets like Cairo’s Energy International in Cairo, this is a Photos courtesy of Dave Blanchard Corniche, which follows the east bank project that needs to be accomplished Deadly crossings: Pedestrians are vulnerable – often tragically so – on Cairo’s Corniche. of the Nile River.” for a number of reasons – some civic, some personal. silent in our inner most being. own hands. He Has a Dream “My family and I decided, within the “Without some way to rationalize our Imagine crossing an interstate first couple of days after the accident, loss it would be difficult to wake in the highway on foot to get to a bus stop or What Blanchard envisions for the that our daughter’s death should not be morning and face the world.” to a restaurant; now imagine doing so Corniche is a pedestrian tunnel access, in vain and that we had to do something without traffic lights or speed limits or, costing approximately $250,000, at a to save lives along the Corniche,” he A Deadly Path for that matter, drivers who stay on their particularly crowded congested said. designated side of the road. intersection. It is where a passenger “The loss of a child is an The bus, which struck his daughter Welcome to Cairo. ferry brings workers across the Nile to unfathomable event,” he continued, at 10 p.m., was speeding along the According to the Egyptian Ministry of the suburb of Maadi, a center of the oil “and there is an instinctive need to Corniche without lights – a typical Transportation, 6,000 people die each make some sense out of the occurrence in a city where crossing the year as a result of road accidents in unimaginable fear and pain that lies street is to literally take your life in your Egypt and 30,000 more annually are continued on next page

OCTOBER 2006 11 continued from previous page First Steps

Blanchard also says that, at times, this hasn’t always been easy. “As expats we sometimes tend to business in Cairo and where the work overseas for a few years and then governmental regulatory body, the return home without being involved with Egyptian General Petroleum Company, local community initiatives,” he said. is located. “Certainly in some countries it is And near the spot where his perhaps not advisable to become too daughter was killed. involved in local issues, but in general, “Cairo is a nightmare,” says John we are the ground level ambassadors Dolson, AAPG vice president and a for our country and our society. I fully former Cairo resident who is personally support our membership becoming involved in making Blanchard’s dream a involved in community projects. reality. “I know at Devon in the USA many, “People driving on the wrong side of many employees and AAPG members the road, with lights off at night, in over- are deeply involved with community crowded mini-vans,” he said. “I cringed initiatives,” he said, “and I think that every day of the eight-and-a-half years commitment to the community needs to we lived there.” be expanded globally.” Blanchard said that even before his And it seems to be working. To date, daughter’s accident, he always carried Apache, BP, BG, Devon, IPR, ENI, Coca a full EMS kit in his car that included Cola and GM, as well as local neck braces, respirators and splints. He businesses and private individuals, said the problem then, as now, is that have pledged funds. Dolson expects “there are no working traffic lights along the project to be completed within two the Corniche, and so there are no safe years. pedestrian cross-walks and, as As for the Egyptian authorities, important, no natural breaks in the flow Blanchard says they are helpful, excited of traffic.” and overwhelmed, and doing what he Something, clearly, had to be done, says governmental officials always do: but who would do it? The Egyptian “Follow bureaucratic procedures.” government? “We certainly hope the pedestrian “Honestly, the best and most useful tunnel will be completed, not only for thing the Egyptian government can do our own desire to make some sense of is to speed up the permitting process,” our tragedy, but to save lives,” Blanchard said, “and help with some Blanchard said. minor imminent domain issues.” He then talks about 2007, when his A fledgling NGO (non-governmental son, along with many who knew his organization) safe road society, has daughter, will graduate from a school in been created as a result of his Cairo. daughter’s death to assist with moving “It is our fervent hope that the tunnel the process forward with the authorities. will be built by then so that the last of Both Blanchard and Dolson believe Deana’s high school friends will be able Dave Blanchard and other AAPG members are trying to get pedestrian tunnels built that industry, along with volunteers, to cross the deadly Corniche road in along the Corniche in Cairo, similar to that above. Otherwise, pedestrians take their ❏ must play the major parts. safety.” lives into their own hands trying to cross the busy highway.

OCTOBER 2006 12

3-D geologic model; Reservoir management is becoming Top Down or Bottoms Up? more complex – and every tool possible is needed to deal with uncertainty. Getting a Grip On Reservoirs By LOUISE S. DURHAM surfaces and more. EXPLORER Correspondent “Evaluating uncertainty is becoming When it comes to evaluating more and more important,” said Jan Inge hydrocarbon reservoirs and predicting Tollefsrud, technical manager production performance, one thing is responsible for uncertainty solutions at certain: Uncertainty. Roxar. “This is because new discoveries This fact has long plagued are getting smaller even though the geoscientists and engineers as they number of discoveries is still high.” strive to quantify myriad uncertainties in To begin at the beginning, it’s the complex subsurface environs, such imperative to understand the underlying Graphics courtesy of Roxar as porosity, permeability, structural factor that impacts your ability to quantify what the uncertainty is. It’s not the reservoir; it’s you. “Uncertainty is a function of your state of knowledge and not an intrinsic quantity of the physical world,” said Mike Christie, professor of reservoir simulation at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. “It’s a function of your lack of knowledge of what’s going on.” There is, in fact, a lot going on – across the board. “In the case of fluid flow alone, you’re looking at determining how much oil is there, the connectivity between wells,” Christie said, “and the conductance, which is related to porosity and permeability. Relative permeability and capillary pressure can be big uncertainties. “Even measured data are not necessarily that certain,” he noted. The problem is universal. “Uncertainty exists across the workflow within all the disciplines,” said David Hardy, product manager at Roxar. “Despite the rapid uptake of 3-D model technology, uncertainty isn’t commonly considered part of the 3-D modeling process, even though everyone knows they should be doing something about it. “Lack of time or available tools to do the job properly are blamed for the inattention.”

Bottoms-Up

A whole new attitude toward the problem is emerging today, as methodologies and tools are being developed to allow the complete uncertainty chain to be evaluated within the reservoir model. “For the subsurface, this includes tools that work on the 3-D static and dynamic models geoscientists and engineers are building,” Hardy said. “The integrated approach also allows the uncertainty to be handled across all the Your wellbore. Your view. disciplines together, which is essential.” Industry interest in uncertainty EarthView. modeling is evident at Heriot-Watt, where a number of major oil companies We’ve always seen things your way. No matter what your application – structural support an industry research group determination, stratigraphic delineation, comprising two post-doctoral and four Take our new EarthView suite of imaging fracture identification, geosteering, borehole solutions – a uniquely versatile combination doctoral students looking at the shape and stability – EarthView gives you of technologies and services that allows you mathematics and computational aspects unprecedented flexibility with a full spectrum to view your wellbore and the formation in of uncertainty quantification and also the of near-wellbore imaging capabilities. multiple ways – even in unconventional geological aspects. environments like coalbed methane and So now you can have all the data you need Regarding the geology, the idea is to heavy oil wells. to optimize recovery wherever and whenever be able to capture the uncertainties in you need it. With all the robustness you To help you understand every part of your the geology in the modeling process in a expect from Weatherford. formation and wellbore in greater detail than way that’s as recognizable to a geologist ever before, our GeoEngineering experts can EarthView. Just another way we see things as to a mathematician. interpret images while drilling or post-drilling from your point of view. Early approaches to handling to maximize your recovery. To find out more, visit www.weatherford.com uncertainty in 3-D tended to focus on the or contact your Weatherford representative. reservoir simulation, in large part because the relatively small simulation All Around You. models afford an easier place to start. The newer trend is to work back toward Drilling | Evaluation | Completion | Production | Intervention the geological models, Hardy noted,

© 2006 Weatherford International Ltd. All rights reserved. Incorporates proprietary and patented Weatherford technology. See Uncertainty, page 14

OCTOBER 2006 13

OCTOBER 2006 14

solution will be released early in the fall Tornado chart showing reservoir uncertainties. Uncertainty of this year as a module in the company’s integrated reservoir from page 12 management product. This tool spans an expanded and integrated reservoir characterization which is where the problem needs to be workflow, and the uncertainty model will addressed; after all, this is the source of allow users to evaluate uncertainty the data input. across the entire workflow, which In fact, there currently are two includes: principle approaches to modeling ✓ Structural framework modeling. uncertainty: top-down and bottoms-up. ✓ Fault seal analysis. Basically, the top-down approach ✓ Geological property modeling typically focuses on a simple reservoir (porosity, permeability, water saturation, model, which is not burdened with etc.). details of the geology; it begins coarse, ✓ Reservoir simulation. and detail is added if and when needed. Ease of use is a goal of the tool. Conversely, the bottoms-up approach “It’s covering the whole workflow from to quantifying uncertainty utilizes a static model to dynamic model, detailed model, which captures all the including flow simulation. geological uncertainties. “What you don’t know is what you’re Roxar’s uncertainty management trying to capture,” Tollefsrud noted. “You solution can best be defined as classic have to make estimates and then induce bottoms-up, according to Hardy. The some screening of elements in building the models and then find which are the most critical. “We try to find out the most important elements and then we focus on those and try to reduce that uncertainty,” he said. “For example, if you find the velocity model in the overburden is the most critical element in defining the in- place volumes, you try to find ways to improve the velocity models.”

‘Transformational Technology’

An alternative approach to incorporate reservoir uncertainty in model construction and performance prediction is being used at BP. It makes use of top-down reservoir modeling (TDRM) technology – a proprietary technology developed at BP. “BP has developed a pragmatic approach to thinking about uncertainty over the whole workflow, which includes the tools and the philosophy,” said Glyn Williams, technical manager in the development organization responsible for uncertainty solutions. The philosophy is to initiate investigations with the simplest model and simulator suited to the business solution. “BP uses the simplest appropriate model for the decision, and that’s the key thing,” Williams said. “It’s not about building a large complex model with a mountain of information. “Our approach covers the aspects from thinking about the uncertainties and which of these are key,” he noted. “We design the appropriate model and calibrate the model in the sense of history matching to come up with alternative models that match the data. We use the alternative models to actually make decisions based on those uncertainties – and it works. “It’s a transformational technology, which has gone from an embryo – the research idea – to worldwide operations at BP,” Williams said. “It’s transformed how BP thinks about uncertainty,” he noted. The company has successfully applied TDRM technology in hundreds of cases, according to Williams. These include myriad types of reservoirs in all stages of development. Benefits achieved through TDRM application include reduced risk via better understanding of uncertainty and faster work cycle time. The estimated NPV (net present value) for projects has been elevated by as much as 20 percent, Williams noted.

Blurring the Boundaries

As uncertainty management tools and technology continue to evolve, the boundaries between top-down and

See Reservoir Management, page 16

OCTOBER 2006 15

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simulator, allowing some comparisons of Probability map of Reservoir simulated results versus historical oil column height. production data. The information is fed Management back into the reservoir model in order to build it better and come closer to a from page 14 solution. Technology that focuses on improving results and accelerating reservoir bottoms-up applications appear simulation can be combined with the destined to blur. bottoms-up uncertainty management “Fundamentally, we’re all trying to get technique to make the most of both at the same problem,” Hardy said. “I worlds. think we’ll be meeting in the middle and For instance, automated history may pass each other in different matching – which is a specialty focus at directions. U.K.-based Energy Scitech – “At the moment Roxar is focusing on accelerates reservoir simulation and can geological uncertainty and the be used to try to assess uncertainty at parameterization of that and allowing the simulation end, i.e., the coarse you to build multiple models,” he said, engineering end of the process. Hardy “which we can then check against noted the two companies are working production history.” toward combining elements of Roxar’s The top-down uncertainty uncertainty approach with Energy management technique tends to move Scitech’s EnAble technology in a manner between the model and the reservoir that will somewhat resemble the top- down uncertainty solution, at least in terms of the fundamentals of the approach. “In effect, the net outcome is that we can create a shared earth model under uncertainty,” said Neil Dunlop, director of engineering business at Energy Scitech. “Components in the two technologies allow you to do a shared earth modeling workflow. “For a long time, the industry has been seeking a way to generate reservoir simulation models, which are themselves consistent with all known geological information,” Dunlop said. “This workflow lets you do that. “You can sensitize the geomodels,” he said, “and if you have production data from a producing field, you can use that data to generate understanding of the distribution of production behavior and calibrate it based on actual observations.” In the case of a field under production, the users can take field information from that history period and project it into the future using the same geomodel they’ve matched it with. Combining the two constitutes a top- down uncertainty solution.

Mitigating the Risk

Dunlop believes that in a pure exploration situation, there’s only really a bottoms-up approach possible; no calibration or information is available. “What we’re doing with the Roxar system is we’re adding new functionality not available before,” Dunlop said. “That’s to calibrate our understanding of the field in such a way that the reservoir simulation model and the geological model are coherent with each other – people have long complained their models never are.” Uncertainty evaluation, capture and integration is not a one-shot event. Indeed, it must be conducted over the life of the reservoir, according to Emmanuel Gringarten, reservoir characterization engineer at Earth Decision Sciences. Food for thought: Uncertainty quantification has no value in its own right, according to Hardy. “It is improved decision-making that everyone is aiming for,” he noted. “Uncertainty management is all about making better, more informed decisions to help make plans to mitigate the risk. “The better able you are to quantify the risk, the more you can improve the financial performance of the company.” ❏

OCTOBER 2006 17

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AAPG Heading Down Under Perth Promises Big Times

By VERN STEFANIC EXPLORER Managing Editor AAPG in November returns to Australia for the first time since 1992 for its annual International Conference and Western Australia’s North West Shelf, Exhibition, an event that promises to be which also is a major oil province. one of the largest in Association history. “Australia is no different to any other “Reunite Gondwana – Realize the nation in wishing to maximize the Potential” is the theme for the meeting, utilization of its hydrocarbon resources,” which will be held Nov. 5-8 at the new Kantsler said, “and our industry is Perth Convention Exhibition Centre. looking to its geologists to apply new Organizers have assembled a technology, seek out new frontiers and technical program that includes 720 oral structure new deals such that the goal of and poster presentations – among the providing reliable and secure energy, most ever offered at an international both domestically and abroad, can be meeting; seven field trips; and eight achieved.” short courses. Other meeting highlights will include: Registration for Perth to date is ✓ An opening session hosted by running about 30 percent above the general chair Kanstler and featuring pace set for the 1998 meeting in Rio de officials from AAPG, PESA and Western Janeiro, which ended up drawing 2,214, Australia. An icebreaker reception making it AAPG’s largest-ever follows. international event. Australia offers a visual and scientific feast for geologists, such as these famous ✓ A “featured speaker luncheon,” One reason for the large number of Miocene limestones known as the Twelve Apostles, near Melbourne. offering this year’s AAPG Distinguished posters, meeting organizer’s believe, is Lecture on “The ‘I’ in BusIness EthIcs.” the new approach for Perth that ties oral ✓ A students reception, offering the and poster sessions together – in effect, Petroleum exploration in Australia sandstones of Queensland’s Surat Basin. chance for students to meet with oral sessions are used to “preview” the dates to 1892, Kantsler said, but the first Since then about seven billion barrels representatives of companies that are more detailed complementary poster commercial discovery was made in of oil-natural gas liquids and 170 Tcf of AAPG student sponsors. sessions. 1961, when the Moonie oilfield was gas have been discovered, he added – ✓ The Melbourne Cup Luncheon, Perth, located at the heart of the discovered in Lower Jurassic much of the gas being located on when all of Australia comes to a halt for Australian oil and gas industry and near the annual Melbourne Cup horse race, to some of the world’s oldest rock There’s still time to save money by register by Oct. 16 can save nearly which will be held Nov. 7. AAPG will join (dating to four billion years old), registering early for the AAPG $200; for non-members the savings in the celebration with a complementary promises to provide a perfect setting, International Conference and can be $242. lunch in the exhibition hall. according to meeting chair Agu Kantsler, Exhibition in Perth – but the deadline For more information or to register, For more information or to register, go exploration director and chairman of date is drawing closer. go to the AAPG Web site at to the AAPG Web site at http://www.aapg Woodside Petroleum, Perth. AAPG and PESA members who http://www.aapg.org/perth/index.cfm .org/perth/index.cfm. ❏

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By LOUISE S. DURHAM Marble Bar EXPLORER Correspondent If you’re looking to get in on some big- Exmouth

time E&P action, head “down under” to Tom Price Western Australia – it’s a rockin’ scene Paraburdoo these days. Newman Besides the potential to tap into some major hydrocarbon deposits, you’ll find a welcoming environment. According to the Western Australia Carnarvon Department of Industry and Resources (DoIR), the state ranks high in international Denham surveys as a destination for exploration Meekatharra Wiluna ventures. Low sovereign risk and the fiscal

and legislative regime along with noted Cue successes in offshore exploration are Kalbarri Leinster credited with making the locale attractive 2004 reserves pegged at 135 gigalitres of Mt Magnet Northampton Mullewa as an exploration target. Petroleum oil, 282 gigalitres of condensate and 3,408 Leonora Laverton prospectivity has been demonstrated both cubic gigametres of gas, according to Geraldton onshore and offshore Western Australia. DoIR. (A gigalitre equals one million Dongara The state is the major oil and gas kilolitres.)

producer in Australia from the Bonaparte, The state boasts 66 producing oil and Moora Kalgoorlie_Boulder Canning, Carnarvon and Perth basins, with gas fields containing over 80 percent of Coolgardie Southern Cross Australia’s natural gas resources. It leads Yanchep Northam Merredin Three technical sessions on the the nation in gas and LNG production. York PERTH “Petroleum Prospectivity of West Western Australia’s E&P activity goes Fremantle Norseman Rockingham Brookton Mandurah Australia Basins” will be held during the back a number of years – in fact, it has Pinjarra Boddington AAPG International Conference and been producing crude oil since 1967, and Narrogin Bunbury Collie Wagin Exhibition in Perth, Australia. the first commercial quantities of natural Busselton Donnybrook Katanning Kojonup Esperance The first session, a 12-poster event, gas went on production in 1971. Margaret River Bridgetown Manjimup will be held Monday afternoon, Nov. 6. Augusta Mt Barker Two consecutive oral sessions will Denmark 0 500 km be held on Tuesday morning, Nov. 7. See Basins, page 22 Albany Graphic courtesy of Western Australia Geological Survey

OCTOBER 2006 21

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international meeting in Perth. Basins “We have basins from the Archean to Weeks’ Legacy: Australia Exploration those currently forming,” he said. from page 20 Of interest to the petroleum industry are While Western Australia is the hot spot them find oil. the sedimentary basins with prospectivity in the land down under these days, the “Come to your window,” Weeks said. “It from the Proterozoic through to the Bass Straits on the opposite side of the lies out there in the Bass Strait, and most Basin Breakdown present, Baillie noted. continent keeps on producing, although in particularly off the Gippsland Coast. “There’s a series of older basins that declining levels of years past. Weeks said he was aware of the If you decide this is the place for you to dropped within Gondwanaland and extend It was the vision of the late Lewis potential in the Tertiary sediments since strike the big one, bone up real good on from Pre-Cambrian to Permo-Triassic age,” Weeks that at one time provided 400,000 1931, long before the offshore technology the geology in your area of interest. he said, “and there’s a younger set of barrels of oil a day – 70 percent of made possible exploring in the harsh The DoIR emphasized the vastness basins related to the breakup of Australia’s petroleum needs. Straits, where winds of 70 knots are not and variety of the geology in Western Gondwanaland. These are the basins that In 1959, Weeks was president of AAPG uncommon. Australia challenges explorationists to formed on what we call the North West and a consultant enjoying his retirement In March 1965, Australia’s “elephant” apply new technologies when searching Shelf, which is the northwest margin of the from Standard Oil of New Jersey (Exxon) was found. for hydrocarbons in a basically under- Australian continent where the major when he received a call asking for some Weeks donated the funds that provided explored land. hydrocarbons are found.” exploration help in oil-dry Australia. the Weeks Tower at AAPG headquarters in “The oldest rocks on earth are found in There’s some serious E&P action on the And, help he did. After conducting Tulsa, and the estate of his late son, L. Western Australia,” said Peter Baillie, chief Shelf, particularly in the Carnarvon Basin, some studies, Weeks met with the CEO of Austin Weeks and his widow, Marta, this geololgist Asia Pacific at TGS-NOPEC, which is mainly offshore. This is one of BHP, then described as the “U.S. Steel of year made a $10 million endowment to the who will co-chair both a poster session Western Australia’s five major basins, Australia.” He cut a deal where he was AAPG Foundation, the largest gift the and one of the oral sessions on the which also include the Perth, Canning, offered 2.5 percent royalty if he could help association has received. ❏ petroleum prospectivity of Western Browse and Bonaparte basins, according Australia at the upcoming AAPG to DoIR. DoIR noted the primary focus of petroleum exploration and development has been, and continues to be, the Northern Carnarvon Basin, where a range of production facilities already are in place. The basin is one of the more intensely explored areas of Australia. The Northern Carnarvon Basin is the locale of the giant multi-field Greater Gorgon complex, which is currently being explored and developed. Baillie described Gorgon as “a major, major resource” of perhaps up to 5 percent of the world’s natural gas supply. He made the verbal observation that about half of Perth is employed there in one way or another. “In the Gorgon Field complex, which is in water depths of 700 to 800 meters-plus, there’s reservoirs that range in age from Triassic to Lower Cretaceous,” Baillie noted. “The source is also variable and is either Triassic or Jurassic. “In Western Australia, the normal thing is to find porosity below the regional seal, which is called the Muderong and is of Cretaceous age,” he said. “Normally you go for the first porosity below that, which can be Lower Cretaceous, Jurassic or Triassic. “Perhaps the best reservoirs are in the Triassic formation called the Mungeroo,” Baillie noted. “It’s a fluvial sandstone that can have multi-darcy porosity at four kilometers of depth. “I call it the Mighty Mungeroo.”

LNG Potential

Industry activity in this region is not just about drilling wells. LNG is a big deal and becoming even more so. Chevron, for instance, is in the engineering phase for a natural gas project to be built at Gorgon, according to Bill Robinson, senior adviser Chevron Australia and oral sessions co-chair for the Perth meeting. The $11 billion-plus LNG project appears to be surmounting the final hurdles in the approval process. Chevron is operator with a 50 percent stake, while Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil each hold a 25 percent share. Robinson noted this is a 20-40 Tcf development, and construction possibly could begin early next year. Woodside Petroleum currently operates what reportedly is Australia’s largest single LNG production facility, which is on the North West Shelf. Besides the copious quantities of gas in this region, the Gorgon complex is unique in having a high CO2 content – as much as 10-13 percent, according to Robinson. “The plan is to compress and inject the CO2 near the LNG plant on Barrow Island into a static aquifer on the island,” Robinson said. “It will be the world’s largest geo-sequestration project for CO2 geo-sequestration.” ❏

OCTOBER 2006 23

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Photo courtesy of Chris Uruski Several geologists in New Zealand believe that beautiful surroundings and oil and gas exploration can co-exist just fine: Above, the Radnor-1A. Remoteness Has Charm, Risk Deep Kiwi Waters Hold Promise

By BARRY FRIEDMAN EXPLORER Correspondent To hear long-time New Zealand geologist Dave Bennett describe it, understanding when and where to drill for oil is a lot like ... well, in this PC world, let him tell you. “I always characterize oil and gas fields as female,” he says. “They’re so unpredictable.” And that may be part of the charm. There has been a renewed buzz of late as to the mysteries and hydrocarbon myself, is right,” Uruski said, “but the real potential beneath the deep waters of New potential is in deep water rather than Zealand, which is odd, considering it is a beneath our feet.” place that Bennett once said didn’t really Unfortunately, Uruski added, “New have an industry. Zealand’s oil companies definitely don’t “We don’t realize the potential that’s have the money to drill in deep water, so beneath everyone’s feet,” he said a few the general perception is probably true as years back. well.” Christopher I. Uruski, a geoscientist That may be changing, in part because who is currently running the frontier basins the country may not have much choice. section at the Institute of Geological and According to the Ministry of Economic Nuclear Sciences in Lower Hutt, New Development in New Zealand, the Zealand, laughs when he is told what his production of oil (condensate/naphtha) colleague has said. and gas hit record lows during 2005. “Dave Bennett (whom he affectionately Specifically, oil production dropped to calls one of the ‘oily characters down below 1985 levels; net gas production here’), another ex-patriot Welshman like dropped to levels not experienced since the mid-to-late 1980s. Christopher Uruski will present the Despite these numbers, recent paper “Could New Zealand Join discoveries in Pohokura, Maari, and Rimu OPEC?” at 8:20 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. and Kauri have some in the industry 7, at the AAPG International Conference excited. and Exhibition in Perth, Australia. Mac Beggs, director of GeoSphere, a His paper is part of a session titled New Zealand-based and owned oil and “Exploration Potential of New Zealand.” gas consulting company, is one of them. Other papers in the session include: “It is deep water that represents most ✓ Hydrocarbon Charge Modeling of of New Zealand’s big-upside the Outer Taranaki Basin. prospectivity,” Beggs said, “and if the ✓ Seismic Identification of Facies economics stay positive, I expect it will be Within the Kapuni Group, Taranaki, put to the test over the next few years.” New Zealand. ✓ The Canterbury Basin Petroleum Bad News, Good News System and Recent Exploration Results. Finding the oil and gas is one thing; ✓ Petroleum Potential of the Great what happens after is where the South Basin, New Zealand. See New Zealand, page 26

OCTOBER 2006 25

OCTOBER 2006 26

players here after next March when the is key. New Zealand has strong political lie in deep water. New Zealand Great South Basin round closes.” institutions, a well-educated population Fortunately, that perception seems to The New Zealand government and a market-oriented mind-set. be changing. from page 24 currently is running a licensing round for There is something else, too: tranquility. “The limited life of Maui, new scientific the Great South Basin, offering 40 x 9,000 evidence on New Zealand’s oil-prone headaches occur. km2 blocks. Uruski says major oil Changing Perceptions coals, new oil discoveries and the present Eric Matthews, asset manager at companies are taking a look at the data oil price have all helped to change the Australian Worldwide Exploration, an oil and interest is high. Still, for all the renewed, albeit cautious, industry’s previous thinking,” Uruski said. and gas exploration company active in “I think,” Uruski said, “that the Maari, optimism in New Zealand, a place some “This has been combined with strong New Zealand, has said “deep water is a Tui, Amokoura and Pateke discoveries, are saying could have the potential to join government-led promotion of New good place to look for oil and gas, also in the throes of development right OPEC, there is the matter of the evidence. Zealand as an exploration venue to forgetting the problems of getting the stuff now, will make a great difference to the On this matter, Uruski is optimistic. produce the new feeling of optimism.” out of the ground once you’ve started.” way New Zealand is seen by the industry “The body of evidence is growing Modeling studies at GNS Science Still, Uruski is upbeat. at large as they are all offshore oil fields.” rapidly and is partly responsible for the suggest that some 20 billion barrels of oil “New Zealand’s small industry is Beggs believes that Tui and its new air of confidence,” he said. “The may be trapped in deepwater Taranaki, consolidating,” he said. “It’s been quite an satellites have affirmed the excitement, presence of large petroleum-bearing Uruski said. “If 50 percent is ultimately effort to get these fields developed, but says it is important to keep the basins has been known for some time, but discovered, perhaps five billion barrels though pretty soon the companies will be potential in perspective, and points to a several factors have discouraged may be produced from that basin. enjoying a positive cash flow for a discovery made in 2000. exploration.” “I think it is realistic to expect a couple change. It’s then that they’ll start thinking “Pohokura (a field in New Zealand’s Those factors include: of years of seismic surveying followed by about exploration again. Taranaki Basin) ... pales in comparison to ✓ New Zealand’s small local market. drilling an initial batch of, say, 10 wells in “Several operators in New Zealand are gas discoveries off Western Australia and ✓ A perception that New Zealand is that basin,” he said. “I suppose we’re already well-positioned,” Uruski added, elsewhere,” he said. gas-prone. talking about an investments of about $US “but I expect there to be some new As mentioned, the stability of the region ✓ The country’s most attractive basins 1 to 2 billion. “The Great South Basin probably has larger potential, so we’re talking of perhaps 15 billion barrels,” he said.” Uruski also says that since the basins investigated so far lie within New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone, he doesn’t expect there to be challenges from any other country. He is, though, somewhat dubious of the OPEC comparison. “New Zealand is a net importer of oil, to the tune of about $NZ 6 billion a year,” he said. “It is likely that New Zealand would remain a relatively modest player on a world scale. “For New Zealand, on the other hand, with a population of only around four million, the effect would be akin to the discovery of oil on Norway.”

Too Nice?

Uruski sees the usual road blocks: “The main barriers to exploration are financial and will,” he said. “So far, explorers have played it fairly safe. Generally, explorations companies like to expand exploration efforts incrementally from land to shallow waters, further offshore, gradually getting deeper. New Zealand’s potential lies mostly in deep water, so it needs someone with deep pockets to take the plunge.” Beggs, too, while optimistic, doesn’t discount the hurdles. “Certainly activity is up compared to the past 20 years,” Beggs said, “and I have held the view throughout that the geological fundamentals are favorable, but remoteness from substantial markets and the industry service supply chain is certainly a big hurdle. Eric Matthews’ concerns also are pragmatic. “Access to offshore drilling equipment was a pressing issue,” he said, “and that the rig market is extremely tough.” Matthews also said in a recent interview that he didn’t “believe it’s suddenly going to get any better. New Zealand’s a long way away from anywhere, and that just compounds the difficulty of getting a rig.” Uruski says the irony is what makes New Zealand so desirable for exploration is the very thing that makes it such an uneventful place for explorers. “Explorers have told me … New Zealand is much too nice a place to find oil,” he said. “Really, it is not proximal to anything much, apart from Australia and Antarctica, which also have small populations. Our remoteness is a definite disincentive, particularly for those who still think they are in danger of finding gas here.” Still for all the country’s niceness and its less than stellar past in these matters, Uruski is one of the more optimistic of all the “oily” characters. “I think New Zealand’s time has come.” ❏

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Risks Cut in High $$ Areas 4-D: The Exotic Getting Familiar

David Lumley will present the paper “Business Drivers and Technology Advances in 4-D Seismic Monitoring” at 8:20 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 8, during the AAPG International Conference and Exhibition in Perth, Australia. The talk is part of the session titled “Seismic Innovation – 4-D and Acquisition.” Other talks in the session are: ✓ A Decade of 4-D Monitoring in the North Sea. ✓ Is Repeatable Noise Acceptable in 4-D Seismic? ✓ Design and Acquisition of a 4-D Base Survey: A Case Study from the regarded as a national resource in Pyrenees Oil Development, Exmouth Norway and the United Kingdom. Sub-Basin, Western Australia. There’s a pressing need for optimal ✓ Vertical Seismic Profile: Beyond recovery because the future of those Time-to-Depth. countries depends on managing their oil wisely.

By LOUISE S. DURHAM Going Deep EXPLORER Correspondent It was not so long ago that time lapse, On the domestic front, look for 4-D to or 4-D, seismic was a technology that become really big in the Gulf of Mexico. kind of hovered in the background, The Gulf shelf was the locale of some being applied only in specific situations, Graphic courtesy of Mark Meadows and Don Adams, 4th Wave Imaging of the early 4-D technical success such as when a reservoir began stories, but these projects failed to Time travelers: This 3-D subsurface image of injected CO2 from a sequestration pilot producing erratically rather than as project was made from 4-D seismic data – a valuable tool that’s being increasingly used. measure up economically for the most predicted. part. The big companies who controlled The application of 4-D, i.e., repeat increasingly commonplace as a surveys were undertaken, according to the properties weren’t particularly 3-D surveys, to evaluate production and reservoir management tool to maximize David Lumley, co-founder and current inclined to invest much capital in them, reservoir properties periodically over the economic return. In fact, 4-D is gaining a chief scientist of 4th Wave Imaging, Aliso preferring to use them as cash cows to life of a reservoir was considered an strong foothold in the mainstream of Viejo, Calif., and a speaker at the fund international E&P activity. expensive luxury – if considered at all. seismic applications. upcoming AAPG International It’s a different scene today. But in today’s high commodity price The bulk of the 4-D activity is in the Conference and Exhibition in Perth. environment, 4-D seismic is becoming North Sea, where many of the earliest He attributed this to the fact that oil is See 4-D Drivers, page 36

OCTOBER 2006 29

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OCTOBER 2006 31

OCTOBER 2006 32 ‘Mother Continent’ Protected by Treaty Antarctica: Too Risky for Business?

By LOUISE S. DURHAM David Macdonald, will present the Geometry and Timing of Salt EXPLORER Correspondent paper “The Petroleum Potential of Deposition. The continent of Antarctica is distinctive Antarctica” at 11:50 a.m. on Monday, ✓ Break-Up Of Eastern in myriad ways, including its massive ice Nov. 5, at the AAPG International Gondwanaland: Genesis of cap, mountain peaks and intriguing Conference and Exhibition in Perth, Bangladesh’s Petroleum System. penguin population. Australia. ✓ Oil From the South: Mesozoic It also has the distinction of being the Macdonald’s talk is part of a session Petroleum Systems, Proven and only continent in the world where an oil on “Gondwana: Geology of the Break- Potential, in Mid- to High Southerly exploration well has never been drilled. Up.” Other talks in the session are: Latitudes. And because of myriad reasons, if the ✓ Implications of Models for ✓ Eastern Gondwana – Tasmanides drill bits do begin turning in this remote Opening of the South Atlantic on Petroleum Systems. locale, it won’t be anytime soon. But at least one geologist believes personal bias, politics or fears of hostile Gondwana Aftermath Another oddity is that the shallowest according to Macdonald. environments should not be the reason for part of the continental shelf around most of The expression of the trough coming the delay. The general geology can be Antarctica is the outer part because the through the middle of the continent is the Let’s talk geology, says David summarized in a relatively simple manner. shelf actually slopes backward toward the Weddell Sea in the Atlantic sector and the Macdonald, professor of petroleum “If you look down on the South Pole, continent. This is due in part to the weight Ross Sea in the Pacific sector. Most of the geology at the University of Aberdeen, you have a continent that looks like a of the large ice mass bearing down and “exploration thinking” has focused on who will be doing just that at the AAPG tadpole, and the head is called East depressing the center of the continent. these two large sedimentary basins, International Conference and Exhibition in Antarctica or Greater Antarctica,” Another factor comes into play during according to Macdonald. Perth. Macdonald said. “The geology is largely periods of extreme glaciation. When sea “This is where the petroleum geology In fact, the continent is protected from pre-Cambrian shield area where you have level is lowered, the continental shelves starts to come in,” he said. “We know from any mineral exploration – including oil – rocks going back to nearly 4,000 million are scoured by ice, and the scouring is the onshore geology in West Antarctica in until the 2040s under the terms of the years. more intense on the inner portion. the Antarctica peninsula area that there are Madrid protocol to the Antarctic Treaty. The “This part of Antarctica is sort of the The tail of the “tadpole” is known as black mudstones, which have source international treaty has been signed by central remnant of Gondwana, as every West Antarctica or Lesser Antarctica. It’s potential. most of the key countries capable of other Gondwana continent was attached largely a Mesozoic volcanic arc and is “There are source rocks of Jurassic age conducting oil exploration, according to to this part of Antarctica at least a bit dominated by andesites, granodiorites probably kicking around over a lot of this Macdonald. before migrating away,” Macdonald noted. and such. sedimentary basin area,” Macdonald said. Given the huge ice sheet covering the “There are some sedimentary rocks in The third major zone of the continent is “We know they’ve got organic carbon continent, very little geology is exposed. East Antarctica and some sedimentary a sort of low trough that separates the two content up to maybe 4 percent.” Offshore geophysical data have been basins,” he said. “But they’re not very big bits of Antarctica. One side of the trough is collected for scientific purposes but lack because the continental shelves of East the Transanarctic Mountains, which rise to A Few More Obstacles detail – at least the kind needed for oil Antarctica are extremely narrow, probably 15,000 feet. exploration. the narrowest in the world. They also tend There are no exposed rocks on view If you’re tempted to pack your field Typically the seismic lines are tens of to be more than 1,000 meters water depth within this central zone, but data offshore clothes and long johns and call a meeting kilometers apart. and don’t have the same sort of structures indicate the rocks are probably Mesozoic as other continental shelves.” with some Cenozoic occurrence, See Big Chill, page 34

OCTOBER 2006 33

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Big Chill Students Grab Spotlight in October from page 32 Geoscience students once again are in Avary at [email protected]; or by reception where poster awards will be the AAPG spotlight in October via three telephone, (304) 594-2331. presented. events designed to help them position Expo corporate sponsors include of investors, calm down. themselves for jobs upon graduation. ✓ The ninth annual fall AAPG-SEG Anadarko Petroleum, Apache, AWG, BHP It goes downhill considerably from this The month starts with the Rocky Student Expo will be held Oct. 9-10 at the Billiton, BP, Chesapeake Energy, Chevron, point. Mountain Rendezvous of geoscience George R. Brown Convention Center in ConocoPhillips, Core Laboratories, Devon, “As to risk potential, you have to risk it students and employers, held Oct. 1-2 at Houston. Dominion, EnCana, EOG Resources, extremely highly because of the large the University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyo. The Student Expo is another tool for ExxonMobil, Fairfield, Hess, Houston amount of volcanics,” Macdonald linking geoscience students with industry Geological Society, Kerr McGee, Minerals cautioned. “Any sandstones we see of this Slated after that: recruiters – a showcase for students to Management Service, Nexen, Noble age tend to be very volcanic-dominated present their work via poster sessions, Energy, Occidental, Omni Labs/Live Oak and have very low porosity.” ✓ The Student Job Quest will be held network and interview with multiple Reserves, Pioneer Natural Resources, Maturation is another thorny issue. Oct. 8-9 in Buffalo, N.Y., in conjunction employers. Samson and Schlumberger. There’s been considerable volcanism in with the Eastern Section meeting. Activities at the two-day Expo include The annual AAPG-SEG Spring Break the area, so there’s a possibility a lot of the Students will be able to meet with field trips, an open poster session and Student Expo is slated for March 15-17, at source rocks are over-mature as a result, company representatives from several Icebreaker on Monday, followed by a full the University of Oklahoma, Norman, according to Macdonald. On the other major oil and gas operations, such as day of poster presentations and interview Okla. hand, the younger source rocks are likely ExxonMobil and Occidental Oil and Gas. on Tuesday. More information is available online at to be under-mature. For information contact Katharine Lee On Tuesday, there will be an informal http://studentexpo.info/. ❏ The likelihood of no trapping mechanisms adds still more risk to potential exploration activity. “Since the start of the Tertiary, there’s been little collisional tectonics or anything that would create structure,” Macdonald said. “So in a lot of these things there’s considerable risk of no traps. EARTH Imager: Images in oil-based mud like “When you add up all the risks – particularly on reservoir maturation and structuring – you end up with something quite prohibitive,” he noted. “And that’s you’ve never seen before! before you start looking at environmental factors like depths of continental shelves and the ice that covers the seas around Antarctica for nine months of the year.” The area produces some whopper icebergs. “The icebergs are two to three orders of magnitude bigger than anything dealt with in other areas,” Macdonald said. “The biggest icebergs they deal with at Hibernia Field off Canada wouldn’t register on the radar in Antarctica.”

Taking an ‘Honest Look’

The significant downside to exploring doesn’t necessarily mean ignoring what may or may not be there hydrocarbon- wise. “My argument is Antarctica is a continent worth protecting,” Macdonald said, “but it’s worth protecting by doing an honest assessment of what the risks and likely returns for any oil exploration would be. “The risks are so high no normal oil company would be tempted to try their luck there,” he said. “The only reason anyone might drill a well there would be to make a political point rather than in hopes of any economic gain. “My idea to assess it is just take an honest look at it instead of shying away and saying it’s a protected continent, and we shouldn’t even be thinking about it,” Macdonald said. “Maybe a lot of people will relax when we take an honest look at it.” ❏

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OCTOBER 2006 36

Levorsen Winners Announced A.I. Levorsen Award winners, AAPG Wallace E. Pratt Memorial honored for presenting the best paper Award, presented for the best article at Section meetings, have been published in the AAPG BULLETIN. More knowledge. announced for two recent events. The Section’s 2007 meeting will be fewer surprises. The winners are: April 22-24 in Wichita Falls, Texas. Southwest Section Rocky Mountain Section Robert G. Loucks, with the Bureau Geoff D. Thyne, with the Colorado of Economic Geology, Austin, Texas, for School of Mines, for the paper the paper “Depositional Setting, “Evaluation of Potential Impacts to Lithofacies and Pore Networks of the Water Resources from Petroleum Mississippian Deepwater Barnett Shale Drilling, Grand Mesa, Colorado.” Facies in the Fort Worth Basin.” The Section’s 2007 meeting will be Loucks previously won the 2001 Oct. 7-9 in Salt Lake City. ❏

physics, seismic and flow simulations to 4-D Drivers perform an accurate 4-D interpretation. “Sometimes today we see anomalies from page 28 but aren’t sure how to interpret them and “Over the last decade a lot of don’t know independents have bought those mature what they fields and are successfully drilling new mean,” wells, and they’re thinking about 4-D,” Lumley said. Lumley said. “They’re not quite there yet “To develop because they’re more conservative these about trying expensive new technology integrated than the majors, but they’re looking at it tools to sort as a return on investment to ‘sharpshoot’ out those bypassed oil. anomalies “Apache has done a very similar thing and help update the in buying the old Forties Field in the UK Lumley and doubling its production in a few reservoir years with the help of 4-D,” Lumley said. model, we He predicts a gradual resurgence of have to get the geologists, geophysicists 4-D on the shelf and said 4-D in deep and petroleum engineers to work water is really starting to kick off in both together in an integrated work space.” the GOM and Brazil, noting “if you’re drilling $50 million wells, it’s costly if you Eco-Friendly Benefits make a mistake where you put one; optimal placement is essential. Finding bypassed oil is high on the “There’s interest in monitoring list of business drivers pushing 4-D reservoirs using 4-D seismic at the very advances, but this is only the tip of the beginning of a field’s life in this high iceberg. expense environment,” he continued. Injecting various materials, e.g., CO2 , “That way, you can anticipate a problem water, steam, into the reservoirs to before it becomes irreversible. enhance production or maintain pressure “It’s risk reduction, like going to the is a pricey undertaking. It’s essential to doctor for an annual checkup rather than be able to monitor where the injected waiting for something bad to happen.” material goes and if it’s doing the job it’s supposed to do; 4-D can prove Seeking the ‘Holy Grail’ invaluable in these situations. Carbon dioxide storage is anticipated Notable advances are occurring in to be a major target of 4-D seismic 4-D acquisition technology to improve monitoring technology. Because this repeatability of surveys, which is crucial. greenhouse gas is not beneficial when Using what you know about pore pressure, logs Highly accurate positioning of sources released into the atmosphere, injecting it and receivers is key to achieving the into the ground appears to be a good required level of repeatability. solution. and seismic data is half the battle. Finding the right Lumley noted there also have been “CO2 production is a big problem at advances in navigation systems and some fields – in Norway and Canada, for data is the other half. Storing and managing pore location positioning of cables. Steerable instance,” Lumley said, “and it’s going to streamers that can be put in the same be a big challenge at the Gorgon Field in place as previous surveys are being Australia, for example, where they’re pressure and geomechanical information with the refined as well. producing it as a by-product of the gas Another acquisition technique being field. They’ll have to re-inject it and Pressworks™ relational database improves access, employed is to oversample the streamer store/sequester it in deep geologic receiver array by towing more cables formations so it doesn’t escape. and extracting the repeatable data. “There will be a monitoring challenge quality assurance and security. Find out more at “The Holy Grail, of course, is semi- there,” Lumley noted, “but if they can permanent installations where receiver inject the gas and store it for a long time, aa.fewersurprises.com. arrays are laid down semi-permanently it will have a big positive impact – both on the seafloor,” Lumley said. “This could financially and environmentally.” be nodes or ocean bottom cable. The It is noteworthy that other industries biggest field test of this technology is generate CO2 and are seeking a place to currently BP’s permanent array project at contain it. Valhall Field.” “A new business sector will be Regarding the source repeatability created over the next decade or two aspect of 4-D acquisition, new where some will want to get rid of CO2,” technology is being developed to tow Lumley said, “and some will offer to aa.fewersurprises.com more source arrays and have the closest receive and inject it into the ground for source to the baseline shot position fire. long-term storage. It will have to be “Instead of towing two source arrays, monitored, and 4-D seismic is one of the you might tow three or four and select tools that will be used to be sure it’s in One Sugar Creek Center Blvd., Suite 1100 which ones fire,” Lumley said. Statoil is the right place in the ground and not Sugar Land, Texas 77478 281-243-4300 taking the lead to develop this high leaking out. fidelity source technology.” “Governments worldwide are getting There’s a push going on to improve serious about CO sequestration ©2006 Knowledge Systems, Inc. 2 4-D interpretation tools owing to the need technology,” he added, “and are starting to integrate the geology, rock and fluid to invest heavily in its research.” ❏

OCTOBER 2006 37

OCTOBER 2006 38 Global Prospects Shown Summer NAPE Draws Over 5,300 By LOUISE S. DURHAM and Namibia, and he had high marks for EXPLORER Correspondent Tight shales spotlighted as the “hot the NAPE event. Summer NAPE was a sizzlin’ event at “It’s definitely worthwhile being here,” the George R. Brown Convention Center in plays” in North America. he said, “and we’ll likely return in the Houston – which was sizzlin’ in a whole winter.” different way during the “dog days” of late United Kingdom-based ENVOI is a August. regular at NAPE get-togethers with an The action at the popular prospect expo attendance track record of seven years – was so intense there were viewers huddled obviously the people buying were happy, ‘They’re Having Fun Again’ winter and summer. The organization in deep conversation with exhibitors up too. One guy said he had shown his deal specializes in advisory services, which until the very last minute as the booths to people he hadn’t thought would be In what appears to be a trend, small include how to market a deal. were being dismantled around them. interested and probably wouldn’t have company booths dotted much of the ENVOI’s director Mike Lakin, who Summer Nape was created and gotten in to see – but here, they came to landscape in the convention center. A serves as vice president of the AAPG produced by NAPE Expo LP, which is a him. sustained period of high commodity European Region, said he sees partnership comprised of the AAPL, “We couldn’t be happier with the prices and company mergers apparently increasing interest from domestic players AAPG, IPAA and SEG. The former AAPG- results,” Forte said. “It’s doing what it’s have inspired a lot of entrepreneurial wanting to go international. sponsored APPEX summer prospect expo supposed to do – providing networking, types to put together their own shops to “They have more money, and they’re was rolled into the NAPE affair when AAPG prospect exchange and marketing – and generate prospects, along with other having fun again,” Lakin noted, “and they joined the NAPE partnership. doing it very well.” ventures. have an increased appetite for risk.” “This year’s Summer NAPE was a wildly The confab kicked off with an E&P In fact, the exhibitors were promoting a Summer NAPE viewer Gerritt Wind of successful event,” said Rick Fritz, forum – “Perspectives on North American lot more than just prospects. Wind & Associates commented on the executive director of AAPG. “This thing has Oil & Gas Plays” – sponsored by IHS The folks at the ShaleQuest booth, for enthusiastic crowd at the event and the grown by 40 percent, so it’s clearly Energy. The morning session featured talks example, were promoting a recently steady flow of traffic. successful. dealing with hot North American plays, completed geological and petrophysical “Some people said traffic has been so “There were skeptics who said you with shale plays such as the Woodford and study of the Fayetteville shale. The good, they don’t even know what their couldn’t do one at this time of year,” Fritz the wildly active Barnett taking center ShaleQuest partners staffing the booth neighbors have,” Wind said. “They noted, “and it’s clearly proven those stage. included Barnett shale veteran geologist haven’t had a chance to get out of their skeptics wrong.” The Rocky Mountains also justifiably Kent Bowker, whose mantra these days is booth.” Indeed, the numbers increased grabbed its fair share of the spotlight given “shale good.” The folks at Summer NAPE newcomer dramatically over the 2005 summer event, the region’s emerging shale plays, tight In fact, he’s predicting the Neal/Floyd Dorado Energy, which operates in East which also was deemed a success story. gas sands and coalbed methane deposits. shale in Alabama is next in line to see Texas in the Cotton Valley in Panola The booth count was up 40 percent to Presentation themes included approaches some serious action. County, were pleasantly surprised at the 525 this time around, and the attendance to help characterize shale reservoirs in the Two-year old Circle Oil Plc, an Irish experience. was up 33 percent to 5,300, according to United States, shale fracing and well company traded on the London AIM “It’s bigger than we thought it would Robin Forte, executive vice president of completion case histories, among others. exchange, was at NAPE to acquaint be,” said Tom Schaefer, senior vice AAPL, where NAPE originated as a late The presentations were followed by an viewers with opportunities rather than to president of Dorado, “and we’ve had a lot winter-only event that continues. Even the industry luncheon, featuring a presentation sell anything. more attention than we expected. evening icebreaker hit a record, at 2,000. by John Richels, president of Devon Circle’s vice president of exploration, “There’s good energy and people,” “There were very good vibes from Energy, and an afternoon prospect Bob LoPiccolo, noted the company Schaefer noted. “It’s been busy and people who were selling,” Forte said, “and promotions session. generates prospects in Oman, Panama functional.” ❏

OCTOBER 2006 39

OCTOBER 2006 40

Issues Call for Active Roles By DON JUCKETT These rules also will help us to GEO-DC Director Editor’s note: Don Juckett, head of AAPG’s Geoscience and Energy Office in effectively engage those issues that are This month’s comments are a reminder Washington, D.C., can be contacted at [email protected]; or (703) 575-8293. difficult and sometimes unpopular and for AAPG members of rights (and reverse the damaging perceptions responsibilities) with regard to getting When taking the position as GEO-DC Strategically, if you want to change the created by those who (ab)use the system involved in issues that impact your director, it was not envisioned as having perceptions in Washington and begin to by purveying “bad science.” professional lives, the longevity of the cheerleading responsibilities – but that swing issues to the point where science profession and quite possibly our financial role has evolved, because all of us need and logic prevail here are some general ✓ We will not make a difference in future. to be reminded occasionally of our “rules of thumb” that AAPG members public policy as long as we expend all of Over the next few months the responsibilities and rights in an open need to consider. These rules obtain our energies in dialog among ourselves. Government Affairs Committee will be democratic society. whether we are addressing climate Get involved in the public aspects of issuing several “Action Alerts” (more on In a recent e-mail exchange involving change, OCS access, Endangered the debate! that below) covering the Outer Continental about 40-50 AAPG members, the Species Act reform or any of the other The late Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill, the Shelf (OCS) and R&D budget issues as following was offered: issues that impact the personal, venerable U.S. Congress Speaker of the the 109th Congress resumes its final few professional and business futures of the House, expressed it most eloquently days of this session. * * * AAPG membership. when he said “all politics is local.” Getting involved means that in Virginia where I reside, for example, it is necessary to organize locally to visit and dialogue with the state offices of U.S. Sens. George We not only take Allen and John Warner. I tell their staff what I believe and why; they have time to the pressure. listen. More importantly, I am a constituent – I vote in Virginia! The same obtains with my Sperry Drilling Services congressmen. You can rely on the local staff to gets it to you 3X faster. communicate with your elected representative to let him/her know what GeoTap® the “voters think.” That is not to suggest It’s a proven fact: The formation-pressure-while- that you ignore what goes on in drilling (FPWD) sensor allows you to drill wells in real time Washington, only that you understand the front lines in the battle to win the hearts with greater control, accuracy, safety, speed and reduced and minds of your elected officials is not formation damage—eliminating the need for costly, risky that far from home. wireline formation pressure testing. ✓ You need to study your opponent – and where he is successful, study his LWD Formation Pressure Test tactics well! 21000 You can use those same tactics 20500 effectively! 20000 This was recently elegantly illustrated 19500 during the preliminary comment period for 19000

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OCTOBER 2006 41

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OCTOBER 2006 42

S-Wave Analysis of Fracture Systems

(The Geophysical Corner is a regular ✓ PS waves exhibit a greater column in the EXPLORER, edited by variation in arrival times and amplitudes Bob A. Hardage, senior research than do their companion PP waves. scientist at the Bureau of Economic For example, PP reflectivity from Geology, the University of Texas at interval A is practically constant in all Austin.) azimuth directions, whereas PS reflectivity varies significantly with azimuth. Likewise, PP arrival time of By BOB A. HARDAGE event A changes by only 4 ms between and MICHAEL V. DeANGELO azimuth directions 50° and 140°, but PS Most rocks are anisotropic, meaning arrival times change by almost 50 ms, that their elastic properties are different an order of magnitude greater than the when measured in different directions. variation in PP arrival times. For example, elastic moduli measured perpendicular to bedding * * * differ from elastic moduli measured parallel to bedding – and moduli Azimuth-dependent trace gathers like measured parallel to elongated and these were created at many locations aligned grains differ from moduli across the seismic image space, and measured perpendicular to that grain the azimuths in which PS reflection axis. amplitudes from fracture intervals A and Because elastic moduli affect B were maximum were determined at seismic propagation velocity, seismic each analysis location to estimate wave modes react to rock anisotropy by fracture orientation for each interval. exhibiting direction-dependent velocity, A map of S-wave-based azimuth which in turn creates direction- results for interval A in the vicinity of dependent reflectivity. Repeated tests calibration well C1 is displayed as by numerous people have shown shear figure 2. (S) waves have greater sensitivity to Shown as rose diagrams on this map rock anisotropy than do compressional are fracture orientations across the two (P) waves. reservoir intervals as interpreted by a Slowly the important role of S-waves service company using Formation Multi- for evaluating fracture systems, one of Imaging (FMI) log data acquired in well the most common types of rock C1. S-wave estimates of fracture anisotropy, is moving from the research orientations are shown as short arrows arena into actual use across fracture at analysis sites near the well. This prospects. Examples of S-wave S-wave-generated map indicates the technology being used to determine same fracture orientations interpreted fracture orientation have been from the FMI log data. published in past Geophysical Corners On the basis of this close (e.g., Gaiser, April and May 2003 correspondence between FMI and EXPLORERs). S-wave estimates of fracture orientation, It seems timely to introduce one the operator used S-wave estimates more example. Figure 1 – (Top) Azimuth-dependent PP arrival time and reflectivity from fracture across the total seismic image area to targets A and B. (Bottom) Azimuth-dependent PS arrival time and reflectivity from the position and orient a horizontal well * * * same targets. PP reflectivity changes little with azimuth; PS reflectivity varies trending perpendicular to seismic- significantly. PP arrival time changes by 4 ms between azimuths 50° and 140°, based fracture orientation. This well The prospect considered here whereas PS arrival time changes by 50 ms. Azimuth 50° is the fast-S mode (S1); found the S-wave estimates of fracture involves two fractured carbonate azimuth 140° is the slow-S mode (S2). orientation to be accurate across its intervals at a depth of a little more than drilled lateral distance of approximately 1,800 meters (6,000 feet). A small 1,000 meters, and serves as a good 5.75-km2 (2.25-mile2) three-component real-world example of the value of 3-D seismic survey (3C3D) was S-wave seismic data for evaluating acquired to determine whether PP fracture prospects. (compressional) and PS (converted-S) In this instance, S-wave data data could be used to determine provided fracture information that could fracture orientation for optimal not be extracted from P-wave data positioning of a horizontal well. (figure 1). Figure 1 shows a PP and PS We conclude that application of azimuth-dependent data analysis done S-wave seismic technology across in a superbin near the center of this fracture prospects should be survey. At this superbin location, considered by operators when possible. common-azimuth gathers of PP and PS data extending from 0 to 2,000-meter * * * offsets were made in narrow, overlapping, 20-degree azimuth A post-mortem comment on this corridors. particular horizontal drilling: The well In each of these azimuth corridors, was not placed in production – even the far-offset traces were excellent though the well bore intersected a high quality and were summed to make a population of fractures trending single trace showing arrival times and perpendicular to the well axis – because amplitudes of the reflection waveforms too many of the fractures were plugged from two fracture target intervals A with cement. and B. That problem sets the stage for next To aid in visually assessing the month’s article, in which we will describe character of these summed traces, S-wave attributes that can be used to each trace is repeated three times indicate fracture intensity and openness. inside its azimuth corridor in the display format used in figure 1. Acknowledgment: This research was Inspection of these azimuth- funded by sponsors of the Exploration dependent data shows two important Figure 2 – An azimuth-dependent analysis of PS data similar to that shown in figure 1 Geophysics Laboratory at the Bureau of facts: was done at each location having a solid circle with an accompanying short arrow. Economic Geology. ✓ PS waves arrive earliest in the Each arrow shows the local azimuth in which PS reflectivity from interval A was a azimuth corridor centered 50° east of maximum. The rose diagrams show the fracture azimuths across intervals A and B as north (the fast-S mode, S1) and latest in interpreted from FMI log data acquired in well C1. The S-wave-based fracture (Editor’s note: Hardage and DeAngelo an azimuth direction 140° east of north azimuths agree closely with the FMI-based fracture azimuths and allow fracture are both with the Bureau of Economic (the slow-S mode, S2). orientation to be extended across seismic image space. Geology in Austin, Texas.) ❏

OCTOBER 2006 43

and gas sector has been a puzzle, Russia problem and perplexing dilemma for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his from page 8 energy advisers. The petroleum industry reportedly The consortium has easily surpassed accounts for more than half the that target, he stated. government’s revenues. “Since 1996, over 100 million Russian Russia wants to maintain some control man-hours of services have been over its domestic industry without expended, representing some 72 percent discouraging outside investment. It wants of the total. Material and equipment access to Western technology and supply exceeded 6.2 million metric tons, expertise without opening the oil sector to some 89 percent of the total by the end of foreign influence. 2005,” he said. Those desires have led to policies and “We also recognize the importance of actions that often appear conflicted, and maximizing Russian content performance reflect a growing nationalistic stance. in terms of value. Since construction “In this time of uncertainty, there is no activities commenced in 1996 on Phase equilibrium. It’s all unstable now,” 1, Russian contractors and Ulmishek said. “I think maybe in a year or subcontractors have won thousands of two an equilibrium will be reached.” contracts worth up to a total of $7.2 Meanwhile, against all odds, Russia’s billion,” he added. Sakhalin mega-projects go right on Foreign participation in Russia’s oil moving forward. ❏ The Sakhalin-2 onshore LNG processing facility at Prigorodnoye.

OCTOBER 2006 44 30 Tons of Pubs Shipped ‘Network’Yields Book Dividends

The AAPG Publications Pipeline of seeking Chevron management approval to Committee invested some sweat last summer underwrite the shipping of the publications in furthering the aims of AAPG, along with a from the committee’s warehouse facility in lot of equity – 30 tons of it, in fact. Houston (which is generously donated to the Committee members filled a shipping committee by Robbie Kane of the J.A. Green container with donated geoscience books Development Corp.) to the requesting and journals from those who no longer need universities in Bangladesh. them and forwarded the publications to Committee members had previously Publication Pipeline Committee Vice Chairman Mike Bryarly loads a pallet of universities in Bangladesh. sorted the donated publications and publications into a container at the J.A. Green Houston warehouse facility. The shipment marks the largest single gathered on a Saturday to pack the goods. donation by the committee and brings the Those assisting included Wall, Mike Bryarly, total amount of publications donated by the Chuck Caughey, Garland Bryarly committee to over 51 tons of much needed (independent drilling consultant and Mike’s books and journals for universities abroad. dad) and Martin Cassidy, past Pipeline “Key elements that make the committee Committee chairman. tick include generosity, an active network But the committee’s work continues, and a lot of help from our friends,” said thanks to more help from friends. committee chairman Rick Wall. Wall said Claren Kidd of the University of The story of the Bangladesh shipment Oklahoma got the word out about the began when committee member Nahum Publication Pipeline via the Geoscience Schneidermann, of Chevron International in Information Society newsletter. San Ramon, Calif., contacted a colleague in This information reached Linda Musser of Chevron’s Bangladesh office in Dhaka and Penn State University library system – and told him of the mission and the activities of also the program director of the Alliance for the Publication Pipeline Committee. Earth Sciences, Engineering and Unocal Bangladesh (Chevron Development in Africa (AESEDA). AESEDA International) chief geologist and AAPG assists partner institutions in Africa with member A.H.M. Shamsuddin then contacted building georesource libraries. the committee and inquired further about As a result of Claren’s proactiveness, the how our program works and how local AAPG Publication Pipeline and AESEDA universities could apply for a donation. have agreed to work cooperatively to get With this information, Shamsuddin publications to universities in Africa that are facilitated the application process with the in need of them. Mike Bryarly, Chuck Caughey, Garland Bryarly (Independent Drilling Consultant local universities and took the additional step — LARRY NATION and Mike’s dad) and Martin Cassidy take a break from loading 30 tons of publications bound for Bangladesh.

OCTOBER 2006 45 Pipeline Would Like Even More Friends The AAPG Publications Pipeline ✓ Recommend to your company Committee needs your help. that they sponsor a shipment of The committee collects unneeded publications overseas to needy geoscience books and journals and universities in the host country of your forwards them to overseas universities operations. Experience shows that is a and libraries. win-win activity for all involved. “We execute our mission by ✓ Join the committee. “Help is collecting most of the material from especially needed in Houston,” Wall retired and deceased geoscientists said, “to work with us in handling and also downsized company donations and arranging distributions.” libraries,” said committee chairman ✓ Keep the committee and its work Rick Wall, of Houston. “We inventory, in mind if you decide to dispose of your box and store the books and journals library; international universities often for shipment until a need for them is do need both books and periodicals. identified. Then through the assistance ✓ Funding. “AAPG provided us with of companies with overseas a $4,000 budget this last year,” Wall operations, we send them to overseas said, “but to be most effective we need universities and other libraries that at least $22,000 a year.” require these valuable resources.” Donations can be made to the Wall said membership can help the AAPG Foundation marked for the committee in five ways: Publication Pipeline, either endowment ✓ Help them identify universities or operating funds. overseas in need of publications. To assist, contact Wall at “Consider acting as an ambassador for [email protected]. ❏ our cause,” he said. AAPG Datapages Library Expands Indonesia, Kansas Data Added

By SANDRA PASKVAN extensive archival collection of all AAPG AAPG Publications Department publications (BULLETIN and Special The AAPG/Datapages-hosted online Publications) as well as the Gulf Coast library continues to expand, with the Association of Geological Societies latest additions being the publications Transactions, Canadian Society of suites of the Indonesian Petroleum Petroleum Geology Bulletin, Journal of Association (IPA) and the Kansas Sedimentary Research, Journal of Geological Society (KGS). Petroleum Geology (UK) and About 2,600 documents will be publications of the New Orleans, added with the addition of KGS and IPA, Lafayette, Houston, East Texas, Fort resulting in over 76,000 searchable Worth, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Panhandle documents in the archive. (Amarillo, Texas), Ardmore (Okla.) and The completed KGS collection Wyoming geological societies, in contains the publications from 1929 to addition to those of Kansas and 2003, comprising oil and gas field Indonesia. reports, field guidebooks, conference Publications of other AAPG-affiliated proceedings and road logs. All are societies and sections are being available online. processed, with the goal to have all IPA publications are currently being publications of AAPG-related/affiliated digitized and individual volumes are groups and of interested upstream being uploaded to the AAPG/Datapages societies or publishers in this library. Combined Publications Archive A great benefit to all explorationists database. They are available as they are and all geoscientists is access to the completed – to corporate and university entire archive for search and retrieval. subscribers and to the entire community Each paper and abstract is fully indexed – via Datapages’ transactional Web site and includes a link to a downloadable Pay-Per-View, at Acrobat PDF copy of the paper. http://payperview.datapages.com. AAPG Active and Associate These IPA publications include members have access to the archival annual conference proceedings, special BULLETIN at no charge. Company and publications and field trip guidebooks. institutional subscribers have access to Those currently available online are the a part (or all) of the holdings, depending Annual Convention Proceedings of on the terms of individual subscription. 1972-81, 1983-86 and 1990, with Contact [email protected] for expected completion of the entire information about access and project this fall. subscription. The purpose of Datapages, the The entire petroleum community is digital arm of AAPG, is to acquire, invited to search the AAPG/Datapages aggregate, compile and convert legacy online library on a transactional basis and current data, both published and (on our pay-per-view Web site). The public domain, from the upstream search is free, and payment is due only petroleum industry into digital formats; for the articles downloaded. Password and to provide fingertip access to those registration (free) is required. digital data through the Internet or disc, Visit the Pay-Per-View to register and using various formats, including GIS, search at word and geographic search-and- http://payperview.datapages.com. ❏ retrieval and streaming media. Datapages currently hosts an

OCTOBER 2006 46

Allen E. Berlin, to senior geological Subaru Outstanding Woman in Science Allen K. Cregg, to chief geologist, Marc Edwards, to explorationist, adviser, Energy XXI, Houston. Previously Award. Cochran is a post-doctoral Santos USA, Houston. Previously senior Hydro Gulf of Mexico, Houston. senior geological specialist, Kerr McGee researcher, Cecil H. and Ida M. Green geological adviser, Occidental Oil and Previously consulting geologist, Houston. Oil and Gas, Houston. Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Gas, Houston. Physics, University of California-San Henry I. Halpern, to research science Matthew W. Boyd, to senior geologist, Diego. Ken Dickerman, to chief geophysicist, consultant-geochemistry unit, Research Southwestern Energy, Houston. Broad Oak Energy, Dallas. Previously and Development Center, Saudi Aramco, Previously geologist, Southwestern James E. Corthay II, to senior geophysical adviser, Apache Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Previously Energy, Houston. geoscience/site investigation-technical Corp., Tulsa. science specialist-geochemistry unit, team lead, ExxonMobil Development, R&D Center, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, James Burns, to president and chief Houston. Previously operations Dennis Keith Duval, to Mid-continent Saudi Arabia. executive officer, Essential Energy geology/site investigation specialist, exploration and development geologist, Services Trust, Calgary, Canada. ExxonMobil Exploration, Houston. Kirkpatrick Oil, Oklahoma City. Previously Robert D. Hatcher Jr. has received the Previously chief operating officer-energy, independent geologist, Kempner, Texas. 2006 Geological Society of America Avenir Diversified Income Trust, Calgary, John M. Coss, to president, Broad Penrose Medal for his work “to decipher Canada. Oak Energy, Dallas. Previously vice Don A. Edwards, to geoscientist, complex mountain systems.” He is a president-business development, Broad Oak Energy, Dallas. Previously Distinguished Scientist and Professor- Elizabeth S. Cochran is recipient of Pioneer Natural Resources, Irving, Texas. geoscientist, EnCana Oil and Gas, tectonics and structural geology, the 2006 Geological Society of America’s Dallas. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn.

Larry Kellison, to chief operating officer, Eden Energy, Denver. Previously vice president and general manager, Black Hills Exploration and Production, Golden, Colo.

Harvey Klingensmith, to president and chief executive officer, Stone Mountain Resources, Alberta, Canada. Previously president, El Paso Production, Alberta, Canada.

Thomas B. Layman, to geoscience manager, Chesapeake Energy, Oklahoma City. Previously development supervisor, ConocoPhillips, Midland, Texas.

Dan Maguire, to geophysical adviser, Hess Egypt West Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt. Previously senior adviser, earth science, Unocal/Chevron Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Abhi Manerikar, to exploration manager-Alaska, Talisman Energy, Calgary, Canada. Previously principal, Tiger Exploration Consulting, Calgary, Canada.

Jarvis “Jay” Moore, to regional geologist, XTO Energy, Fort Worth. Previously senior geologist, Encore BECAUSE YOU CARE. Acquisition, Fort Worth. Javier Alejandro Morelos, to senior geochemist, ExxonMobil, Houston. A LOT. Previously vice president, Geoaplicaciones, Houston.

Dave Pivnik, to senior geological adviser, Apache Energy, Perth, Australia. Previously senior geological adviser,

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OCTOBER 2006 47 continued from previous page geologist and assistant division chief, Ohio Geological Survey, Columbus, Ohio. Previously supervisor, Energy Resources Lange Promoted to CFO Apache Egypt Companies, Cairo, Egypt. Group, Ohio Geological Survey, Columbus, Ohio. Eric Radjef, to senior geologist, For AAPG, Foundation Brigham Exploration, Austin, Texas. Andrew Zolnai, to sales director- Previously senior geologist, BP, Houston. Eastern Hemisphere, Petris Technology, David Lange has association management London, England. Previously been promoted to information system, and Frederico Ribeiro, to senior independent consultant, Cambridge, AAPG’s chief financial due to his work on geophysicist, BG Group, Rio de Janeiro, England. officer, responsible for developing new Brazil. Previously senior geophysicist, oversight of all financial overhead and budget Sipetrol International, Cairo, Egypt. (Editor’s note: “Professional News activities for both the review processes, and Briefs” includes items about members’ AAPG Association and new rules and Jesus Manuel Rodriguez-Gomez, to career moves and the honors they AAPG Foundation. procedures for operation. graduate student, University of Houston, receive. To be included, please send Executive Director Lange manages Houston. Previously geologist, PDVSA, information in the above format to Rick Fritz said Lange AAPG’s business Maracaibo, Venezuela. Professional News Briefs, c/o AAPG was promoted due to his directorate, which EXPLORER, P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, Okla. outstanding work on includes accounting, Louis Rothenberg, to technical 74101; or fax, 918-560-2636; or e-mail, managing AAPG’s membership, information systems manager, Santos, Adelaide, [email protected]; or submit directly information technology technology and office Australia. Previously chief technology from the AAPG Web site, department in the services. ❏ services, Chevron (Indonesia), Jakarta, www.aapg.org/explorer/pnb_forms.cfm.) installation of the new Lange Indonesia. ❏

John B. Thomas, to senior geologist, EnerVest Operating, Charleston, W.Va. Previously vice president-exploration, Belden & Blake Corp., North Canton, Ohio.

Andrew Tipton, to associate geologist, Chesapeake Energy, Oklahoma City. Previously student, University of New Orleans, New Orleans.

Larry Wickstrom, to assistant state Washington from page 40 you just need to find them and court them.

Above all, don’t become discouraged; remember that you are working to reverse many, many years of successes by those who not only have a different agenda, but have had time to get well organized and spent much effort and money to polish their messages. That is why it is important to learn how they did it and not repeat their learning experience, but jump ahead.

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I recommend that members spend a few dollars and a little time getting better acquainted with the principals of advocacy (not lobbying) and your rights protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. Consider reading one of the following to get better acquainted with a couple of approaches: The One-Hour Activist by Christopher Kush, or All Politics is Local; and Other Rules of the Game by Tip O’Neill, both available at modest prices (less than $10 online). ❏

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OCTOBER 2006 48 San Antonio Committee Seeks Program Input

San Antonio will be the site of the ✓ Reservoir characterization and 2008 AAPG Annual Convention, and modeling. meeting organizers want members to ✓ New and expanded plays in have a say in the technical program’s domestic and global basins. content. ✓ Hydrocarbon systems and basin The meeting is set for April 20-23 analysis. (during the city’s annual Fiesta ✓ Carbon dioxide sequestration. celebration) with the theme “Deliver ✓ Water resources related to the Conventional: Pursue the resource development. Unconventional.” ✓ Geoscience and public policy. The Organizing Committee is Organizers said they hope to link seeking member suggestions for oral many of the sessions to recent and poster sessions, session chairs, advances in the exploration for short courses, field trips, instructors conventional and unconventional and trip leaders – and the committee emerging resources with global is especially interested in receiving applicability. suggestions of a “global nature that Send suggestions via e-mail to will appeal to the vast majority of general technical program co-chairs attendees.” Andrew R. Scott at Organizers said they want the [email protected]; and Tucker F. technical program to cover a broad Hentz at spectrum of geological interests, [email protected] – and including: include contact information with your ✓ Current and emerging recommendations. unconventional resources. Note that submittal of a suggestion ✓ Structural geology – with does not guarantee inclusion in the applications to resource program. development. The deadline for submitting ✓ Sedimentology and sequence suggestions is Dec. 15. ❏ stratigraphy. Program Preparation Continues; Exhibitor ‘Points’ Deadline Looms Abstracts are in hand and the final hydrocarbon systems and basin technical program is now being analysis. compiled for the AAPG Annual Online registration is expected to Convention, set April 1-4 in Long be available in mid-December. Beach, Calif. Immediate concerns include the Oct. The theme is “Understanding Earth 13 priority point deadline for Systems – Pursuing the Checkered exhibitors. Flag,” which organizers plan to explore Several sponsorship opportunities in as many as 12 areas ranging from also remain open. deepwater reservoirs to global More information on the meeting exploration, to structural innovations and technical program can be found and applications, to unconventional on the AAPG Web site, at reservoirs and resources to www.aapg.org. ❏ ‘TOTY’ Deadline Due Nov. 1 The nominations deadline for the supervision, and $2,500 goes to the 2007 AAPG Teacher of the Year teacher for personal use. award is nearing. All AAPG Sections An expense paid trip to the 2007 must submit their nominations by annual meeting in Long Beach, Calif., Nov. 1. also is included. The award is The award, presented annually by presented during the All-Convention the AAPG Foundation, honors Luncheon. excellence in the teaching of natural For more information go online to resources in earth sciences for www.aapg.org (use the shortcut pull- grades K-12. down menu to K-12 Teacher of the The winning teacher receives an Year Award); or contact Rebecca award of $5,000 that is split – $2,500 Griffin at 1-888-945-2274, ext. 644, or goes to the teacher’s school for by e-mail to [email protected]. ❏ educational use under the teacher’s

Walter R. Berger Jr., 85 Jack Donald McClelland, 76 Midland, Texas, July 24, 2006 Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas David Keith Davies, 65 July 26, 2006 Kingwood, Texas, Aug. 3, 2006 Lee Wayne Moore, 92 George C. Hale, 84 Midland, Texas, July 29, 2006 Tulsa, June 21, 2006 Z.W. “Zeke” Rogers Jr., 62 William Louis Hiss, 75, Albuquerque, N.M. Manvel, Texas, July 11, 2006 April 12, 2006 John E. Thomas, 77 William Wilson Hortin, 82 Columbia, Mo., July 2006 Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 2, 2006 Daryl V. Lovvik, 64 (Editor’s note: “In Memory” listings are Babtngon, Philippines Republic based on information received from the July 22, 2006 AAPG membership department.)

OCTOBER 2006 49

107 Authors, 30 Chapters Carpathian Memoir Gondwana A Thorough Volume Look back AAPG’s newest Special Publication – to look a memoir five years in the making – is intended to provide a valuable source of information on the entire spectrum of regional and applied geology of the forward Carpathian. Memoir 84, The Carpathians and Their Foreland: Geology and Hydrocarbon Resources, contains 30 chapters authored by 107 geologists and geophysicists from Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the United States. It is edited by Jan Golonka and THIS IS YOUR Frank J. Picha. It provides a comprehensive and understandable account of geology LAST CHANCE TO and hydrocarbon resources of the entire Carpathian system from northeastern Austria to southern Romania, including the Neogene foredeep, the foreland platform both in Additional new reserves may be found, front and beneath the thrust belt, the especially at deeper structural levels Carpathian thrust belt and the late and below the Neogene foredeep and the post orogenic intermontane basins. thin-skinned Carpathian thrust belt. Principle chapters on regional Seventeen chapters of Memoir 84 geology are supplemented by thematic have been printed in full; the remaining contributions on geodynamic chapters have been printed as reconstructions, regional geophysical abstracts only, with the full paper for all $AVE! investigations, hydrocarbon systems 30 chapters as pdf files on CD-ROM in and case studies of major oil and gas the back of this publication for ease of fields. key word searching. Register by October 16 To date, nearly seven billion barrels To order or for more information of oil and more than 53 trillion cubic contact the AAPG Bookstore online at feet of natural gas have been produced www.aapg.org. from the entire Carpathian system. – BEVERLY MOLYNEUX for a Discounted Rate www.aapg.org/perth

With this EXPLORER you also ✓ Essentials of Subsurface received the 2007 Education Catalog, Mapping (Dick Banks). featuring all our course offerings for ✓ Introduction to Computer the upcoming year. Mapping (Hannes Leetaru). Several new short courses and ✓ Practical Mapping of Surfaces, field seminars have been added this Properties and Volumes for Reservoir year, along with the list of past Characterization (Jeffrey Yarus). favorites. ✓ Rock Properties of Tight Gas Seats in many of these fill up fast, Sandstones (Alan Byrnes). so register early to make sure you get ✓ Risk and Economic Evaluation your spot reserved – and get a and Assessment of Unconventional discount for signing up prior to the Reservoirs (William Haskett). deadline date specified for each ✓ Basic Openhole Log course. Interpretation (Dan Krygowski). AAPG International ✓ Introduction to DSTs for * * * Geologists (Hugh Reid). Conference and Exhibition

The cornerstone of the 2007 Tuition for the full week is $1,295 November 5-8, 2006 program is the fourth annual Winter for AAPG members and $1,395 for Education Conference, set Feb. 12-16 non-members, and badges are — HOSTED BY— in Houston. Five of its 12 courses are transferable. Courses also are new, and two are expanded versions individually priced for those not of previous events. wanting to sign up for the full week. The new offerings include: Refreshments, buffet lunches and ✓ Introduction to Coalbed an AAPG mini-Bookstore will be Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia Methane (taught by Tom Moore). available each day. www.pesa.com.au ✓ Seismic Amplitude Interpretation The conference will be held at the – Lithology and Pore Fluid Estimation Hilton Houston Westchase Hotel, and (Fred Hilterman). a special AAPG group rate is ✓ 3-D Seismic Attributes for available. Prospect Identification and Reservoir More than 150 people attended last Characterization (Kurt Marfurt). year’s conference. Class sizes are ✓ Seismic Geomorphology and limited. Seismic Sratigraphy – Extracting See the AAPG Web site for Geological Insights from 3D Seismic complete course descriptions and Data (Henry Posamentier). registration information, or contact the ✓ Advancements in Petrophysics AAPG Education Department at AAPG CONVENTION DEPARTMENT and What to Do with Them (Dave 1-918-560-2650; or toll-free (in the Marschall). United States) at 1-888-338-3387; or P.O. Box 979 • Tulsa, OK 74101-0979 • USA e-mail at [email protected]; or fax at Telephone: +1 918 560 2617 • Fax: +1 918 560 2684 Returning favorites include: 1-918-560-2678. ❏ Email: [email protected]

OCTOBER 2006 50

(Editor’s note: Regions and Sections and conferences of interest to its apparent that the gas commodity Other meeting highlights include a is a regular column in the EXPLORER members, such as the 24th annual market has the biggest growth pre-conference workshop on “Nigerian offering news for and about AAPG’s six international conference and exhibition opportunity for the regional upstream Content: Capacity Building and international Regions and six U.S. of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum industry. Utilization” in the Nigerian oil and gas Sections. Explorationists (NAPE), planned Nov. The opening ceremony (Nov. 14) will industry, and post-conference field trips News items, press releases and 13-18 in Abuja, Nigeria. feature key personnel from the oil and to the Southern Bida Basin (Campano- other information should be submitted to The conference theme, “Exploration gas industry, including the Edmund Maastichtian sequences), Anambra the EXPLORER/Regions and Sections, Trends and the New Gas Challenges,” Daukuru, president of OPEC and Basin (Campano-Maastichtian facies) P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, Okla. 74101. will address major issues of exploration, minister of petroleum. Following will be a and Middle Benue-Keana Basin Contact: Carol McGowen, at 1-918- development and portfolio management management session on “Surging (Turonian-Coniacian sequences). 560-9403; or e-mail to in the production and sustenance of gas Global Demand for Oil and Gas; Exhibition spaces already are sold- [email protected]. resources. Challenges and Opportunities,” with out and substantial high quality papers This month’s column has two parts, With increasing regional acceptance invited papers delivered by top have been received including several the first written by Deborah Ajakaiye, and focus on gas exploration and management staff from the industry and from exploration managers in the president of AAPG’s Africa Region.) development – as evidenced by the governor of the Central Bank of industry. NAPE has made security planned CNG and West Africa Gas Nigeria. arrangements in addition to discount pipeline initiatives, and LNG trains in Technical presentations will run in accommodations with local hotels to A major thrust of the Africa Region in Nigeria and parts of West Africa – it is parallel sessions from Nov. 15-17. ensure a smooth conference for the recent years has been the membership expected large turn-out of both local drive to encourage geoscientists in and international participants. Africa to become AAPG Active AAPG members are encouraged to members and fully utilize the many attend what promises to be a technically benefits provided by the Association for stimulating conference. For more the enhancement of their professional 2006 U.S. Meetings Sept. 16-18, Eastern Section, AAPG, information, contact [email protected], skills and development of the petroleum Oct. 8-11, Eastern Section, AAPG, annual meeting, Lexington, Ky. or visit industry in Africa. annual meeting, Buffalo, N.Y. www.aapg.org/international/africa. Recent AAPG reports affirm these Oct. 6-9, Rocky Mountain Section, efforts, with the Africa Region 2006 International Meetings annual meeting, Snowbird, Utah. * * * accounting for 24 percent of all new Nov. 5-8, AAPG International member applications for all classes of Conference and Exhibition, Perth, Oct. 21-23, Gulf Coast Association of Other future major conferences in the AAPG membership from both Sections Australia. Geological Societies, annual meeting, region include: and Regions during this past June and Corpus Christi, Texas. ✓ Third conference on the Petroleum July. 2007 U.S. Meetings Potential and Investment Opportunities Currently 11 student chapters in the April 1-4, AAPG Annual Convention, 2007 International Meetings in East Africa, set March 7-9 in Arusha, region account for 24 percent of all Long Beach, Calif. March 20-22, AAPG Internaitonal Tanzania (see www.eac.int/EAPC2007 student membership (the highest) in Property and Prospect Exhibition for more information). AAPG. April 22-24, Southwest Section, (APPEX), London, England. ✓ First international conference of the AAPG, annual meeting, Wichita Falls, Moroccan Association of Petroleum * * * Texas. Nov. 17-20, AAPG European Geologists (MAPG), Oct. 28-31, in Region, Athens, Greece. ❏ Marrakech, Morocco (www.mapg.org). AAPG’s Africa Region also focuses Sept. 9-11, Mid-Continent Section, ❏ on supporting regional O&G activities annual meeting, Wichita, Kan.

WEST TEXAS GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

2006 FALL SYMPOSIUM October 25-27, 2006 Resource Plays in the Permian Basin: Resource to Reserves

Celebrating the 80th Anniversary of WTGS

The Fall Symposium continues a long-standing tradition of excellence with a strong technical program targeting concepts applied to active exploration and development of resource plays in the Permian Basin. The 2 days of technical sessions feature both oral and poster sessions presented by noted authors on the diverse aspects of resource plays. The symposium offers an opportunity for geologists, geophysicists, and engineers to meet with the researchers and service providers operating in the Permian Basin and dedicated to continual learning for resource development.

Technical Sessions:

· Permian Basin Carbonate and Clastic Resource Plays · Reservoir Aspects of Shale Gas Plays · Petrophysics of Resource Plays · Geophysics of Resource Plays · Drilling and Completion of Resource Plays · Resource to Reserves

Saturday Field Trip to Wink Sink.

The Fall Symposium will be held in the Midland Center, Midland, Texas with technical sessions and poster sessions taking place on October 25 – 27, 2006. Symposium will begin at 8:30am on Wednesday October 25, with registration beginning at 7:30am. For more information contact Paula Mitchell at the WTGS office at 432.683.1573 or General Chairman Greg Hinterlong 432.687.7211. For information on technical sessions contact Denise Cox at [email protected] 303.526.9602. The Ethics Luncheon Presentation will take place on Wednesday at the Midland Petroleum Club. The presentation will be given by Arlen Edgar. This presentation meets the Texas Registration requirement for Geologists and Engineers.

To register please send the completed form below with payment to: WTGS P.O. Box 1595, Midland, TX 79702. Credit card payment may be faxed to (432) 686-7827. Pre-registration and cancellation deadline is October 16, 2006. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Midland Hilton. The phone number is (432) 683-6131. Remember to ask for the special WTGS symposium rate.

_____ Symposium Pre-Registration $125.00 Symposium On Site Registration $150.00 ______Ethics Luncheon Presentation* $25.00 Saturday Field Trip ______$40.00 Name ______Company ______Phone ______Address ______I cannot attend but I wish to order _____ copy /copies of the symposium CD. The cost is $30.00 per set plus $7.40 tax, shipping and handling. This price is good until October 27, 2006.

Cash, Check or Credit Cards Accepted ( ) I authorize you to charge the above to my ( ) Visa ( ) MasterCard ( ) American Express Exp. Date ______

Card number ______Signature ______

OCTOBER 2006 51

Provides worldwide coverage. Recent papers include: FREE TRIAL • Porosity destruction in carbonate platforms To activate your free 30 day online trial • Source-rock evaluation and basin modelling in NE Egypt go to www.blackwellpublishing.com/freetrial • Biomarker geochemistry of crude oils from the Qaidam Basin, NW China and follow the instructions. • Exploring for fan and delta sandstones in the offshore Falklands basins Access Token: JPGAAPG2006 • Petroleum potential, Cretaceous Atane Formation,W Greenland www.blackwellpublishing.com/jpg

GIS Added to Digital BULLETIN MIDDLE EAST GEOLOGICAL ESTABLISHMENT (MEGE) MEGE is a consulting company carrying out exploration and Something new is coming to the “The program is brand new and will production studies for the hydrocarbon industry in the Middle East. AAPG’s digital BULLETIN, in the form of certainly evolve over time,” he added. GIS files. The accompanying figure illustrates We are offering comprehensive Petroleum Geology reports on each The first quarter from the 2006 the link to the downloadable zip file on country in the Middle East and northeast Africa. The present BULLETIN has been georeferenced – the AAPG Web site for that issue’s GIS available studies are: (1) Petroleum Geology of Iraq (6 parts), (2) including all the figures and articles in files. Once uncompressed, a compressed zip files for the members readme.txt file spells out the pertinent Paleozoic Petroleum Geology of the Arabian Plate: Implications for to download alongside the issue and details on how to use the GIS files. Hydrocarbon Exploration (3 parts), (3) Petroleum Geology of the articles. Over the course of the next several Oligocene-Miocene Carbonates (Asmari Formation and Kirkuk Group) “We’ll continue doing this as a months AAPG members can expect value-added service to the digital more announcements regarding GIS, in Iraq-Iran and United Arab Emirates: Implications for BULLETIN,” said AAPG Geoscience such as streaming videos on how to Hydrocarbon Exploration (4 parts), (4) Petroleum Systems of the Director Jim Blankenship, “and we’re use these new tools, and much more. Arabian Plate: their Sequence Stratigraphy, Paleogeography, looking forward to improving the – GERALD BUCKLEY service based on member feedback. Geosciences Products Manager Hydrocarbon Habitat and Oil and Gas Fields (3 parts), (5) Petroleum Systems of Egyptian Sedimentary Basins (5 parts). For more information contact: Prof. A.S. Alsharhan, P.O.Box: 17325, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates, E-mail: [email protected]

The following candidates have submitted Australia applications for membership in the Thornton, David Anthony, Coogee Resources, Association and, below, certification by the Perth (reinstate) Division of Professional Affairs. This does not constitute election, but places the names Indonesia before the membership at large. Any Chen, Zhiyong, CNOOC SES, Jakarta (N. information bearing on the qualifications of Guritno, W. Peikang, X. Ye) these candidates should be sent promptly to the Executive Committee, P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, New Zealand Okla. 74101. (Names of sponsors are placed Salo, Jonathan Peter, New Zealand Oil & Gas, in parentheses. Reinstatements indicated do Wellington (D.A. Cooke, S.C. Lang, J. Kaldi) not require sponsors.) Membership applications are available at Nigeria www.aapg.org, or by contacting headquarters KunleDare, Mojisola A., ConocoPhillips, Lagos in Tulsa. (R.C. Laudon, R. Martinussen, C.C. Parry); Yussuph, Isiaka Wale, Geoscience Solutions, Lagos (B.A. Koledoye, N. Omorodion, R.A. For Active Membership Sadare) Russia Illinois Drabkin, Dmitry, JSC TNK-BP, Moscow (E.C. Richards, Bradley Kent, Illinois Oil & Gas Cazier III, J.C. Dolson, K. Lemley); Tarasov, Association, Mount Vernon (S.R. Gustison, Sergey V., TNK-BP, Moscow (E.C. Cazier III, C.R. Wiles, J.E. Blumthal) J.C. Dolson, K. Lemley)

Oklahoma Saudi Arabia Stephens, Crystal Michelle, RKI Exploration & Al-Hawaj, Mohamed Faris, Saudi Aramco, Production, Oklahoma City (M.A. Goss, N. Dhahran (J.A. Richard, G.S. Adcock, I.A. Al- Osborn, M.L. Huhnke) Ghamdi); Li, Ning, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran (I.A. Al-Ghamdi, G.S. Adcock, H. Xiao); Zarea, Texas Mohammed Ahmed, SaudiAramco, Dhahran Bhokare, Amitkumar R., Swift Energy, (I.A. Al-Ghamdi, M.O. Al-Amoudi, A.Q. Dripping Springs (D.W. Harris, J.W. Hogarth, Hameda) J.C. Branca); Fly, D’nese Joy, William M. Cobb & Associates, Dallas (D.L. Bailey, J.F. Venezuela Sarg, B.A. May); Kalil, Bill, independent, Rieser, Robert Bernard, Schlumberger, Midland (W.R. Green, A.T. Carleton, A.H. Maracaibo (reinstate) Smith); Luo, Hongjun, BP America, Houston (D. Nummedal, W.C. Riese, R.J. Steel); McCollum, James Scott, ConocoPhillips, Midland (T.B. Layman, G.A. Wilson, D.H. Certification Brown); Njumbe, Emmanuel Sone, The following is a candidate for ExxonMobil, Houston (D.O. Hurtubise, A.B. French, T.W. Jones) certification as a petroleum geologist by the Division of Professional Affairs. Wyoming Finley, Graeme David, Goolsby, Finley & Kansas Associates, Casper (J.E. Goolsby, B.L. Recoy, Harold Kenneth, Quest Larson, M. England); Thompson, Alan Dean, Goolsby, Finley & Associates, Casper (J.E. Resource, Chanute (reinstatement) Goolsby, A.K. Finley, B.L. Larson)

OCTOBER 2006 52

Two new funds have been and the entire world. established by the AAPG Foundation The museum is scheduled to open in Trustees – one in support of an historic 2007, during the Oklahoma centennial oil industry site, the other in support of celebration. students at annual conventions. The new funds are: ✓ The James A. Hartman Student Fund. ✓ The Glenn Pool Museum and This fund, started by Hartman, Education Center Fund. provides $25 AAPG Bookstore gift The newly proposed facility, located certificates to student paper presenters about 14 miles south of downtown Tulsa, at the AAPG annual conventions. (Ten is at the site of the Ida E. Glenn well students received gift certificates at the discovery site of Nov. 22, 1905 – a most recent convention in Houston.) discovery that started Oklahoma’s golden era of oil exploration. To contribute or for more information The facility will provide a historical on these funds contact the AAPG look at how the field was discovered and Foundation office in Tulsa, or go to the developed, plus its impact on Oklahoma Web site at foundation.aapg.org.

Foundation (General) David M. Heyser Mark W. Ver Hoeve Glen Pool Museum Fund Mauricio Afanador Eric Higgins George Larry Vinson Ralph and Frances McGill Enrique Aguilera-Hernandez Christopher C. Hodge In memory of James H. Foundation Boluwaji Samuel Akinyemi Peer Emil Hoth Kitchen, Harry M. Roy Stanley Alba Olexandr Ingerov Buchner, William A. Grants-in-Aid Fund W. Bruce Alexander Matthew David Jackson Crutcher, Charles Dobbs, Edward K. David Adnan A.M. Aqrawi Luc Francois-Marie Jacobs Verne Farmer, George In memory of Robey Clark Robert James Ardell Fuad Jawad Landoyd, Robert Megill Janet Marie and Phil In memory of Robey Clark John Douglas Jeffers and William Wise Heppard Olusegun Adegboyega Robert William Karlewicz Herbert J. Visscher James H. Petersen Ashiru Charles Kerans S. Paul Waddell Roy W. Schlische Jerry Mark Adam Babiuk Diane Jean Kerr Glenn Clinton Wainwright Jr. Michael Thomas Whalen Laura Ann Banfield Kerr-McGee Foundation John P. Watkins Ralph Allen Williams Elizabeth Frances Baresch Corp. Warren George Workman Yannis Bassias Natalya A. Kharitonova John Buel Wright Gustavus E. Archie Gary Beccar Tyler Sean Klatt Gary N. Young Memorial Grant Clyde McKee Becker Norman F. Kohlhammer James William Zaslaw Joseph Martin Finneran In memory of Ted Becker Bernhard Krainer In memory of Robert Roberto Vittorio Bencini Ernest J. La Flure Zaslaw Herbert G. Davis and Shirley Luis Miguel Bernardo Laurn R. Larson Walter Heinrich Ziegler A. Davis Named Grant Roy Lee Berry Allen Lassiter In memory of Bill Gussow Herbert G. Davis In memory of Angus S. Scott Layne In memory of G. Carl Campbell Arthur William Leibold Awards Fund Hale, Richard R. Bloomer, Marc Blaizot Benedikt Lenders Best Student Paper and James O. Lewis and Dudley and Marion Bolyard Angang Liu Poster Award Robey H. Clark In memory of Billy Bernard Francois Long Joseph Albert Cartwright Roberts Richard Lawrence Lowe Roberto Gambini Fred A. and Jean C. Dix Louis Chapman Bortz Peter Martin Lucas Daniel Bruno Palmowski Named Grant In memory of Billy John Ernest Lucken James Howard Reynolds III Aris Setiawan Roberts In memory of Dennis Irwin John Samuel Wickham John B. “Jack” Thomas Austin Boyd Barbara Luneau In memory of Fred A. Dix Robert A. Brackett Grenville Antony Lunn Carlos Walter M. Campos Glenn Ray Breed Calum Ian Macaulay Memorial Award Norman H. Foster James Carl Brothers Mike R. Maitland Renato Marcos D. De Matos Memorial Grant Alex S. Broun Abhi Manerikar John Ernest Lucken Mary E. Broussard Robyn Melissa Marchand Pioneer Award In memory of Norman Timothy Scott Brown Julian Mather Ricardo N. Ayup-Zouain Foster Jan Bruensing Fumiaki Matsuda I. Philip Buch James Coert Matthews Teacher of the Year Award Robert K. Goldhammer Benjamin C. Burke Monica Elizabeth Mattsson Fred Aminzadeh Memorial Grant Brian S. Cabote Melodie McArdle Joseph A. Canales Hernandez Javier Banda AAPG INTERNATIONAL PROSPECT Lorraine H. Carey Thornton Howard McElvain Christopher Joel Kautz Pierre De La Croix Toby and Corinne Carleton Gerard Joseph McGann Richard Patrick Steele Ursula Hammes In memory of Robey David P. Meece Clark, Walter R. (Bob) Mahesh Prasad Mehra Daniel A. Busch James E. Hooks AND PROPERTY EXHIBITION Berger and Wayne Moore In memory of Shri Library Fund Memorial Grant Don Forrest Carlos Ramprasad John (Jack) B. Thomas Sergio E. Olave-Hoces In memory of Gardner Gary Michael Mercado In memory of Amy Busch Pittman David Haines Middleton Arthur A. Meyerhoff Timothy Robert Carr Christopher James Modica Continuing Education Fund Memorial Grant Mariano Carrera Hugues Stanislas Monrose Roger Henry Clifford Doery Beatrice V. Mare-Jones Steven Carroll Philippe Jean Montaggioni Viktor M. Lyutayev Aris Setiawan Joseph Albert Cartwright Jose Saul Moros Leon John Gary Chapman Sean Phillip Murphy Digital Products Fund Donald A. and Mary O’Nesky Mohammad Usman Chaudry Allen Sneed Neville John Wayne Shelton Named Grant Chirinos Perez Gonzab F. Stephen Kenneth Newton Robert Charles Weissmann Donald A. O’Nesky Luis Fernando Cierra Susan Ellen Nissen In memory of Robey Clark Peggy Susie Clements Johan Petter Nystuen Colorado School of Mines and Wayne Moore James C. Collins Mike Oehlers Michael Ray Sherwood Kellam Colquitt Olusola Olufemi Ogunkoya Stephen A. Sonnenberg James A. Hartman Theodore Coughran Jeffry T. O’Kelley In honor of Robert J. Student Fund Steven Courteney Michael Overstolz Weimer Tillman Webb Cooley Jr. Robert D. Cowdery Chester Earl Paris In memory of Robey Clark Robert Bates Peacock Louisiana State University K-12 Fund John Robert Davies In memory of Robey Clark Alumni David G. Campbell MARCH 20-22 Sarah Kidd Deering Paul V. Pedersen Walter Paul Buckthal In memory of James O. James Michael DeGraff Michael L. Peffer In memory of Robey Clark Lewis and Robey H. Clark ROYAL LANCASTER HOTEL Peter Diebold Andrew John Perry Amy Rebecca Close Rebecca Dodge Mark Edward Petersen Oklahoma State University Sheridan Caraway Conley Lynn E. Duncan Jan C. Pluis Alumni Daniel Creighton Byron Fred Dyer Jr. Indutimi Tambiri Preye Gary Wayne Ford Monte Robert Doris In memory of Robey Clark Ahmad Reza Rabbani Paul H. Dudley Jr. Pierre Patrick Eliet Donald James Rae Texas A&M University In memory of Wayne UPSTREAM PRESENTATIONS ON Catherine Elliott Pierre Raingeard Jorge Eduardo Toro Alava Moore Peter John Evans Matthew G. Reppert Janet and Phil Heppard James Derek Fairhead James E. Rice Texas Tech University Tim A. Johnson NORTHWEST EUROPE, SOUTH AMERICA, Mark D. Falk Andrew John Rigg Nelson Brent Yoder Margaret Allen Keller John C. Fitzmaurice Jaime Javier Rios-Lopez Carol Suzanne Lopp Stephen G. Franks Bruce Allen Rodgers University of Calgary Alumni AFRICA, MIDDLE EAST, RUSSIA, ASIA, Christopher Mark Fratton Kevin Gordon Root Weiqi Bowen Bai Public Service Lawrence W. Funkhouser Lee R. Russell Endowment Fund In memory of Robey Clark Robert Francois Rutten University of Michigan James A. Gibbs AUSTRALIA, INDIA and CHINA Deva P. Ghosh Timothy Harold Ryan Alumni In memory of Robey H. William E. Gipson Paul Eric Sacks Volker C. Vahrenkamp Clark, Robert M. Sanford In memory of James O. James Oliver Salveson and Eugene F. “Bud” Reid Lewis Jr., George H. Greg Schoenborn Distinguished Lecture O’Brien Jr. and Clarence K. Wayne Seewald Fund Hugh M. Looney E.S. Bellows III Federico Martin Seminario Paul H. Dudley Jr. Excellence Fund Frank G. Glass Mark E. Semmelbeck In memory of Robey Clark Marlan Wayne Downey Elias Gomez Jayne L. Sieverding Mary Ann Gross In honor of Jack C. Threet Mark Gregory Gorski Mark Andrew Simmons Hans Henning Krause Edward Jon Graham Kenneth Skinner John Smoot Jack C. and Catherine I. Domingo Lorenzo Graneros Michael Alexis Smith Mark Haynes Strider Threet Endowed Fund Scott Arthur Griffiths Young Kwan Sohn In memory of Peggy Jack C. Threet Carl Fredrik Gyllenhammar George L. Sorour Strider Chad Christopher Haiar James E. Springer E.F. Reid Scouting Fund Brent Hale Gary T. Tautkus Allen P.Bennison Aris Setiawan + + Thomas and Caroline Nicholas Terech Distinguished Lecture Fund 1 888 945 2274 x618 or 1 918 560 2618 Hamilton Family Kolyo S. Tonev Marian Warren Foundation Susan K. Towe http:appex.aapg.org James Peter Harris James W. Turner Roy M. Huffington Charles H. Heard Nnaemeka Francis Ukaigwe Distinguished Lecture Fund Andrew M. Hennes Michael Ross Vandrey Aris Setiawan

OCTOBER 2006 53

ADVERTISEMENT AAPG Foundation Energy Resources Library “What’s In It for Me?”

he AAPG Foundation Energy Resources Library is but one of many programs • Various state geological surveys, maps and many pertinent trade Tsupported by the AAPG Foundation. This valuable service was established in publications. Tulsa at AAPG headquarters in 1978 and was created to help fulfill one of the In some cases, we hold rare copies of fieldtrip guidebooks. We specialize in Foundation’s principle purposes: providing geologic information on hydrocarbon exploration areas, mature petroleum producing areas, subject searches, field/case studies and “To disseminate information relating to the geology and associated bibliographic searches. technology of petroleum, natural gas, other subsurface fluids and mineral Sometimes the answer to “What’s in it for me?” is the measurable economic resources.” value it brings to the user and his or her company. In other instances it’s more abstract. Regardless of your need or objective, our goal is to help you by Part of the AAPG providing the desired information Foundation Library’s in a timely manner. To mission is to assemble a that end, our focus is collection of books and on helping refine your resources for the practicing questions, determine petroleum geologist, as what sources are best well as the development of to use, and perfecting publications covering those our search strategies areas of interest to our and systems to divisions: Division of educate those who Environmental Science prefer to do it (DEG); Division of themselves. Professional Affairs (DPA); We serve a wide and Energy Minerals range of customers Division (EMD). from around the world. Many of you are familiar As previously with our services and mentioned, many contact us throughout the benefits are easy to year for data research, access and offered literature searches, free of charge. For document delivery or for example, in September help navigating the Web. the new AAPG But we realize there are Foundation Library still some of you who Gateways Web site haven’t had an http://foundation opportunity to take .aapg.org/library/ was advantage of our launched. assistance. If you’re It’s designed for within that group you may easy access and ask, “What’s in it for me?” navigation, directing In short, a lot! With you to helpful sites such crude oil prices hovering as petroleum statistical around $70 per barrel, sources, lexicons of new exploration ventures named rock units, and rediscovering old petroleum geoscience areas are becoming publishers, used book more attractive to the dealers and map explorationist. When publishers. A special confronted with a new section, “Hot Topics,” is project, where should a now available on our geologist begin? Web site – currently it’s a Obviously, well logs, link to information on the production information, Barnett Shale. Updates seismic lines, cross and future links are sections and base maps planned, such as are necessary, but one searching tips on Google of the most important and AAPG Datapages. questions is, “What’s From our new Web the history of the area?” site you can also search By utilizing the the AAPG Foundation AAPG Foundation Library collection, order Library you can quickly interlibrary loans or send become familiar with a a message directly to one prospective area, of the librarians by using saving costly time and the “Ask a Librarian” link. redundant work. Our We are able to acquire resources, collection documents from anywhere and services have in the U.S., including grown at a rapid rate, some foreign literature. As permitting us to you may know from your respond to thousands own experience, not of research requests everything is available on and handle well over ten-thousand transactions per year. What all this means to the Web. In fact, you’ll find you is fast, easy communication and proven results with many services offered some Web retrievals provide incomplete or even inaccurate information. We free-of-charge. encourage you to check with us to discover easy, fast alternatives. The library collection includes: • All AAPG publications. It will be a pleasure to serve you whether via the links provided on our new Web • Relevant publications from other domestic and international geological page, by phone or personal visit. And of course, your comments organizations. and suggestions are always welcome and appreciated. ● • Most of the published material from AAPG’s affiliated societies and sections.

If you’d like to support our ongoing activities, contributions to the AAPG Foundation Library may be made by check or credit card, and are tax deductible for persons subject to U.S. income tax. The Web address for online giving is: http://foundation.aapg.org/contributions.cfm

OCTOBER 2006 54

Back Off is right in saying “The region is ill prepared I am a 54-year member of AAPG and I Editor’s note: Letters to the editor should include your name and address and to take on a major disaster,” and there is have always been proud of my affiliation should be mailed to Readers’ Forum, c/o AAPG EXPLORER, P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, where the real social and economic with your organization. After all, my first Okla. 74101, or fax (918) 560-2636; or e-mail to [email protected]. Letters may be problem lies. It is not earthquakes scientific paper was published in your edited or held due to space restrictions. themselves, but people’s preparation for journal back in 1961, and this publication them that is critical. It’s safe to say that: was essentially the beginning of a lithostratigraphic, because only changes in Predictions Get Yawns” (August “The longer it’s been since the last one, the productive career involving the oil industry, lithology can produce contrasts in the EXPLORER): Only its second part should nearer we are to the next one.” So people NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey. physical rock properties that control have been published. should heed the Boy Scouts’ maxim: BE I am writing to you today because I am acoustic impedance. The problem with the first part of your PREPARED! extremely disturbed by the AAPG’s stated The potentially chronostratigraphic story is that it spoke almost entirely of the Clarke said that there is now “little position on global climate change and value of reflectors depends upon the San Andreas fault, San Andreas fault, San coordination between public agencies.” He global warming. The proposed Public progradation or lateral migration of Andreas fault. Probably millions of didn’t say so, but that means that police Outreach “card” is an abomination and sedimentary environments at a pace that is Californians are unaware that there’s any and fire and highway and water and power should never see the light of day. rapid in comparison to the intervals of time other large fault in the state. departments should have proper training It is difficult for me to understand why for which correlation is sought. Given that I agree with Don Clarke’s obvious and equipment, and be on speaking terms the AAPG must take a formal position on relationship, a laterally extensive lithologic skepticism about this preoccupation with with construction companies that have the issue of global warming. There is horizon with common physical properties the San Andreas, which has been a large cranes, loaders and bulldozers. obviously a diversity of opinions within the can form within the requisite interval of time boondoggle for otherwise unemployed Quake insurance isn’t the answer for the membership, and it seems to me targeted for correlation. governmental and academic geologists public. The day I moved into my present counterproductive to alienate all of those The “Tipper point” discussion highlights and geophysicists. home, I bought L-braces at a hardware who are convinced that global warming is the additional interplay of stratal thickness That brings us to the dismal fact that store and tied my tall bookcases to the a significant problem and that the activities (per unit time) versus seismic wavelength earthquake forecasting is a very walls with them. I put valuable art objects of humankind are important factors in for sensing the subsurface configuration of dangerous game, and should be on flat places where I hope they won’t be causing global climate change. correlative strata. In general, if stratal abandoned. Not only is it a waste of broken when a quake hits. I won’t go on, I urge AAPG to back off and leave the thickness per unit time is reduced, with government money, but a precise but you get the idea. Families should also question of global climate change to the seismic wavelength held constant, the prediction of an earthquake would create a know just who is going to do what when a scientists who are responsible for its study, span of time for which a valid disaster. quake hits. The worst thing to do is what and who have the experience and tools to chronostratigraphic correlation can be How so? Think of what the prediction of people are first inclined to do: Get in their study its issues. established from reflection profiling is Hurricane Rita did to Houston, namely cars and drive like mad to home or school. Keith Kvenvolden bound to increase. Rapid sedimentation produce the worst traffic jam in history, I won’t go any further, other than to say Palo Alto, Calif. allows for more precise chronostratigraphic stranding people on all highways out of that: correlation than slow sedimentation, but town. Now think about 12 million people ✓ The quake-forecasting people at Cal Reflection on Reflections reflectors are never chronostratigraphic in trying to get out of the mountain-bounded Tech and the U.S. Geological Survey The article on reflection seismic “Tipper any absolute sense. L.A. basin on five highways. ABSOLUTE should be given early retirement. points” (Geophysical Corner, September Many discussions of reflection profiles CHAOS! ✓ Don Clarke should be put in charge EXPLORER) pinpoints a longstanding in the literature do not take this truism into Clarke is right in telling about the of earthquake preparedness in southern conundrum: Are seismic reflectors account. dangers posed by faults other than the San California. fundamentally chronostratigraphic or William R. Dickinson Andreas that have already produced Robert H. Paschall fundamentally lithostratigraphic horizons? Tucson, Ariz. destructive quakes, e.g., Santa Barbara in Bishop, Calif. As seismic reflection depends upon 1925, so-called Long Beach (should have acoustic impedance (seismic velocity California Earthquakes (Duh!) been Compton) in 1933, San Fernando in times rock density), the short answer is Regarding your story “L.A. Quake 1971 and Northridge in 1994. Clarke also See Forum, page 56

OCTOBER 2006 55

academia as demonstrated in a record of Box 41053, Lubbock, TX 79409-1053. October 2007. POSITION AVAILABLE publications. Their research should concentrate in E-mail questions regarding the position are Opportunities for research are available in a wide geosciences, geophysical or other analytical received at [email protected]. Review of range of topics. The postdoctoral fellowships are 2- Geophysicist/Seismic Interpreter and techniques that are relevant to exploration and applicants will begin November 1 and continue until year appointments. The closing date for applications Stratigrapher/Sedimentologist positions production of hydrocarbons. The chair holder is the position is filled. is November 15, 2006. Appointments will start at the Jackson School of Geosciences (JSG) expected to conduct an externally-funded research Texas Tech University is an equal October 2007 or later, depending on availability of Bureau of Economic Geology program that involves collaboration with the opportunity/affirmative action institution. funds. A description of the program, research The University of Texas at Austin, U.S.A. petroleum industry. He/She will teach graduate and opportunities, and the application process are undergraduate courses, and mentor graduate student * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * available at http://geology.usgs.gov/postdoc. The The State of Texas Advanced Resource Recovery thesis research. The position is expected to be filled U.S. Geological Survey is an equal opportunity (STARR) program, an established research program at the tenured full professor level. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN employer. within the Bureau of Economic Geology, JSG, is Texas Tech is one of the four largest, state- NEAR-SURFACE GEOPHYSICS seeking (1) a geophysicist/seismic interpreter and supported, graduate research-oriented universities in DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (2) a stratigrapher/sedimentologist. Geophysical Texas, with over 29,000 students enrolled. The UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO and geological investigations are carried out both in Department of Geosciences consists of nineteen The Ohio Geological Survey (OGS) seeks regional scale, onshore and offshore U.S., and in field tenured/tenure-track faculty, thirteen in solid earth The University at Buffalo Department of Geology applications for the position of Supervisor, Energy scale. We are particularly interested in candidates sciences and six in atmospheric sciences. About 70 invites applications for a tenure-track assistant Resources Group. The successful candidate will be a with strengths in one or more of the following: seismic undergraduate student majors and 40 graduate professor position in near-surface geophysics. We highly motivated geoscientist with a thorough interpretation, sequence stratigraphy, clastic students are currently enrolled. The department seek a scientist who will integrate with our existing understanding of the energy industries (especially oil, sedimentology, reservoir characterization, seismic computer labs have various GIS, geologic departmental strength in geohazards (contaminant gas, and coal), and a proven record of research, modeling, and attribute analyses. Successful mapping/modeling, and seismic hydrogeology, volcanic hazards, climate change, and publishing, project management, and supervision. candidates will participate in scientific research, processing/interpretation software packages. seismic hazards). Of particular interest are The candidate should also have experience in publish in peer-reviewed scientific articles, participate Experimental facilities include laser ablation ICP-MS, researchers with expertise in hydrogeophysics or securing research grants and working with the public in national and international scientific forums, prepare TEM, SEM, XRD, heat flow, stable isotope labs, and inverse methods. and industry associations. A Master’s degree technical reports and presentations, and liaise with remote sensing spectroradiometers. More detailed We expect faculty to develop, maintain and (minimum) in geosciences, publications record, and industry partners. Candidates with an advanced information on the department can be found at publish an innovative, extramurally funded research petroleum industry experience preferred. The university degree and some industry experience are website http://www.gesc.ttu.edu. program. The successful applicant must have a complete job posting is available on the ODNR preferred. In addition to the Geosciences, the chair holder Ph.D. degree at the time of appointment and Website (www.ohiodnr.com/jobs). The Ohio The JSG offers an excellent working environment will have opportunities to work with the Department of demonstrated potential to perform teaching duties. Department of Natural Resources is an equal with challenges and possibilities for professional Petroleum Engineering which maintains experimental Teaching duties will include undergraduate and opportunity/affirmative action employer. development and advancement. Salary is negotiable and analytical facilities in petrophysics, drill fluids, graduate level courses in the candidates’ specialties. depending on qualification. Please refer to the cement, enhanced recovery, and reservoir simulation. More information about our department can be found * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * following website for further information regarding the The department also has a nuclear magnetic at: http://www.geology.buffalo.edu. particulars of the STARR program. resonance imaging lab and an artificial lift research Send applications to Dr. Matthew Becker, c/o Executive Director (http://www.beg.utexas.edu/resprog/starr/index.htm). lab with a 4100-ft test well with circulation equipment Robyn Wagner by email [email protected] or post American Geological Institute For further information or to e-mail a resume, and automated well control equipment. to Department of Geology, 876 Natural please contact Dr. Robert Loucks Lubbock is a community of over 200,000 people, Sciences Complex, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY The Search Committee invites applications for the ([email protected]) or Jenny Turner located on the Southern High Plains of Texas, in 14260. Applications should include, a CV, statement position of Executive Director for the American ([email protected]). proximity to major oil industry in the Permian Basin. of research goals and teaching experience and Geological Institute (AGI). Interested applicants The University of Texas at Austin is an Equal The altitude and semi-arid climate of the region are interests, selected reprints, and contact information should be broadly educated scientists who have Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All positions conducive to outdoor activities. Lubbock frequently for at least three references. Applications should be demonstrated leadership and vision in the earth are security-sensitive; conviction verification hosts musical, theatrical, and sports events, and complete by Nov. 1, 2006, when we will begin our sciences; have an established record of success as conducted on applicants selected. offers numerous options for shopping and dining. The review of candidates. an earth scientist; have proven senior management town also offers the best healthcare facilities in the The University at Buffalo is an Equal Opportunity and budgetary experience and interpersonal skills; * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * region, including the university’s Health Sciences Employer/Recruiter. and have a record of success as a not-for-profit Center. The cost of living is low compared to national fundraiser. The applicants must have the ability to Pevehouse Chair in Geosciences norms. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * communicate effectively with the scientific community, An Endowed Position in Applicants must first go to the employment website U.S. Geological Survey Mendenhall academia, industry, government and the public. Petroleum Geology and Geophysics of the university at http://jobs.texastech.edu. There, go Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program A Ph.D. in an earth science or related discipline is Texas Tech University to “Search Postings”, search for requisition number required. The successful candidate must be willing to 62209, and fill out necessary forms in applying for the The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) invites locate in the Washington, D.C. area and be prepared The Department of Geosciences at Texas Tech position on-line. Then, applicants should submit a letter applications for the Mendenhall Postdoctoral to maintain a demanding travel schedule. University invites applications and nominations for the of application, curriculum vitae, a statement of teaching Research Fellowship Program for Fiscal Year 2008. The Executive Director conducts the affairs of the Pevehouse Chair in Geosciences. The purpose of this and research interest, names and contact information The Mendenhall Program provides opportunities to Institute, with direction from the Executive Committee, endowed position is to support education regarding (including e-mail address) of at least 3 professional conduct research in association with selected including administering all planning and standing the origin, exploration, and recovery of hydrocarbons. references. These documents can either be uploaded members of the USGS professional staff. Through this policies, supervising AGI staff, and coordinating the A Ph.D. in geosciences or closely allied field is to the employment website or be mailed to: Dr. Seiichi Program the USGS will acquire current expertise in various activities, projects, and programs of the required. Applicants should have post-doctoral Nagihara, Pevehouse Chair Search Committee, science to assist in implementation of the science research experience in the petroleum industry or Department of Geosciences, Texas Tech University, strategy of its programs. Fiscal Year 2008 begins in See Classifieds, next page

OCTOBER 2006 56

reporting of reserves is much confused for Forum financial, commercial or political reasons, which, while valid enough in their own from page 54 contexts, give a misleading impression. The issue of so-called reserve growth is one of the principal causes of confusion. In discovery terms, all the oil Peak Oil ever to be produced from a field under I am so impressed that you should whatever economic and technological publish in the July EXPLORER such an conditions is attributable to the date of the excellent, fair-minded article on peak oil, original successful wildcat. Accordingly, which is a misunderstood yet important reserve revisions have to be backdated. subject. On that basis, the peak of world As you stress, we are not about to run discovery was passed about 40 years out of oil, but we do reach the end of the ago, so it is hardly surprising that the first half of the Age of Oil. Most of the giant corresponding peak of production is now fields have been found, and it will take imminent. ever more skill by petroleum geologists to You have to find oil before you can identify the smaller and more subtle produce it, and finding it is primarily a prospects of the future. matter of geology. While oil companies tend to dismiss Let us hope that your article will mark a any mention of peak and decline as the turning point on the discussion of this raving of doomsayers, professional important topic. It would help to have petroleum geologists have nothing to unambiguous definitions of the hide, as they will be in ever-greater conventional and non-conventional demand. categories, terms used in widely different The AAPG itself owes it to the public to senses. There is a great difference come forth with realistic estimates of the between a free-flowing well and digging status of depletion. If proper reserve up a tar-sand with a shovel. information were in the public domain, the C.J. Campbell situation would be self-evident; as it is, the Ballydehob, Ireland

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Institute. The Executive Director maintains liaison relationships with the officers and administrators of WANTED AGI affiliated societies, with other geoscience and science-related organizations and with academia, government agencies, industry and the public. Want to purchase minerals and other oil/gas Interested persons are invited to submit a resume, interests. Send details to: P.O. Box 13557, Denver, CO a letter stating qualifications, and a list of 5 80201. references. Review of applications will begin October 20, 2006. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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OCTOBER 2006 57

Tour Gives Close Look at Region

By RICK FRITZ Those efforts to date include: Earlier this summer I traveled through Our tour was a great opportunity to ✓ In the Middle East Region, AAPG Europe with then President-elect Lee was secretariat to the successful GEO Billingsley and European Region President observe first-hand the activities of the conference in Bahrain. AAPG plans to hold John Brooks. We were taking a tour that several education events in the Middle started in Oslo, Norway, then headed to European Region ... East Region this year and is evaluating Moscow and ended in Vienna for the opening an office in Bahrain. EAGE annual meeting. summer of 2007. This is an exciting Athens is a great location and, as it is a ✓ In September, the Latin America ✓ The first stop was an invitation from opportunity for geoscientists and crossroads, the technical program will Region was involved in the development of past-European Region president, Sigrunn engineers to come and hear about include talks and posters from at least two the IX Simposio Bolivariano Petroleum M. Johnsen, for an excellent intersociety Russian oil and gas techniques and other AAPG Regions – Middle East and Exploration in Cartagena, Colombia on the field trip on a boat to look at the geology opportunities. Africa. Subandean Basins, sponsored by along the fjords near Oslo. The field trip AAPG also opened its first non-U.S. Colombian Association of Petroleum gave Lee, John and me a chance to talk to ✓ In Vienna we enjoyed a very good satellite office this year in London. The Geologists and Geophysicists. a number of members to discuss their EAGE conference and had several talks focus of AAPG’s European office is to needs and concerns. with SPE, SEG and EAGE officials and provide membership and educational ✓ In the Africa Region, AAPG is staffs concerning joint ventures and services. endorsing the NAPE conference in Abuja, ✓ In Moscow we had a most excellent opportunities. Steve Veal is the new director of the Nigeria (see page 50). AAPG also tour sponsored by TNK-BP with students We also were asked to visit OPEC for a office and its contact information is: AAPG, endorsed the Geo-Asia meeting held in from the Moscow University and Gubkin tour and to make presentations about Room G22, Royal School of Mines, June in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and the Russian State University of Oil and Gas. AAPG programs. Lee and I both gave Department of Earth Science & India Association of Petroleum Everywhere we go the students are great! talks to OPEC officials and staff Engineering, South Kensington Campus, Geoscientists GOA, India, conference. They are very open and interested in concerning AAPG activities. They were Imperial College, London, SW7 2AZ; AAPG and the professional development especially interested in AAPG’s digital e-mail: [email protected]. ✓ Of course, AAPG is holding its first and opportunities we offer. geology products through Datapages and Finally, you may have noticed a new International Conference jointly with the The next day we met with a contingent our new map search and delivery system – addition to AAPG staff – Carol McGowen Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia of Russian scientists from Russian industry GIS-Upstream Digital Reference Library as Regions and Sections manager. Her job in Perth on Nov. 5-8. Already, this institutes and universities. We formally (GIS-UDRIL). is to improve communication and conference is drawing record registration agreed to the first Russian translation of coordination among the Association, for an AAPG international meeting. AAPG Memoir 86, Global Resource * * * Sections, Regions and affiliated societies. Estimates from Total Petroleum Systems, In addition, she is charged with helping This is an exciting time to be an AAPG by Tom Ahlbrandt, et al. This translation is Our tour was a great opportunity to the Sections and Regions drive major member. Incidentally, we have just being sponsored by a generous company observe first-hand the activities of the programs, such as the AAPG European restructured our committees. If there is any donation and will be distributed in Russia European Region, which is gearing up to office in London. area in which you would like to serve, and surrounding countries. develop products and services and will be please let us know. You can review President Billingsley also plans to form a model for other AAPG Regions. * * * opportunities online at www.aapg.org. a “Translation Committee,” which will For example, last spring the European translate BULLETIN articles into Russian Region held its first field conference in Clearly, there is a lot going on in the for posting on the AAPG Web site. Mallorca (see June EXPLORER). Now we European Region; our next step is to help We also agreed to the basic concept of are planning the first joint AAPG/AAPG energize the other Regions. In the end, a petroleum geoscience conference in European Region meeting in Athens in developing membership worldwide is all Tyumen, Russia, in the late spring or early November 2007. about providing products and services. DPA Will Not Go Quietly Complacency Can Be Very Costly

By RICHARD G. GREEN strangled the oil industry in the United attack by religious extremists who wish to DPA President States to the point of damaging national end teaching of the geologic time scale As a volunteer for AAPG and the Dallas sovereignty. This, coupled with the and theory of evolution and substitute Geological Society it has been clear to me extraordinary removal of public acreage creationist theology for science. that the “90/10” rule holds with geologists onshore and offshore from industry as with all other organizations and access, artificially decreased the * * * professions. That is, 90 percent of people domestic supply of energy. simply want to be left alone to do their We also saw litigation by environmental All these realities could cost you your jobs and 10 percent volunteer to get extremists that slowed or stopped drilling job, reduce your income or restrict your involved in professional societies, for oil and gas, refinery and power plant ability to find hydrocarbons. All of these mentoring, politics or other pursuits. construction, nuclear plants, some LNG attacks from both the extreme left and This is perfectly normal and the facilities and many pipelines. Surplus right rely on our apathy and the ignorance comfortable path for most. supply capacity was squandered in a means jobs, increased compensation and of our science in the media, government However, let’s recall some recent climate of regulatory excess and low ready customers for our skills and and public. history and what can happen if we choose commodity prices without consideration of products. Sadly, some members of our own to be inactive or complacent. the future these policies guaranteed. Most geologists are busy and under leadership do not wish to be controversial In the United States during the 1970s, The contraction in our industry pressure to produce. As a result, there is or cause us to receive criticism from a Windfall Profit Tax, tiered oil pricing, continued for 15 years, and the United more of an excuse to not volunteer or give anyone or anything. restrictions on natural gas usage and States lost experienced personnel, back to your profession. If we stand for our science and for our other misguided legislation were passed. enormous amounts of data and most Another reality is the petroleum industry, we will be criticized and we will The 1980s saw environmental laws undergraduate geology majors. industry is again seen as a revenue be controversial, because we stand for passed that discouraged development of Geologists and our sister professional source by government and an easy target something. If we do nothing, we stand for resources. These events created a societies chose to remain silent and non- by those politicians who would bait nothing and deserve our fate. bureaucratic maze that as a result closed controversial through it all. Americans using class warfare. Proposed Whether you agree with these opinions much of our mining, steel and refining If geologists had acted differently and legislation to heavily tax and punish your or not, I appeal to you as AAPG members industries, and many public and most more forcefully, we may not have changed industry has once again surfaced. and geologists who understand the earth private oil companies. any of this history. But the point is we did Enviro-extremists have launched a history and processes to get involved in Also, the U.S. administration colluded not act proactively or in an organized propaganda campaign concerning politics in the coming election cycle. for a low commodities price in a manner. climate change armed with junk science Inform yourself on broader issues such as successful attempt to bankrupt and championed by unscrupulous climate change, inform your neighbors communism. This cost over 20,000 * * * political hacks or misinformed believers. and friends about your science and domestic geology jobs and virtual The energy industry is often portrayed as volunteer at some level somewhere. collapse of an oil industry weakened by Today, one reality is high commodity evil, or “old technology,” and our scientists Part of our mission in DPA is to inform overtaxation and regulation. prices, little excess capacity, shortages of are lumped with those of the tobacco the public and public policy makers The 1990s saw continued passage materials, manpower and rigs and sharply industry by the public media and concerning our science. DPA will not go and expansion of regulations that slowly increasing demand. For geologists, this litigators. Our science is even under quietly this time. ❏

OCTOBER 2006 58

OCTOBER 2006 59

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