The Bolivian Altiplano
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VOL. 17, NO. 4 – 2020 GEOSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED geoexpro.com TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED GEO TOURISM Making Waves with Big The Bolivian Seismic Computing Altiplano EXPLORATION Chasing Plays Along the Rona Ridge SEISMIC INTERPRETATION Cinder Cone or Mud Volcano or …? INDUSTRY ISSUES No Longer a Dream GEOExPro September 2020 1 Previous issues: www.geoexpro.com Contents Vol. 17 No. 4 This edition of GEO ExPro focuses on Europe GEOSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED and Latin America; Developments in Geophysics; and Using the Cloud. 20 5 Editorial Digital twins: expensive – but worth the investment. 6 Regional Update: Latin America Leads the Way 8 Licensing Update: Somalia Elnur Amikishiyev /123RF 10 A Minute to Read 22 14 Cover Story: GEO Tourism: The Bolivian Intrigue and geopolitics surrounded early oil exploration in the northern Altiplano provinces of Iran. 20 Technology Explained: A Bridge Between Two Worlds 22 History of Oil: The Khoshtaria Alamy Concessions Alfredo Guzmán 42 28 Seismic Foldout: Artificial Intelligence – Alfredo Guzmán has been an Revolutionizing our Understanding untiring advocate for Mexico’s oil and gas industry and its people. 34 Seismic Interpretation: Cinder Cone or Mud Volcano 38 Technology Explained: Making Waves with Big Seismic Computing 52 42 GEO Profile: Alfredo Guzmán – Making Pitfalls in facies prediction can be a Case for Mexico prevented by applying petrographic and sedimentological knowledge through legacy well cuttings and 46 Recent Advances in Technology: From cores. Arrhenius to CO2 Storage – Part IX Core Lab 52 tion: Pitfall Petrofacies Explora CGG 56 Hot Spot: The Nile Delta 68 The West of Shetland area 58 Seismic Foldout: Offshore Argentina – potentially offers excellent Tertiary Play Potential in the Malvinas potential for significant new finds on the UKCS. Basin 64 Industry Issues: No Longer a Dream 68 Exploration: Chasing Plays Along the 38 Rona Ridge 68 74 28 72 GEO Media: Celebrating Ramsay’s Rock Folds and Fractures 56 22 74 42 13 12 74 Exploration Update 75 6 8 34 76 Q&A: Taking Ownership of Your Career 14 12 11 78 FlowBack: Changing the Traffic 74 58 GEOExPro September 2020 3 Editorial Breaking Barriers GEOSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED An industry at the forefront of www.geoexpro.com technology such as ours must always be breaking barriers. In this edition GeoPublishing Ltd of GEO ExPro you can read a number 15 Palace Place Mansion of examples of innovations and Kensington Court David Mark from Pixabay London W8 5BB, UK technological breakthroughs in the oil +44 20 7937 2224 and gas industry. One of the focuses of this issue is Managing Director ‘Using the Cloud’, a topic which by Tore Karlsson defi nition is about breaking barriers; Editor in Chief moving into the theoretical ether and Jane Whaley fi nding ever more uses for communal [email protected] space and shared software, all Editorial enquiries driven by artifi cial intelligence and GeoPublishing machine learning. Although some in Jane Whaley the industry consider that we were slow to adopt the digital transition, we now seem to have +44 7812 137161 well and truly jumped onto that fast-moving super-highway and are beginning to open up to [email protected] the possibilities off ered through such things as digital twins, undertaking pre-stack analysis www.geoexpro.com on large multiclient 3D datasets, and accessing the vast quantity of data available to enable Sales and Marketing Director accurate real-time monitoring; all topics discussed within these pages. Kirsti Karlsson Less obvious innovations have also been occurring in the industry, particularly in the realms +44 79 0991 5513 of communication. I have now participated in a number of virtual seminars, conferences and [email protected] webinars and found them interesting experiences. Having no real idea as to how many people are out there listening is daunting for a presenter, but at the same time, not having to make eye contact with the audience is strangely liberating. As an attendee, it is good to be able to dip in and out of talks as interest and other commitments dictate, and particularly useful to Subscription be able to listen to a presentation or discussion at a time which suits you, from the comfort GeoPublishing Ltd of an armchair. One of the major advantages of the online conference is that because there +44 20 7937 2224 are no traveling costs, they are accessible to many more people than 15 Palace Place Mansion usual and from a wider range of countries, so the educational aspects are Kensington Court London W8 5BB, UK being spread much more widely than usual. Of course, the all-important [email protected] networking part of a meeting is missing, although there have been some very valiant eff orts to simulate that aspect of a conference online. GEO ExPro is pub lished bimonthly In this issue we bring you another fi rst: an article that captures for a base subscrip tion rate of GBP 60 a year (6 issues). a fascinating social media discussion on a seismic interpretation We encourage readers to alert us conundrum, which collates and discusses comments made by people to news for possible publication Jane Whaley from across the globe with a range of backgrounds and experience. A and to submit articles for publication. Editor in Chief fi ne example of geoscience being both analytical and innovative. Cover Photograph: Main Image: Olivier Galland and Caroline Sassier Inset: Sharp Refl ections THE BOLIVIAN ALTIPLANO Layout: Mach 3 Solutions Ltd Print: Stephens & George, UK The glories of geology in the pristine but challenging environment of the Altiplano vast plateau in the middle of Bolivia can set the heart racing, issn 1744-8743 as one gazes at the wonders of nature in complete and utter silence. A meditative experience. Inset: A ground-breaking project to develop interactive software capable of quickly visualizing and processing pre-stack seismic data is the result of crowdfunding and R&D tax incentives. © 2020 GeoPublishing Limited. Copyright or similar rights in all material in this publication, including graphics and other media, is owned by GeoPublishing Limited, unless otherwise stated. You are allowed to print extracts for your personal use only. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photographic, recorded or otherwise without the prior written permission of GeoPublishing Limited. Requests to republish material from this publication for distribution should be sent to the Editor in Chief. GeoPublishing Limited does not guarantee the accuracy of the information contained in this publication nor does it accept responsibility for errors or omissions or their consequences. Opinions expressed by contributors to this publication are not necessarily those of GeoPublishing Limited. GEOExPro September 2020 5 Regional Update Latin America Leads the Way ABBREVIATIONS South America’s upcoming fl oater projects could help sustain yards. While the rest of the global oil industry copes with the consequences of the Covid-19 Numbers crisis, South America seems to be pulling through with announcements of major fl oating (US and scientifi c community) 3 production, storage and offl oading (FPSO) projects to be tendered. Th ese projects should M: thousand = 1 x 10 MM: million = 1 x 106 bring much-needed orders to fabrication yards that are struggling to keep their doors open. B: billion = 1 x 109 Approximately 40% of off shore deepwater and ultra-deepwater contracts to be signed in the T: trillion = 1 x 1012 next fi ve years come from FPSO developments, driven by Brazil and Guyana, thanks to lower breakeven prices, thus promising major deals in the fabrication and subsea sectors. Fabrication jobs for fl oaters destined for Latin America have become a signifi cant source of Liquids revenue for many yards, both local and international. Last year was remarkable as fi ve out of barrel = bbl = 159 litre nine global projects came from this continent. Winning contractors including Modec, SBM boe: barrels of oil equivalent Off shore and Yinson have carried these prizes across the globe, off ering jobs to yards in Asia. bopd: barrels (bbls) of oil per day Th e projects awarded last year have resulted in $2.3 billion in construction and installation bcpd: bbls of condensate per day bwpd: bbls of water per day contracts, $2.6 billion in equipment contracts and $4.9 billion in contracts for subsea equipment, umbilicals, risers and fl owlines. Th e industry’s high expectations for 2020 were dashed by the double shock of faltering Gas prices and demand, which has pushed many projects into the future. Major Latin American MMscfg: million ft3 gas projects, including Equinor’s Bacalhau and Petrobras’s Mero in Brazil and ExxonMobil’s MMscmg: million m3 gas Payara in Guyana have been postponed, leaving few orders to compete over. Contractors have Tcfg: trillion cubic feet of gas also been pressured to cut prices on ongoing contracts, adding to the challenges brought on by the dearth of new contracts. Ma: Million years ago Bouncing Back Such a low level of LNG activity was also Liquifi ed Natural Gas (LNG) is natural seen in 2016, when gas (primarily methane) cooled to a no new fl oater- temperature of approximately -260 oC. related contracts were awarded. However, the NGL market was quick Natural gas liquids (NGL) include propane, butane, pentane, hexane to bounce back and heptane, but not methane and with 12 new awards ethane. over the next three years. History Source: Rystad Energy ServiceCube, July 2020 should repeat itself Off shore deepwater and ultra-deepwater contract awards between 2021 and 2025. Reserves and resources as another 12 new P1 reserves: awards are now lined up in just the next two years, representing close to $8.8 billion in construction, Quantity of hydrocarbons believed installation and equipment contracts and $8.5 billion in subsea contracts.