The cream of the outcrop
This panorama shows an Upper Miocene succession, la Rambla de Lanujar, in the Betic Cordillera, featuring in one of our field trips to Tabernas, Almería, Spain. Apart from being a Read More
The geological record of a highly eruptive part of North Sea history
The Kveikje discovery in the Norwegian North Sea was proven with a play-opening well in 2022, discovering a significant hydrocarbon accumulation in shallow Eocene-aged remobilised sands and injectites. These strata Read More
The Low Earth Orbit satellites are coming
Until very recently, seismic acquisition companies only “saw” the data resulting from a marine survey when the vessel returned to shore. Of course, basic quality control of the data always Read More
USA looking to join the race
The Metals Company may be the first company – commercial or state-owned – in the world to start full-scale deepsea mining. That makes their quarterly and annual reports a well-worth Read More
Riedel shears as kinematic indicators
In the previous article in this series, we discussed that Riedel shears are commonly the first set of subsidiary faults we see prior to the breakthrough of a master fault. Read More
How the winner of a technology competition made room for the losers to take over the market
Sweden comes third in the list of countries using geothermal energy. But it is not deep geothermal energy, it is shallow geothermal – mostly sourced through closed loop systems of Read More
Exploring for gas – for the first time
“We have practically never looked for gas in the Barents Sea. All exploration wells have had oil as their target, and all discoveries of gas have been accidental”, said Dag Read More
There are plenty of positive indications for hydrocarbons in Zanzibar, including oil
Launched in March this year, the Zanzibar 1st Licensing Round offers a large frontier area with both oil and gas potential. There are 8 blocks available, named Block 1A to Read More
Returning exploration to Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is enduring the worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948. Its economy has been on a general downward trend since 2018, shrank by nearly 8 % in Read More
The rise of production geology
Before anything, let’s clear the water: Production geology is not a cross-over between the cinema industry and our good ol’ geology. Production geology refers to unravelling the geological intricacies in Read More
“A poor site that fails to meet the criteria for safe subsurface storage”
Onshore seismic is always more of a challenge to interpret than marine seismic data, and the seismic lines from the area around Cousland to the southeast of Edinburgh that Malcolm Read More
Shallow geothermal in Canada – A deep penetration in the geo-energy market
This is the last out of three articles in the shallow geothermal series. In previous articles, we discussed shallow geothermal drilling technology, the market, and the role of the subsurface Read More
Using seismic velocity to derisk oil exploration
In a recent GEO EXPRO article, we developed a field-based approach to identify natural gas prospects directly from seismic surveys. The gas fields are straight up. If the p-wave velocities Read More
Shallow geothermal in Australia – from “cold” Melbourne to “hot” Sydney
This is the second out of three articles in shallow geothermal series. In the first one, we focused our attention on Sweden, where 100% of geo-energy is produced by shallow Read More
How careful core description and detailed biostratigraphic analysis can delineate sub-seismic reservoir zones in a highly mud-prone system
This study was undertaken by PetroStrat in collaboration with Stratum AS (QEMSCAN), Barnwell Parker Geoscience Limited (seismic interpretation) and HM Research Associates (heavy mineral provenance analysis). Together, we have completed Read More
The East Med – still the game changer it was branded as?
The discoveries of the giant Tamar and Leviathan gas fields offshore Israel in 2009 and 2010 respectively were hailed as two of the largest finds of the decade. As such, Read More
Orpheus in the Mialara Sub-Basin
East of Eden: The Mialara basin, the Philippines’ last low-risk frontier for exploration greatness Arguably the first subterranean explorer to return from the untrodden lands below was the Argonaut Orpheus, Read More
Net energy matters
Whilst these sources have a supporting role to play in the energy system, the majority of energy sources for powering the world should be high density, low emissions, low land Read More
Shallow geothermal in Sweden – A deep penetration in the geo-energy market
The top three countries in terms of geothermal energy production are China, the US and Sweden. In total, these countries produced around 200 TWh in 2020. Of that figure, ground-source Read More
How the threat of military conflict created a successful helium storage project
Storing non-hydrocarbon gas in depleted oil and gas fields is a hot topic, whether it is permanent storage of CO2 or temporary storage of H2 produced by excess wind energy. Read More
New plays in Southern Santos Basin revealed by large-scale, high quality 3D multi-client seismic
Leveraging integrated workflows and fast track data for prospect evaluation during acquisition The Santos Sul 3D MC program is situated near to a cluster of postsalt fields, such as Tubarao, Read More
Getting increasingly complicated reservoirs to surface
“In a way, we have benefitted from the slowdown in drilling activity”, says Steve Rait from Reservoir Group when we meet at the company’s coring headquarters just north of Europe’s Read More
The first high-temperature aquifer thermal energy storage project in Europe
“We have a unique geothermal energy solution here”, says geologist Eva van der Voet from Ennatuurlijk Aardwarmte in Middenmeer, the Netherlands. “The complex of greenhouses we deliver energy to is Read More
Norwegian North Sea: Identifying details of Lower Cretaceous sand fairways on the Måløy Slope
Imaging uplift overcomes mapping challenges of Lower Cretaceous Agat Play Viridien’s re-imaged 3D seismic data set on the Måløy Slope brings a new understanding of the Agat sand fairway systems Read More
The gas blowout that continues to have an effect even after almost 60 years
The discovery of the Groningen gas field in 1959 led to a flurry of drilling activity in the Netherlands and surrounding countries in a quest for more gas. It is Read More
Basement plays rock in China
Over recent years, a number of significant oil and gas offshore discoveries and successful appraisal programmes have been reported in China, even though it is often unclear if the “discoveries” Read More
Heat flow as a basin model calibration? Not really
Many exploration geologists who work in data-lean basins or who do not have access to well data turn to published heat flow data as a calibration for basin models. More Read More
Natural gas, playing chicken on the energy transition road
“In the West, many people are of the impression that a radical shift from oil and gas (red meat) to a rapid and complete phase-out of hydrocarbons (vegan) is the Read More
Playing with seismic processing as a parameter during inversion
“I had the luck of seeing how the sausage was made”, says Bill Shea at the start of our conversation, “and it made me feel uncomfortable.” Bill is the CEO Read More
New GeoStreamer X multi-azimuth seismic dataset in the Norwegian Sea unlocks new prospectivity
GeoStreamer X innovative acquisition design and advanced processing Key to enhanced subsurface imaging The Norwegian Sea is renowned for its high-quality hydrocarbon reservoirs situated within complex geological settings. Tilted fault Read More