Issue 6

This issue is about synclines. At least, that’s what a few articles have in common, one of which is the cover story. Oil and gas has long been found in synclines, and thanks to the concept of stratigraphic trapping and increased seismic resolution, it is now possible to look for hydrocarbons more extensively in areas outside the classic four-way closures. That’s what seems to happen in Kuwait at the moment, where recent discoveries in the offshore seem to have sparked interest in an area that was traditionally seen as less attractive compared to the structural culminations where most oil and gas fields were found. The same is happening in Uzbekistan, where a deep well is currently being drilled targeting a synclinal structure. And finally, the Jafurah unconventional gas project in Saudi Arabia is the climax of all this, with a reported 10,000 wells drilled into the source rock of the Ghawar field. In other words, please digest this magazine, and experience the breadth of topics covered.

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Columns

FIRSTS

8 – Subsurface noise

10 – Energy matters – by Rodney Garrard

11 – Regional update – by Ian Cross

12 – Striking gas – KOC continues its exploration success in what could be described as a syncline

INSIGHTS

90 – A Geologist Ruins Everything – The absurdity of security… or… comfortable being uncomfortable – by Juan Cottier

91 – Reservoir models – Producing more by producing less

92 – HotSpot – Offshore Otway Basin drilling campaign – by NVentures

94 – Use your brines – When your oil reservoir turns out to be a lithium deposit – by István Nagy-Korodi

95 – Petroleum Systems – How structural setting and hydrocarbon phase are closely related – by Lukasz Krawczynski and Martin Neumaier

96 – What do air hockey and induced seismicity have in common? – by Molly Turko

98 – The Grand Canyon of the Middle East – by Joe Versfelt

100 – Vertical Geology – Going deeper for salt mining

Features

COVER STORY

14 – An unconventional unconventional gas project

EXPLORATION OPPORTUNITIES

20 – Sweetness and light in Oman’s Indian Ocean – Searcher

34 – Proper sampling of near-surface geologic complexity illuminates tight oil reservoirs in the Permian Basin – Stryde

50 – Cameroon: Unlocking potential and reigniting exploration – Viridien

84 – From cuttings to clarity: AI unlocking the Norwegian Continental Shelf – Earth Science Analytics and Rockwash Geodata

OIL & GAS

26 – When perforating below the Free Water level makes sense

27 – Drilling deeper for new resources in Uzbekistan

28 – Karabash – West Siberia’s new frontier? – by Dominic Lewenz

29 – Renaissance ramps up exploration activity in Nigeria

30 – Open for business, again

31 – Will Greenland be the next oil hotspot?

32 – Understanding the “Minimum Economic Field Size” concept and aggregating targets

32 – “The day I cut an 88 ft core of top seal”

FEATURES

40 – Looking for a low-risk infill well? You might want to consider areas of weak 4D response

41 – US Permian Basin – the largest injection experiment

45 – Predicting viscosity in an undrilled panel of a deep-water field in West Africa – by Thierry Rives, Yulia Kedzierski and Honggang Zhou, Totalenergies

48 – Escaping the relentless cycle of re-orgs

PORTRAITS

56 – When geology just happens, and you happen to be quite good at it, Zhiyong He

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

62 – Where the earth yawns – by Susan Fellows

63 – Denmark to embark on an innovative geothermal drilling project – by Louise Broen Larsen, Mads Sylvest Eegholm, Nikolaj Holmer Nissen, Camille Hanna And Kim Gunn Maver

64 – Layer cake geology and a lack of grid access

SUBSURFACE STORAGE

66 – Progress over perfection Equinor’s renewables – by Ronny Setså

67 – Being smart with data

68 – Are the problems around the Gorgon CO2 storage project proof that CCS does not work?

DEEP SEA MINERALS

70 – American Samoa offshore minerals planning advances – by Ronny Setså

71 – Deep-sea mud trial extraction to begin in 2026 – by Ronny Setså

72 – A greenprint for Norwegian sulphide exploration – by Ronny Setså

73 – A licence to operate – by Ingvild Ryggen Carstens

NEW GAS

76 – A “monumental deposit” or an attempt to revive coal-seam gas exploitation? – by Arnout Everts

77 – The Koloma enigma – by Mariël Reitsma

78 – France’s first stimulated natural hydrogen project – by Mariël Reitsma

TECHNOLOGY

80 – Finding big fields by detecting the smallest element

81 – It’s time to introduce chromostratigraphy

82 – From scattered campfires to integrated cities: The future of energy software – by Dan Austin

Articles

Where the earth yawns

I first visited Iceland a decade ago. Recently, I returned, courtesy of a European Geothermal Research project, hosted by Reykjavik Energy. We learned about heating and electricity production in Iceland, Read More

When your oil reservoir turns out to be a lithium deposit

As the global energy transition accelerates, the demand for critical raw materials (CRMs) is rising at an unprecedented pace. The list of elements essential for modern technologies – from lithium Read More

Are the problems around the Gorgon CO<sub>2</sub> storage project proof that CCS does not work?

“The world’s largest CCS project, the one that underpins CCS as a climate solution, as advocated by the oil and gas companies. But as the graph shows from the data Read More

It’s time to introduce chromostratigraphy

“Off-white, grey, quartz-rich, some occluded quartz and kaolinite.” Simon Molyneux cites the description of a cutting sample from a composite well log, which is thought to represent an interval of Read More

A “monumental deposit” or an attempt to revive coal-seam gas exploitation?

A discovery of hydrogen in Lorraine, France, made headlines in 2023. “Hydrogen deposit of staggering proportions” and “A gigantic hydrogen deposit in northeast France” were some of the quotes. With Read More

Proper sampling of near-surface geologic complexity illuminates tight oil reservoirs in the Permian Basin

Understanding sampling densities required to map the geology Why high-trace-density seismic surveys will be required to accurately image reservoirs in the world’s major hydrocarbon-producing provinces. A case study In some Read More

A loss of connection to our energy system

Three essential pillars of modern society are food, energy and access to clean water. The World Resources Institute refers to insecurity in these resources as a “Triple Threat”. The UN Read More

Escaping the relentless cycle of re-orgs

“The reactions were overwhelming,” Samuel says at the start of our conversation in October. He alludes to the LinkedIn post he made when he left his role at Shell in Read More

From scattered campfires to integrated cities: The future of energy software

For the last decade, the technology landscape of the energy industry has resembled a wilderness at night – vast, dark and punctuated by innovative points of light. Over time, these Read More

Denmark to embark on an innovative geothermal drilling project

Green Therma, in collaboration with Aalborg Forsyning (the local utility company), is currently preparing to drill a single well to deliver geothermal heat directly to Aalborg’s district heating network. While Read More

Offshore Otway Basin drilling campaign

The Otway Basin, offshore Victoria and Tasmania, is undergoing a significant drilling campaign, using the Transocean Equinox semi-submersible rig, aimed at bolstering Australia’s domestic gas supply. This initiative seeks to Read More

American Samoa offshore minerals planning advances

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has completed Area Identification offshore American Samoa, marking the first time US waters have reached this stage in the federal seabed minerals Read More

The Koloma Enigma

The company describes itself as a technology-enabled exploration firm that leverages industry expertise, proprietary data, specialised exploration tools, and advanced data analytics to facilitate large-scale natural hydrogen production. Backed by Read More

The global energy sector from a subsurface perspective