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Vol. 23

Issue 3

There is hype and there is reality. This issue of the magazine addresses the matter from a few different perspectives. First, there is the hype of E&P companies going big on exploration again. Press releases all over to demonstrate it. But when you talk to the analysts, who tend to take a detailed look at the real commitments over and above picking up a licence, there is not so much to report on yet. The reality is that companies are still operating very carefully, and that there is no such thing as a hopper of drilling programmes in place yet. Then there is the geothermal hype versus the geothermal reality. Eavor and Fervo both featured in the news in recent years with their respective closed-loop and EGS concepts, ready to conquer the world. But the reality has kicked in; Eavor has pulled operatorship from their flagship Geretsried project, whilst the limited data Fervo has shared on their Cape Station project look less rosy than they probably want to admit. The subsurface doesn’t do hypes.

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Columns

FIRSTS

8 – Subsurface noise

10 – Energy matters – by Rodney Garrard

11 – Regional update – by Ian Cross

12 – Striking oil – New oil in an old field

INSIGHTS

96 – The class of ’71… – by Juan Cottier

97 – Technology – The next step for National Data Repositories – by Dan Austin

98 – Geomechanics – Your fault stability analysis might be lying to you – by Fermin Fernandez-Ibanez

99 – Decommissioning – How decommissioning slowly becomes more of an integral part of the E&P cycle

100 – HotSpot– North Slope leasing, exploration, and development – by NVentures

101 – Use your brines – What else is hiding in your reservoir brine? – by István Nagy-Korodi

102 – Petroleum Systems –Why dual-phase systems demand a new assessment approach – by Lukasz Krawczynski and Martin Neumaier

103 – The rebellious proto-Riedel shear zones – by Molly Turko

104 – Nothing beats the field – Wadi Nukhul – a glimpse of the Red Sea-Gulf of Suez rift system – by Ian Sharp, Equinor

106 – Vertical Geology – Beyond turbidites: Core insights from the Rovuma Basin – by Corneliu Cosovanu

Features

COVER STORY

14 – Frontier exploration – Are we seeing a revival?

EXPLORATION OPPORTUNITIES

20 – A Cenomanian – Turonian source rock adventure in the Pelotas Basin – Searcher

36 – From image to insight: Why seismic data quality matters for CO₂ storage – Viridien

62 – AI-driven integration for deeper subsurface insights – Earth Science Analytics

90 – Halo oils, tight-rock saturation, and production allocation: What the North American playbook can and can’t tell the next set of unconventional basins – GeoMark

FROM THE INDUSTRY

44 –  Is your data NDR compliant? – Katalyst Data Management

50 – Before you decide to enter Venezuela… – U3Explore

56 – Hybrid terrain, unified technology – GT’s land‑nodal system for high‑quality transition zone seismic data acquisition – Geofizyka Toruń

60 – Moveout democratises data transformation – Moveout Data

OIL & GAS

26 – The increasing importance of DHI’s in the Rotliegend play of the Southern North Sea

27 – The Sinapa saga – by Neil Hodgson

28 – Oil-water contacts don’t exist

29 – Deepwater’s playbook for delivering growth – by Gordon Hardie

30 – The sediment waves of Sangomar

31 – Seismic reflections – lithological boundaries or timelines? – Saga

32 – The boon of Block 6 – by Rene Jonk and Henk Kombrink

33 – Why amplitude-supported prospects are not the silver bullet we are led to believe

34 – Geliga-1 – the gas discovery sourced by sandstones

FEATURES

42 – The basement tapes

46 – Spatial variation in charge risk along the Guyana-Suriname margin – by Kenneth Shipper, Paul Mann, Andrew Pepper

52 – Frontier volumes, near-field risk

58 – “Reservoir engineering was too boring for me”

PORTRAITS

68 – “Running a company is like having a long-term relationship – You have to give and take, but always carry on”, Vasilii Shelkov

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

74 – The low productivity of enhanced geothermal systems – by Elliot Yearsley

76 – Why high oil prices can also be a bad thing for the energy transition

SUBSURFACE STORAGE

78- Storing heat in basement rocks

79 – Exploring salt for hydrogen storage

80 – Many CCS projects will falter quietly without the promised benefits

DEEP SEA MINERALS

82 – Movement towards a mining moratorium

83 – Mic drop: Dropstones are, in fact, polymetallic nodules – by Ronny Setså

84 – Do we need seabed minerals?

NEW GAS

86 – Deep hydrogen in Lorraine: An appraisal well or a science project? – Arnout Everts

87 – Time to recycle party balloons

88 – Revival of South Africa’s first commercial Helium project

Articles

The Sinapa saga

As with any exploration story, this story be­gins with a map that hides a secret. Salt, tall as a mountain, buried clear white veils of fluid rock, and a target Read More

Exploring salt for hydrogen storage

Energy stock, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dutch state-owned company Gasunie, is working on a project called HyStock, which aims to facilitate underground hydrogen storage as a crucial element Read More

Movement towards a mining moratorium

Mining in international waters is a hotly debated topic. One of the discussion points is environmental concerns about the effect of mining on the unique and poorly understood abyssal plain Read More

Before you decide to enter Venezuela…

In recent months, several articles emphasising the historical, technical, and human aspects of the evolving “apertu­ra” in Venezuela have been published in the AAPG Explorer and GEO EXPRO. In the Read More

Storing heat in basement rocks

“Having a look at our lineament map,” says Jon Engström from the Geological Survey of Finland, “that is the first thing you need to do when you’re planning a subsurface Read More

Oil-water contacts don’t exist

Steve’s argument goes back to a challenge set by the London Petrophysical Society. They invited petrophysicists to derive a function describing how water saturation varies with depth. Most responses followed Read More

Is your data NDR compliant?

Good subsurface data has never been more valuable. From oil and gas exploration to carbon storage and offshore wind positioning, geological characterisation is essential, yet new data acquisition is becoming Read More

The rebellious proto-Riedel shear zones

Classic Riedel shears are the first subsidiary fractures that form prior to breakthrough of a master fault. They appear as low-angle (~15°) en echelon arrays oriented synthetically to the principal Read More

Ideas over barrels

When France launched the slogan «On n’a pas de pétrole, mais on a des idées» dur­ing the oil shock, it wasn’t clever copy – it was national reframing. Lacking domestic Read More

Time to recycle party balloons

A third of the world’s helium comes from Qatar, a lucrative by-product of natural gas production. Even though the North Field contains only 0.04 % helium, the vast volumes of Read More