Vol. 13

Issue 3

This edition of GEO ExPro magazine focuses on North America, and unconventional exploration and technologies.

Columns

5 Editorial

6 Market Update

8 Regional Update

10 A Minute to Read

64 Exploration Update

66 GEO Media: 300 Years of Geotourism

68 Q&A: Do We Need CCS?

70 Global Resource Management

Features

14 Cover Story: GEO Tourism – Spectacular Swartberg

18 Technology Explained: Cleaner Future for Heavy Oil Extraction

22 Reservoir Management: Predicting Reservoir Properties

24 Recent Advances in Technology: Supercomputers 4 – Quantum Computers

28 Seismic Foldout: Beyond the Puffin – The Vulcan Sub-Basin

34 Unconventional Exploration: A World of Opportunity?

38 Giant Fields: East Baghdad

42 Exploration: The East Shetland Platform and Mid North Sea High

46 Industry Issues: A Holistic Approach

50 Seismic Foldout: The Gambia – the Next Major Oil Play?

56 Industry Issues: On Shaky Ground – Induced Earthquakes

60 History of Oil: GoM – Beyond Sight of Land

Articles

Beyond the Puffin

Applying Modern Processing Workflows in the Vulcan Sub-Basin. A deghosted pre-stack depth migration processing workflow has resulted in significant enhancement to the data at Puffin Formation level, as well as Read More

Spectacular Swartberg

The Swartberg Mountains in the Western Cape province of South Africa are considered to be one of the finest exposed fold mountain chains in the world. Two dramatic passes afford Read More

Do we need CCS?

Professor Jon Gluyas explains the concept and importance of carbon capture and storage. Dr. Jon Gluyas is Professor in CCS and Geo-Energy at the University of Durham, UK. He explains Read More

Industry Technology for Research

British Antarctic Survey recently purchased two drones to be deployed at its science research station in Antarctica. The aim is to use the drones to make measurements that are not Read More

Predicting Reservoir Properties

Reservoir lithology and fluid properties can be characterized using seismic, CSEM and rock physics. Surface measurements such as seismic and controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) data are commonly used to estimate Read More

A World of Opportunity?

Regional screening for unconventional resources: geological techniques to locate new opportunities. The success of shale gas and shale oil exploitation in North America in plays such as the Bakken, Eagle Read More

EUR Per Well Heading Upwards

Well performance in North American shales has improved significantly. The United States and Canada have been driving global shale production. Out of the 15.6 MMboepd produced from shale last year, Read More

On Shaky Ground Induced Earthquakes

Over the last decade, certain oil and gas producing areas have come alive, experiencing an escalating number of felt earthquakes, some even large enough to cause property damage. Most people Read More

A Bumpy Road Ahead

The collapse of oil freeze talks reduces the chance of a change in OPEC’s market share strategy. Talks in Doha in April aimed at reaching the first extended production accord Read More

Exploration Update – Tanzania

Tanzania: Largest Onshore Discovery Although originally discovered in April 2015, recent investigations of the Mambakofi 1 gas discovery in the onshore Ruvu Basin in Tanzania have shown it to be Read More

An Optimistic View

There are several good reasons to believe in a higher oil price than the current less than US$50 a barrel. The Norwegian continental shelf is still a world-class petroleum province. Read More

Taking a Holistic Approach

Low oil prices are triggering much-needed change through a holistic approach. Change in the oil and gas industry often comes slowly. However, as months of low oil price turn into Read More

Beyond Sight of Land

Oil exploration moved from the land to the sea only a few years after Titusville. Here we take a look at how offshore oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico Read More

Exploration Update – UK

UK: Onshore discovery Successful onshore UK wells are relatively rare, so the Horse Hill discovery, located in onshore UK block PEDL 246 in the Weald Basin, about 50 km south Read More

A Cleaner Future for Heavy Oil Extraction

Climate change has raised questions about the future of carbon-intensive industries, including the development of unconventional oil reserves. But emerging technology from Canada is proving that heavy oil extraction can Read More

Exploration Update – Angola

Angola: Pre-Salt Discovery In the most significant non-Mauritania/Senegal well this year, and in fact the only West African discovery outside that area, Cobalt have announced a further pre-salt discovery on Read More

The History of Geotourism

Appreciating Physical Landscapes: Three Hundred Years of Geotourism, edited by T. A. Hose. Geological Society, London. Having, with pleasure, both read and written many geotourism articles for the pages of Read More