Issue 5

This issue explores the many aspects of paleogeographic maps and reconstructions, amongst key contributions from Coastline Exploration, RFD and Moveout Data. Our foldouts have a focus on Africa, and we are very happy to be able to announce our first geothermal foldout as well!

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Columns

3 – Editors page

5 – A minute to read

12 – Contents

14 – Regional update – Horn of Africa

16 – Striking Oil – Gulf of Suez

98 – Hot Spot – Indonesia

100 – GEO EXPRO Volume 20

101 – Faults and Fractures

102 – Nothing beats the field

104 – Vertical geology

Features

18 – The power of paleogeography

24 – Cameroon: Douala Kribi-Campo Basin – Seize the opportunity!

31 – Northwest Europe

38 – Somalia: The final frontier?

42 – Progress on the UKCS online National Data Repository

46 – Can we get more comfortable with uncertainty?

50 – Deepwater Niger Delta: Revealing the structural influence on reservoir channel deposition to highlight remaining prospectivity

54 – Portraits and Interviews – Keryn Tsimitakopoulos

61 – Geothermal energy

70 – A big beast makes a big point

75 – Subsurface storage

81 – Technology

85 – Deep sea minerals

92 – Geneva: Why 3D seismic is essential for effective geothermal exploration

Articles

The helium well that produces 93% CO₂

In the USA, 0.3% or 3,000 ppm helium in the gas stream is regarded as the cut-off for profitable onshore production. Yet, French company 45-8 Energy has identified a prospect Read More

Advancing Ocean Bottom Node surveys through autonomy

In hydrocarbon exploration, innovation is essential for improving efficiency and sustainability, particularly in node operations. By incorporating Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) and utilizing the latest machine learning advancements, ocean bottom Read More

A famous North Sea unconformity in outcrop

The most important gas fields in the Southern North Sea region are reservoired in Upper Permian Rotliegend aeolian and fluvial sandstones. Thousands of wells have been drilled to test this Read More

Environmentally responsible mining: Not so impossible

A key milestone was met in May this year. Impossible Metals demonstrated the capabilities of their autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Eureka 1. The successful test in shallow water has brought Read More

Heating a block of houses rather than a single one

Closed loop geothermal systems, with a heat pump superimposed, form a new and promising way of domestic heating systems. Hundreds of small rigs are actively drilling these loops across many Read More

Unlocking the Power of Data: Katalyst Data Management and Virtual Data Room Web Platform

The Katalyst advantage With over 25 years of expertise and the management of over 100 Petabytes of information, we are your trusted partner for streamlining your data management processes and Read More

A deeper oil-bearing reservoir in the Gulf of Suez

In August, Cheiron announced the discovery of a 165 feet oil column in pre-Miocene Nubia Formation sandstones in exploration well GNN-11. The well was drilled into a fault block to Read More

A can-do mentality required

“It’s funny, says Iain Brown, “I had been an avid reader of the magazine for years when I was asked to take over the editor position from Jane Whaley, but Read More

From near misses to commercial success

The Horn of Africa, comprising Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia holds many ancient geological trends including the failed Karoo and Jurassic and Cretaceous rifts that record the fragmentation of Gondwana Read More

Your digital search assistant

The tool allows you to talk to a digital assistant about a selection of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s publicly available status reports, well histories and news articles. You can ask Read More

Drilling twice as fast in basement rocks

John Gibb’s Aberdonian accent is noticeable even though he has spent many years in Houston. “I drilled many wells throughout my career”, he says, “including highly deviated development wells on Read More

Who’s Andy? And what did he know about faults?

Anderson’s theory classified faults based on the orientation and magnitude of the principle stresses. The magnitudes are defined by S1 (maximum stress), S2 (intermediate stress) and S3 (minimum stress). The Read More

Progress on the UKCS online National Data Repository

The need for good quality data is self-evident – oil and gas exploration continue, at least for the moment, wind farms must be securely, and economically sited, potential carbon and Read More

Japan eyes production from REE-rich muds

The unusual deposit was first discovered by Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) in 2013 and is located in an area off the Minami-Torishima Island (Marcus Island) in Read More

The Netflix of geoscience

“When I left BP in 2016, I didn’t know anything about virtual reality, but what I did know is that I wanted to do something with it”, says Claudia Ruiz-Graham Read More

Geneva: Why 3D seismic is essential for effective geothermal exploration

This timeslice below shows the top of the Cretaceous carbonate succession in the Geneva area. Observe the erosional channels, karst features and sinkholes, plus the major fault zones dissecting the Read More

Somalia: The final frontier?

At the outset of a project in the area, one has to ask “Why does offshore Somalia remain unexplored?” It is one of the last undrilled frontier basins in the Read More

The further from shore the more sand

Looking at this cross-section from the Norwegian Sea, showing Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene sediments, a surprising thing seems to happen. The amount of sand increases going westwards, away from the Read More

Middle East as an analogue

The Seram fold and thrust belt in Eastern Indonesia is an underexplored area. Yet, it shares many characteristics with fold and thrust belts with proven hydrocarbon potential in the Middle Read More

Major drilling campaign planned for the new mega-gas trend in Indonesia

Gas resources play a crucial role in future energy planning, as a transitional fuel and also a path to energy exports, vital to a burgeoning economy. While core areas such Read More

The source rock for Venus

Duncan Macgregor and his colleague Colin Reeves are working on a project that will result in the creation of a series of paleotectonic and paleogeographic maps of the African continent. Read More

Paleogeography and business

“The production of paleogeographic maps is an economically useful exercise for consultancy companies such as ours”, says Andy Horbury from Cambridge Carbonates. His company has been involved in constructing, editing, Read More

Is there an equivalent of the Orinoco heavy oil belt in Colombia?

Many geologists in Colombia, at some point during their career, had a pressing question in mind: “Is there an equivalent of the Orinoco Heavy Oil as present in Venezuela in Read More

An order of magnitude more energy for drilling twice as deep

“What attracted me to geothermal is the fact that there are still a host of technical challenges to be addressed in order to unlock it as the ideal complement to Read More

Can we get more comfortable with uncertainty?

Unfortunately, diligent and scientific handling of subsurface uncertainty is rarely undertaken. Hesitance to embrace uncertainty often derives from time, data and budget constraints, limited interdisciplinary understanding, accompanied by claims of Read More

Issue 5

Columns

Features

Articles

GXP Publishing

Editor in Chief

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