Data fabric architecture – the solution to explore better?
Geologists like visuals. That is why Puneet Saraswat and his colleagues from Querent AI are a step ahead already, because they create visuals, out of large collections of reports. They Read More
3 million versus 100 k
Once large-scale CO2 injection projects will hopefully ramp up, monitoring injection will be an essential part of the workflow. And because the carbon storage business will never be a commercial Read More
A shallow gas find sealed by gas hydrates
When I was a PhD student, 20 years ago, a seasoned geologist told me that the energy transition was not so much a transition, but a shift towards tapping into Read More
The exposed Interior Seaway – Just layer cake geology?
If anything, long and continuous outcrops often suggest that geology is much more varied in a vertical than in a horizontal direction. This beautiful photo from the Bisti Badlands in Read More
A seismic facies library
Seismic facies classification can be a tedious process, especially in an exploration context where large areas need to be assessed. In order to speed up that process, using a library Read More
Oil does not care about boundaries
In the early decades of oil exploration and production, from the 1860s to the early 1900s, the concept of an oil field having clear boundaries was not given much thought. Read More
Joining the race
When looking at activities when it comes to the development of deep-sea mining technology and the licensing aspects of it, it is easy to be drawn to the news around Read More
A critical look at Fervo dataset suggests lower output
In July 2023, Fervo made public a pre-print containing plots and analyses of a well test in Nevada related to their project Red. This allows for a more detailed analysis Read More
The gamification of the oil and gas industry
“Imagine a world where labour is obsolete”, says Yu-kai Chou at the start of a TEDx Talk delivered for the University of Lausanne in Switzerland in 2014. “And I’m not Read More
Namibia – Looking at the factors that cause concern when it comes to developing the recent deep-water finds
“People don’t dream anymore”, said Marcio Mello when he started his talk about Namibia’s deep-water petroleum plays at the IMAGE conference in Houston in August 2024, referring to the dreaming Read More
New mineral discovery in the Norwegian Sea
Grøntua is the name of the new sulphide deposit that was found during a trip under the auspices of the Center for Deep Sea Research at the University of Bergen Read More
Static reservoir modelling to transition from POS to POM
Probability Of Success (POS) is the central concept for petroleum exploration. POS is used to predict dry well occurrence, risk an exploration portfolio of prospects and eventually decide what gets Read More
A major and not-on-trend discovery in Kuwait
Kuwait is not the first country one would associate with places ramping up efforts to discover more oil. At the end of the day, the small Gulf country is home Read More
Horsetail splays, wing cracks, and splay faults
These funny faults go by several names, but traditionally refer to the secondary faults and fractures that develop near the tips of a primary fault. Although these can occur on Read More
Let’s not play Russian roulette with our energy system
I am not a pessimist, and I don’t like using terms like “energy crisis”, but if we do not start to take our energy system seriously, many industries will leave Read More
Fairy circles
Companies exploring for natural hydrogen are rapidly popping up everywhere, but how do the geologists decide where to start prospecting? Many of them look at historical data from “dry” hydrocarbon Read More
The birth of a new play
This is a story of how subsurface data was used in the way it should be – to incrementally gain a better understanding of how a petroleum system works. And Read More
South Atlantic – a raging bonfire of memes
Namibia – Brazil: Where memes collide and where we go next From outdated to new memes: How recent discoveries in Namibia’s Orange Basin are shaping exploration strategies for Brazil’s Pelotas Read More
A 1 % error margin is not acceptable anymore
It is something that many geoscientists may not think about daily, but there is a whole community in the upstream oil and gas sector that is working to make sure Read More
A leak – but what next?
The E&E News website, part of Politico, recently published the news that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a violation notice to the operator of the Decatur CCS project Read More
Exploration geology – science or art?
Jan de JagerJan de Jager During my career in the oil industry, exploration geology has changed enormously. Not long after I joined Shell in February 1979, my son, who was Read More
Subsurface exploration by plane
Data, particularly information about subsurface geology, is key to successfully exploiting natural resources, be they mineral, hydrocarbon or renewables such as geothermal and natural hydrogen. Especially in Africa, where large Read More
A huff-and-puff reservoir
“I would not be in this business if we would not think we can produce competitively priced energy”, said Mike Eros from Sage Geosystems during his talk in the Geothermal Read More
Ivorian renaissance
The petroleum provinces of Cote d’Ivoire are amongst the hottest properties in the exploration sector at the moment. While oil and gas regulators and operators work hard to stimulate investment Read More
Bid rounds – is it time to consider another model?
Against a backdrop of civil unrest, political uncertainty and unattractive fiscal regimes, it is no surprise that there is limited interest from international investors to embark on an exploration adventure Read More
Never say no
“I was born disciplined”, says Aluka at the start of the interview. “With my parents both being academics, it was no surprise that I wanted to learn”, she continues, “but Read More
Côte d’Ivoire – The new West African exploration hotspot
A new regional framework for exploration offshore Côte d’Ivoire State-of-the-art re-imaging provides fresh insights into the prospectivity of the Tano Basin The Tano Basin along the Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana Read More
Dry helium well supplies the beverage industry
The USA is by far the world’s largest geological CO2 producer, extracted from a small number of high – CO2 reservoirs. The vast majority of this CO2, 97 %, is Read More
Helium One’s bumpy road to success
First of all, the rig. During the initial exploration campaign that started in 2021, Helium One used a slimline mining rig. This is probably a contributing factor to a range Read More
Canada – and the workhorse behind its continued rise in oil production
With Equinor breaking the news last month that its Sitka prospect only contained non-commercial amounts of oil, another disappointing drilling result hit the exploration community in Canada. Sitka was supposed Read More
Gravel and geothermal energy
It is well-known that Munich is benefiting from a favourable setting in terms of deep geothermal energy production. A little less well-known is that Munich also sits on a much Read More
Does Denmark really want onshore CO2 storage?
Less than a year ago, we published an article about what was supposed to be Europe’s first full-scale and commercial onshore CO2 storage project, aimed to be operational next year. Read More
Has Norway’s drive to find more gas in the Barents Sea paid off yet?
Fuelled by the gas crisis that unfolded in Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Norwegians voiced hopes that the Barents Sea was the place where additional gas resources were Read More
The new kids on the geosteering block
For some people, the pandemic came at the right time. That certainly applies to wellsite geologists Amin, Ammar and Rafi representing BITCAP, a new start-up that released its first commercial Read More