Ripples and plane beds
The Cutoff Formation, currently exposed in the Guadalupe Mountains in Texas, USA, was deposited over a drowned shelf margin in Permian times. The name of the formation is derived from…
North America
Why the pandemic might have left bp drilling a dry well in Canada
“We had a very limited time window to operate in, in fact, it was too short to acquire 3D seismic data,” says consultant geologist Peter Mikkelsen from Navitas Petroleum. Navitas…
A helium reservoir in fractured basement
In 2011, a borehole targeting nickel unexpectedly discovered gas. The gas flowed from the hole with such force that it reportedly ‘screamed like a jet engine’ for four days until…
Back on the shelf
As TotalEnergies is moving ahead developing its deep-water discoveries in Block 58 in Suriname waters, there is a drive to discover more resources nearby. And rather than focusing on deep…
Why preserving a detailed facies reservoir model has everything to do with your graphics card
“Imagine a bulldozer,” says Vasilii Shelkov, CEO of Rock Flow Dynamics, from his office in Houston. “That is how you need to envisage the power delivery of the Central Processing…
“Almost every foot of rock has oil in it”
For those people who don’t work in the US onshore oil sector, names such as the Permian and the Appalachian may still sound familiar, as it is these basins that…
The greater Caribbean Basin synthesis: Exploring the bigger picture using modern reprocessed data
Understanding the Caribbean – discoveries confirmed, potential growing The Caribbean has a long-standing history of hydrocarbon exploration, with most activity occuring within the region of Trinidad. Here, numerous gas fields…
A new seabed minerals frontier emerges
American Samoa is emerging as a new potential frontier for seabed minerals, joining global players like Japan, India, and Norway in the race to commence seafloor mineral extraction. In April,…
The bit boy has gone
The Canadian oil sector has changed dramatically in a matter of 20 years. Back in the early 2000’s, vertical drilling was very much common good, but these days, you would…
HyTerra hits hydrogen – but will it be like a soda going flat?
Natural hydrogen exploration is currently a hot topic, but few companies have advanced from initial exploration to the drilling stage. HyTerra is one notable exception. This week, the company drilled…
The hottest play in Canada
At the IMAGE Conference in August 2024, I met some wellsite geologists from Calgary. They were the first to tell me about the Clearwater Formation and that drilling has been…
Sockeye – The discovery that was supposed to be made last year
“The Guyana of Alaska’s North Slope.” Bill Armstrong, CEO of the exploration company that carries his own name, has been quite bullish about the potential of the Brookian delta-top play…