Following the Shale Gale
Reduced costs mean tight oil is now the second cheapest source of new oil volumes globally. A drill rig in the Fayetteville shale gas play, Arkansas. © Bill Cunningham, USGS.…
Worldwide
Oil Wealth and the Osage Murders
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, by American journalist David Grann Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth…
Artificial Intelligence and Seismic Interpretation
The key to all seismic interpretation is the interpreter’s experience and knowledge, so why should artificial intelligence change that? The reality is, it shouldn’t. Figure 1: Exmouth Basin section with…
An Introduction to Geomechanics
Geomechanics is the study of how subsurface rocks deform or fail in response to changes of stress, pressure and temperature and it is becoming increasingly important in oil and gas…
A Minute to Read: Oil and Gas News from Around the World
Taken from GEO ExPro Vol. 16, No. 2: focusing on rejuvenating oil and gas exploration; machine learning and artificial intelligence; and geomechanics. Taken from GEO ExPro Vol. 16, No. 2…
A Balancing Act
Oil and gas majors must hedge their bets if they are to ride the energy transition conundrum. An industry in transition: exploring the options with more horsepower. If you happen…
The Future of Marine Seismic Acquisition
Some thoughts on the future of marine towed streamer seismic acquisition for offshore oil and gas exploration. Polarcus XArray™ Triple source acquisition. © Polarcus. Seismic acquisition and exploration technology have…
William Smith’s Fossils Reunited!
An exquisitely produced new book celebrates and completes William Smith’s seminal unfinished work “Strata Identified by Organized Fossils” – and demonstrates the extraordinary skill of early nineteenth-century engravers and map…
Virtual Drilling for Liquid Hydrocarbons
A novel seismic DHI technology using resonance and dispersion to indicate for liquid hydrocarbons is making inroads in the E&P industry, successfully identifying oil and predicting dry wells. Could this…
The Generation Z Factor
How can we attract the next generation into the oil and gas industry? © Olena Golubova/Dreamstime.com. In my early youth joining the oil and gas industry was very much a…
Assessing Geological Uncertainty: Counting the Costs
Are we getting better at assessing geological uncertainties that underpin our economic decisions? It is a common misconception that inherent subsurface geological complexity prevents us from accurately estimating key reservoir…
Geological Basin Classification
Basin classification based on tectonic settings provides a framework not only for understanding the genesis and evolution of petroleum basins and their sedimentary fill but also process-based analogs for the…