Falling Brent.
Is the oil super-cycle finally on its downward turn? It seems counter-intuitive but are predictions of Brent at $85 credible? And what are the implications for the industry? GUEST EDITOR…
Worldwide
Into His Mind: Wegener’s Jigsaw
Author Clare Dudman uses diaries, letters and published papers to create a novel that takes the reader into the thoughts and life of the revolutionary German scientist, Alfred Wegener. Dr.…
Broadband Seismic Technology and Beyond
PART VIII: BroadSeis in Exploration. Following on from Part VII we look at how this new technique can be effective in the search for oil as we consider its uses…
Fracture, Fracture Everywhere – Part II
How and why do fractures occur in rocks? Fractures including joints and faults are commonly found in rocks and are important fluid pathways – hence their significance for petroleum, groundwater,…
3D Seismic Data and Geohazard Analysis
The last few years have seen a growing focus on shallow hazard analysis and, in particular, the structural and stratigraphic interpretation of 3D seismic data to identify and delineate such…
A Disturbing World
We live in troubling times. After the hope of the 2010 ‘Arab Spring’ in Tunisia, we have witnessed the toppling of Ghaddafi in Libya, the overthrow of two governments in…
The predictive power of palynology
In a major turnaround for a profession that fell out of favour in the 1980s, a number of palynology consultancies are growing rapidly and struggling to meet the demand for…
The Seismic Interpreter
Geophysicist Alice Little uses her geological knowledge and training as a seismic interpreter with Aker Solutions. Although ‘geophysicist’ is a broad term covering many specialist areas of research and work, what…
Polarising Pyrite
Norwegian company ORG Geophysical aims to find previously hidden hydrocarbon reservoirs by detecting shallow pyrite bodies using Induced Polarisation. In the second decade of the twenty-first century, competition for exploration targets is…
Fracture, Fracture Everywhere – Part I
Rock fractures are ubiquitous because rocks in the Earth’s upper crustal levels are brittle. However, the fractures show considerable variations due to their origin, geometry and rock properties. Given the…
Communication
In my previous ‘Editor’s Patch’ on communicating the science and technology of our industry I concentrated on ‘What’ and ‘Why’ we should be communicating. I want to now take a…
The petrophysicist
The petrophysicist plans, interprets and analyses data from wells and ensures the output is in the most useful format for the recipient. This might mean planning a logging suite, requesting…