Upload
others
View
4
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 1
March 2008, Vol. 2 http://www.aapg.org/europe/newsletters/index.cfm
EDITORIAL BOARD
Hugo Matias, Editor Pedro Kress, Associate Editor Claudia Bertoni, Associate Editor Tiago Alves, Associate Editor AAPG European Region Council Istvan Berczi, President John Brooks, Past-President David Richard Cook, President-Elect To be elected, Vice-President Stuart Harker, European
Representative on the AAPG European Council
Vlastimila Dvorakova, Secretary/Treasurer
The AAPG European Region Newsletter is published quarterly by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists - European Region, Room 422, Royal School of Mines, Department of Earth Science & Engineering, South Kensington Campus, Imperial College, London, SW7 2AZ, Phone: +44 207 594 3283 The months of issue are March, June, September and December. Instructions to authors Editorial correspondence and material submitted for publication should be addressed to the Editor to [email protected]. All materials should be sent by the 15th of the month before issue publication. All submissions are subject to editorial review and revision. Subscriptions Subscription to this publication is included in the membership dues. Advertising pricing and size The Newsletter is printed digitally. Advertising is accepted on a space-available basis. Deadline for submitting material is 15th of the month before issue publication.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Dear Readers,
Spring, with the revival of the nature after winter, is the season of youth. Recently youth has been the subject of considerable attention by the petroleum industry in general and in the AAPG particular, with the continuing shortage of scientists and engineers in
the petroleum industry. In March, two events occurred that make it important to talk about this issue in the president’s message again.
Under the auspices of APPEX week in London (March 5‐7) representatives of the Council of the European Region, the President of the AAPG and top officials of the Tulsa HQ met representatives of the Youth Committee (YC) of the World Petroleum Council (WPC) together with the Director General and the Information Director of the same organisation. It has been agreed that the two organisations can complement each other’s activity since the YC represents young professionals while AAPG student chapters comprise university students not engaged in any industry entity. Additionally AAPG membership focuses on exploration and production while the WPC represents the complete vertically integrated industry. It has been agreed that participants will focus on two occasions to start collaboration through mobilizing their respective memberships and member organisations. The YC of WPC will invite representatives of the AAPG student chapters to contribute actively to the Youth Programme of the forthcoming 19th World Petroleum Congress in Madrid in June 2008. In turn the AAPG Student Chapters in Europe are going to encourage their members in organizing and attending the next milestone of this co‐operation, the European Youth Forum of the WPC due to take place in October 2009 in Strasbourg, France.
One week later (March 14‐15) the first ever European Qualification Round of the Imperial Barrel Award (IBA) took place in Prague, Czech Republic. The IBA is an AAPG brand and is a contest for integrated university teams to demonstrate their skill in interpreting and evaluating data covering exploration acreage provided by the AAPG’s IBA Contest Management. The teams are ranked on the basis of their performance in delivering their results in front of a panel of judges from companies that sponsored the
event. (You will find a detailed report in the next issue of the newsletter). This year a total of five universities competed in the presence of the heads of student chapters who were also invited to Prague. This provided an excellent opportunity for youth representatives and senior geoscientists to sit together after the competition and talk about their expectations and proposals for further collaboration. After an exchange of views lasting little more than an hour we left the room agreeing to the following steps:
• a face to face meeting is extremely efficient and important, even in the age of unlimited communication opportunities in cyber space.
• Student chapters will inform the President of the Region in a monthly report of the important events within and around their respective student chapter.
• To open the door to participation of more universities in the IBA, the AAPG European Region, in collaboration with HQ, will offer special courses for universities covering specific IBA contest‐related topics which are currently not represented in the curricula of the respective universities.
• The European Region is going to develop the occasion of the annual European Qualification Round of the IBA into an annual meeting of students and student chapters, providing a regular meeting (“recruitment fair”) bringing together students and recruitment officials of the companies.
• The student chapters are going to submit a proposal to the European Region comprising a list of recommended field trip conferences throughout the continent.
Thus we concluded very fruitful and effective meetings and discussions in March.
The implementation of these initiatives will need the support of all the membership, continued communication and last but not least a firm commitment to do our best for the revitalisation and growth of the Association.
I invite you to join in this important work.
István BÉRCZI
President 2007‐2009 AAPG European Region
TABLE OF CONTENTS President’s Message 1 Technology Highlights 2
3D TecLink 2 Exploration Country Focus 4
Russia 4 R&D Projects 6
South Viking Graben 6 Kaleidoscope Project 8
G&G Studies 11
Palaeovalleys in the Sahara 11 Conferences and Seminars 15 AAPG – ER News 18 Calendar 24 AAPG‐ER Structure 25
Advertisement Page Size
Actual size Front page cost
Random inside cost
Eighth 27.75 x 21.8 $50 $25 Quarter 55.5 x 43 $75 435 Half 111 x 87.5 Not applicable $75 Full 222 x 175 Not applicable $100
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 2
3D TecLink
A new Approach in Petroleum Systems Analysis to link Basin- and Structural Modeling Friedemann Baur and Thomas Fuchs
IES Integrated Exploration Systems (IES)
INTRODUCTION
Basin Modeling is widely used in the petroleum industry and governmental geological surveys for global hydrocarbon reserve assessments and for quantifying geoprocesses and related risks. But many of the world’s interesting exploration areas are characterized by structurally complex geological histories and are difficult to analyze. Up to now there has been no technique, which links Structural Modeling techniques with Basin Modeling in four dimensions (space and time) to allow for an adequate petroleum systems analysis.
This new technique is called “3D TecLink” and has been developed by IES® (Integrated Exploration Systems GmbH). The technique enables the customer to assess and analyze a 3D petroleum system through time, dominated by compressional geological settings by using the complete range of petroleum generation, migration and accumulation tools in IES software PetroMod®. PetroMod® 3D TecLink is an add‐on package to IES' PetroGen/PetroFlow 3D packages. Data can be loaded from all major commercial 3D structural modeling packages. METHODOLOGY
The 3D TecLink‐technique has been developed and for the first time applied while building a highly complex model for a pilot project located in the fold and thrust belts of the Sub Andean orogeny amidst the Sierras Subandinas, Bolivia. Prior to 3D, this unique technology had been put into practice and applied in a simplistic way to many locations worldwide in the context of 2D sections. The TecLink technology is capable to perform full PVT‐controlled, 3‐phase, n‐component petroleum migration simulations in any type of structural geological settings. The aim of this pilot project was to transfer the already existing 2D TecLink technology (realized within the PetroBuilder®, which is an add on for the 2D PetroGen/Flow packages of PetroMod®), to a 3D model. This is the first time at all that this technology has
been set to practice to perform an all‐comprehensive petroleum systems analysis in a 3D compressional geological setting.
SIERRAS SUBANDINAS, BOLIVIA
The general geology of the study area can be summarized as follows:
The present day foreland basin exists since the Early Miocene and is characterized by north‐northeast trending anticlines. Sedimentary sequences of up to 8 km have been deposited from Early Ordovician up to Late Pliocene. The compressional regime and thin‐skin tectonic occurred around 7 Mabpd. Well known type II to type III source rocks are the Middle Devonian Los Monos, the Early Devonian Icla and the Silurian Kirusillas Formation with faire TOC contents. Most important reservoir intervals are the fractured Early Devonian quartzites of Huampampa and the Late Devonian Iquiri Formation with good quality; potential reservoirs are the Santa Rosa, Ichoa and Machareti formations.
Used data to evolve this pilot study have been provided by Repsol YPF and comprise the present‐day geometry, 14 structural restored paleo‐sections as well as temperature, maturity and pressure calibration data along key‐wells. All available geometrical and geological data have been imported into PetroMod® to build the model (Figure 1).
The conventional simulation approach in basin modeling is to perform first back stripping to recalculate the initial depositional thicknesses of a layer by applying a decompaction rule. After decompaction a forward modeling simulation will be performed to calculate the entire temperature and pressure history. The present day geometry and the geophysical parameters of the assigned lithologies make up the most important input data set to perform a deterministic, forward‐modeling approach and to calculate the present day geometry.
TECHNOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS
Figure 1. Structural input data above and the corresponding PetroMod® input model below
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 3
In case of structural movements through time additional reconstructed paleo models are needed to understand the kinematics and its impact on the geometrical evolution of the basin. Therefore, the reconstructed paleo models act as additional input geometries for the forward‐simulation. During the period of time of normal sedimentation the forward simulation technique has not changed to a normal routine. But for the ages of defined paleo models/sections the compaction is not calculated any more because the thickness has already been predefined in the input. The only parameter, which needs to be calculated, is the vertical effective stress from which all other parameters can be derived.
Models, which undergo significant shortening, comprise multiple depth values for the same layer, due to thrust faults and its layer‐doubling effect. This causes problems during the simulation but can be avoided by subdividing the model and all paleo models into submodels (blocks), each of
which retain their structural integrity but are treated as one model for the simulator (Figure 2).
CONCLUSION
The focus of this study lay on temperature and pressure developments through time and the model results depict very well the observed distribution of these parameters. Vitrinite reflectance and temperature have been calibrated for all available data; pressure, permeability and porosity have been calibrated for all wells based on mud‐weight data and in situ measurements (Figure 3). The calculated distribution of hydrocarbon gets very close to the known present day distribution, but has not been calibrated yet.
Therefore, it can be said that parts of the Subandean Fold and Thrust Belt have been modeled successfully and for the first time with full pressure resolution in a basin modeling study.
Figure 2. Multiple depth values, sub‐models and a paleo‐model at the beginning of thrusting (from left to right).
Figure 3. Calculated transformation ratio, temperature and vitrinite reflectance for present day situation (from left to right).
PUBLISH WITH THE AAPG-ER Newsletter The AAPG‐ER Newsletter is the official publication for the AAPG European Region
members. We are interested in publishing short papers on recent developments in technology, new exploratory trends, promotion of research projects, conferences, courses and any subject focused in Europe that is of interest for the AAPG members. The Newsletter is received quarterly online or in print by all members.
For submittal information contact Hugo Matias ([email protected]).
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 4
Exploration Country Focus: Russia John Dolson
EMD Councilor, European Region, Exploration Advisor, TNK-BP, Moscow, Russia
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Russia’s can best be described as big: big reserves, big challenges, big country (Figure 1). It contains some of the largest and most prolific basins in the world (Figure 2). However, the distances are vast, with over 12 time zones and many stranded fields hundreds or even thousands of kilometers from infrastructure. Established reserves and yet to find estimates show the importance of this country to world energy supplies (Figure 3).
Russia has been exploring and developing oil fields since the late 1840’s and often dispute the claim that Drake’s 1859 well in Pennsylvania, was the world’s first oil well. Some records suggested the first well as was actually drilled 12 years earlier in Baku, Azerbaijan. Ironically, but importantly, the science of exploration developed largely independent of the west over the next century.
Hence, Russian geoscientists have a deservedly high regard for their science and historically not just a small amount of distrust of western specialists and technologies.
Following World War II, Russia went on a search for a secure energy future. Exploration teams were charged with finding oil, and it was reserves that mattered, not economics. Different development departments were challenged to bring the reserves online, many of which were in inhospitable arctic locations or thousands of miles from any infrastructure.
The finding rate (Figure 4) was astonishing. Standard rules for exploration required 4 wells on every structure: one crestal, two flank and one basinal to ensure nothing was left behind. With large simple structures to explore, a phenomenal success rate was established. By the late 1980’s, however, many large features had been found, but more importantly, all sources of funding and governmental structure collapsed. So the creaming curve flattened and has remained low today, with many companies focusing on infrastructure upgrades, restoring declining production and step‐out, low risk exploration.
STRANDED FIELDS
The Soviet system encouraged the development of highly specialized and separate organizations. Drilling departments, exploration, development and other groups did not interact and had separate goals and missions. Geophysicists worked in centers away from geologists, major research centers were established in multiple institutes and responsibilities carved up by area. Entire towns and Universities were created over large fields and it is not uncommon to find geologists today who come from a family with a 70 year or greater past of parents, grandparents, cousins and brothers and sisters all working in the same basin and for the same companies.
This inefficient structure of vertically organized disciplines and departments resulted in large numbers of discovered fields that have never been fully studied or brought online (Figure 5). Explorers did a great job of finding things, often in remote locations like East Siberia and often in unusual accumulations (like glacial pre‐Cambrian sediments sourced from pre‐Cambrian source rocks, also in East Siberia).
EXPLORATION COUNTRY FOCUS
Figure 1. Night satellite image showing location of Russian oil and gas reserves. Big is the word. Big oil. Big Country. Big Challenges (remote
Figure 2. Russia contains some of the physically largest basins in the world, including the giant West Siberian basin with 450+ BBOE reserves. Circle sizes are proportional to MMBOE reserves. Green circles indicate oil, orange condensate and red gas fields.
Figure 3. Estimated proven reserves and yet to find for Russia compared to
other major petroleum‐rich countries.
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 5
As a result, with the collapse of the soviet oil industry in 1989, many companies have focused their money on infrastructure development and bringing these stranded fields online. Thousands of shareholders were created in the early 1990’s as state companies were dissolved. Entrepreneurial investors quickly bought up shares from impoverished staff and grew truly giant companies from the remnants of the old system.
TNK‐BP, for instance, has over 60,000 employees assembled from over 600 smaller companies. Infrastructure problems in all companies are significant, with oil spills, leaks from pipelines, aging refineries, stranded accumulations and centralization of control of pipelines in state hands causing a focus on development and not exploration. Companies continue to consolidate into large groups and the state has clearly stated its desire to regain a strong control of its resources. Today, the state‐run behemoths of Rosneft and Gazprom have signifcant resources and political clout. Gazprom alone controls 17% of the world’s proven gas resources.
Anyone trying to work here successfully needs to learn one simple rule: respect your Russian peers. Despite what today are considered historically outdated exploration techniques, the simple fact remains that the Russian oil industry succeeded without help from the west. One of the ironies all technical people face is that past success using old methods will often lead to a sense of complacency. Older Russian oil‐finders in all companies, and particularly within the University system, have been incredibly successful finding oil. Westerner’s who ignore this do so at their peril, for the prevailing attitude is “I have found more oil and gas than you so why are you telling me to do it differently?” Or, as another friend of mine pointed out “they were asked to find oil and they did. They just weren’t asked to find it economically”.
Most of the expatriates I know in Russia who have failed and returned home disgruntled with the difficult work environment simply forgot to pay homage to the past, point out the future is more difficult and that today, making money is just as important as finding accumulations.
Figure 4. Russian post WWII exploration history. Success breeds complacency and a sense of 'why change?" The flattening of the creaming curve in 1989 is as much due to funding collapse as it is to difficult geology and lack of new 'running room'.
Figure 5. Over 270 TCF of gas alone is stranded in known discoveries in the West Siberian basin. Hundreds of smaller pools still await development or access to pipelines. Circle size varies by recoverable MMBOE.
Figure 6. Production by company. Over 150 small companies remain with production under 10,000 BOPD. Bringing stranded fields online and improving production in existing fields has largely consumed the Russian oil industry in the last decade.
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 6
Academia-Industry Collaboration Provides an Improved Understanding of Rift Basin
Development in the South Viking Graben, Offshore Norway 1Christopher Jackson, 2Eirik Larsen, 2Bruce Tocher, 1Karla Kane, 1Rachel Kieft and 1Gary Hampson
1Department of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Imperial College, Prince Conosrt Road, London, SW7 2BP, England, UK 2StatoilHydro ASA, Sandsliveien 90, Bergen, N5020, Norway
RATIONALE
The South Viking Graben (SVG) is a mature petroleum basin that still offers commercially significant exploration and field‐development opportunities. In addition to existing producing fields, there are several discoveries ready for development and numerous exploration targets within several diverse plays; as such, the SVG is a core commercial area for StatoilHydro ASA (Fig. 1). Currently, in the Greater Sleipner area, the majority of production comes from
Middle Jurassic and Palaeocene plays which are now reaching maturity. However, the Upper Jurassic syn‐rift play, amongst others, can be considered grossly under‐explored when compared to the UK side of the basin where several prolific fields are located (e.g. Brae, T‐Blocks). This reflects, in part, the difficulty in predicting reservoir distribution and quality within the syn‐rift interval in extensional basins such as the SVG. To meet this challenge, a multidisciplinary, geological study was initiated between Statoil ASA (now StatoilHydro ASA) and Imperial College in 2005.
ORGANIZATION
The funding of the project was unusual in that it was split 50:50 between the company’s exploration R&D programme and an exploration licence (PL303) which covers most of the area of interest. This method of funding ensured that the generic outcomes of the project could be appraised and disseminated by the research group, and that the applied aspects of the research could be rapidly utilised by the E&P group. The project was staffed at Imperial College by one Post‐Doctoral Research Associate (PDRA) who focused on the tectono‐stratigraphic development of the late syn‐rift, and a PhD student who focused on the tectono‐stratigraphic development of the early syn‐rift succession. Key staff members in Statoil were charged with establishing and maintaining close links with researchers at Imperial College. In addition, these staff members provided rapid access to essential data hosted by Statoil and were critical in disseminating the results of the project to other staff members in confidential, licence‐focused meetings. The collaborative project benefited from regular visits between the two groups, with the PDRA and PhD staff spending 4‐6 week blocks ‘embedded’ in the offices of the production unit The project used a wide variety of data types including regional 2D and 3D seismic, and numerous exploration and production boreholes which contain detailed biostratigraphic and core data. Critically, researchers had virtually unlimited access to all these data.
KEY RESULTS & FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
From a generic perspective, the research project indicated that the structural evolution of the South Viking Graben was complex and included the development of gravity‐driven normal fault arrays above a regional salt detachment, and sub‐salt basement‐involved faulting which led to pronounced forced folding (or fault‐propagation folding) in the cover stratigraphy. This structural development had a major impact on syn‐rift depositional patterns both within early syn‐rift shallow marine and late syn‐rift deep marine strata. In particular, major thickness and facies changes occur in both shallow (Fig. 2) and deep marine (Fig. 3) sandstones adjacent to both active normal faults and large, salt‐cored structural highs. From an applied perspective, research on the palaeogeographic evolution of the Middle Jurassic succession aided in reservoir prognosis prior to drilling of the Ermintrude prospect; this prospect was drilled and appraised during the middle part of 2007 and is estimated to contain ca. 75 MMBL. In addition, several exploration targets have been identified in the late syn‐rift interval.
This study demonstrates that an integrated multidisciplinary study between academia and industry can generate new opportunities in a mature basin that
R&D PROJECTS
Figure 1. Time‐structure map of the Base Cretaceous Unconformity (BCU) illustrating the general structural style of the South Viking Graben and the location of major hydrocarbon fields/discoveries.
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 7
has been explored for more than 30 years. In particular, geological predictions and risk evaluation have benefited greatly from this improved regional geological understanding. Key to the success of this project was the establishment of two clear aims at the study outset; (i) research results were to be business‐focused and have an impact on business decisions; and (ii) the results would also need to assist in improving Statoil’s general understanding of the tectono‐stratigraphic evolution of rift basins. Future projects utilising a similar funding model and with similar aims are currently being planned.
Corresponding author’s email: [email protected]
Figure 2. Correlation of Middle Jurassic strata within the study area illustrating the control of salt‐cored structural highs on the stratigraphic development of shallow marine reservoir sandstones.
Figure 3. (A) Time‐structure map of an intra‐Jurassic reflection event illustrating the structural style of a Late Jurassic rift‐related half‐graben. Deep‐water sediment input is inferred to be from the north. (B) Conceptual model for the deposition of deep‐water turbidite (reservoir) sandstones adjacent to a salt‐influenced fault‐propagation fold.
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 8
Kaleidoscope Project Francisco Ortigosa
REPSOL-YPF
RATIONALE
The sediments below the deep and ultra‐deep waters of the US Federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico shelter rich oil reserves, sometimes as much as 40,000 ft from the surface. Minerals Management Service (MMS), the federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the nation's oil, natural gas and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf in federal offshore waters, estimates that the Gulf of Mexico holds 37 billion barrels of "undiscovered, conventionally recoverable" oil.
These reserves are very difficult to find and reach due to thick layers of salt that preclude the imaging and visualization of the oil‐bearing sands underneath. The oil industry uses sophisticated technologies to locate and visualize these exploratory objectives. These technologies are computing intensive and the success to properly "see underneath" depends largely on the power of the supercomputers used. It is remarkable that public benchmarks show that the Cell/BE Processors perform the computation of algorithms central to seismic imaging, 40 times faster than leading brand processors used in today's supercomputers. That increase in computer power makes feasible the application of imaging technologies that until today have been considered as a utopia in the oil industry, allowing more reliable exploration.
The Kaleidoscope Project seeks exploitation of Cell/BE unparalleled properties for the creation of the next generation seismic imaging technologies specifically tailored to the Processor for the visualization of the earth interior and the adaptation of existing imaging technologies used in oil exploration by exploiting the Cell/BE Processor unparalleled properties. The output from the Kaleidoscope Project will be faster tools, by several orders of magnitude, more reliable software to visualize below the thick layers of salt present in the Gulf of Mexico and therefore reducing significantly the exploration risks and making accessible oil reserves that otherwise would be invisible to the industry.
The Kaleidoscope Project is a "dream team" partnership of top geophysicists, computer scientists and organizations from around the world has been created by Repsol YPF, a Spanish integrated oil company with important assets in the US Gulf of Mexico, 3DGeo, a leader Houston‐based imaging
company formed by Stanford University professor and seismic imaging pioneer, Biondo Biondi, and the Barcelona Supercomputer Center (BSC). The BSC hosts the MareNostrum, powered by IBM, the third largest computer of the in Europe. The Kaleidoscope Project has privileged access through the BSC to Cell/BE based systems and technology because the BSC is one of the few research centers in the world developing libraries and codes for such processors.
SOURCES OF VALUE IN SEISMIC IMAGING
The Earth's Interior can be decomposed everywhere in two elements. First, the geometry of all rock layers underneath the surface, called Structure, and, second the velocity distribution of these rocks. Such velocities refer to the speed of sound when transmitted trough a particular rock across the structure. That velocity is an intrinsic property to the nature of the rocks, and altogether constitutes the Velocity Field. Structure and Velocity Field are independent variables of the Earth's Interior that when combined give place to the Velocity Model of a given place on the Earth.
Subsurface Seismic Imaging consists on determining simultaneously the Structure and the Velocity Field somewhere on the Earth from a single seismic experiment.
Since there are two unknown variables, Structure and Velocity Field and a single experiment, the solution to the problem is indeterminate. The only way to solve it is by iterating from an initial Velocity Model that somehow has to be guessed before the process start.
There are three Sources of Value in Seismic Imaging: Velocity Model, Algorithms used in the iterations, and the Capacity of the computers used to iterate.
VELOCITY MODEL
Focusing seismic energy in Seismic Imaging is exactly the same process as focusing light in Optics. The Velocity Model in Seismic Imaging plays the
Figure 1. The MareNostrum supercomputer was installed in a former
cathedral. Courtesy of Barcelona Supercomputing Center.
Figure 2. Geological Repsol YPF model with SALT bodies (blue) and other
structures
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 9
same role of a lens. Repsol‐YPF strongly believes that the greatest value added during the Seismic Imaging process comes from the time spent "crafting the lens", i.e. building the Velocity Model. Moreover, as clearer subsalt images are provided by new algorithms, there is still the problem of spatially accurate images, resolvable only with a detailed velocity model.
To maximize the time for the data to be in the hands of the interpreters to build the Velocity Model, the computation time has to be minimized, therefore requiring a very fast computational solution.
Within Kaleidoscope, the Velocity Model Building process is improved with the development of tools that reduce the need for subjective and sometimes inconsistent human interaction, and at the same time, increasing turnaround for large, dense 3D seismic datasets. ALGORITHM
Algorithms are crucial for the quality of the final image. Seismic Imaging algorithms have been known even from the sixties, but they had not been coded due to the lack of adequate or affordable hardware. The affordability of the hardware is growing faster than the capacity to progress in the algorithm implementation and coding.
But because of lack of coordination between algorithm builders and hardware manufacturers, there is a real race, to provide with newer and faster algorithms and codes through taking shortcuts and compromises from the original algorithms. This competition is leading to a situation that somebody quoted as "algorithm pollution" referring to the amount of different flavors for the implementation of Seismic Imaging technologies.
The Kaleidoscope Project tackles this problem from a different perspective: Collaboration between algorithm coders (3DGeo, BSC) and hardware manufacturers (IBM). In doing so, there is a parallel simultaneous research in hardware and software. Therefore, there is no compromise in the imaging quality by making trade‐offs between algorithm accuracy and algorithm speed. The speed will come from the Cell/B.E. (*) processor, the I/O improvements and the tailoring of codes to the Cell/B.E. (*) processor.
The imaging algorithms being developed are grouped in three categories:
• Anisotropic One‐pass and Two‐pass Shot Profile Migration
• Plane‐Wave Migration & Migration in Tilted Coordinates (PWSPM)
• Anisotropic Reverse Time Migration (RTM)
CAPACITY
Every iteration of an average Seismic Imaging production processing
project requires 1020 floating point operations. That means that every iteration in an average 10 Tflops machine requires four months. On the other hand, such iteration would only require one and a half day in a peta‐scale machine.
The need for Capacity is obvious in Seismic Imaging. The amazing price‐performance ratio of Linux PC‐Clusters made Seismic Imaging Technology a reality. Wave Equation algorithms have been only widely available to the industry from around year 2003. The evolution of the algorithms, and the application to exploration in increasingly geologically complex areas is a consequence of the ever increasing performance of PC‐Clusters.
During the last five years, the need in computing power needed for seismic imaging in the oil industry has increased two orders of magnitude and the storage, and I/O needs, three orders of magnitude. At present time, and considering the new algorithms to come (Waveform Inversion, Plane Wave Reverse Time Migration,...) there is no indication that this rate will decrease.
Capacity evolution is predictable. By looking at the Top500 computers by year on a log‐log scale, it can be predicted than in three years peta‐scale capacity will be widely available.
The problem is not when to achieve the peta‐scale capacity widely available, but how to do it. It is clear that widely available peta‐scale capacity will require:
Figure 3. Sigsbee synthetic model
Figure 4. Two iterations of Wave Path Tomography (Sigsbee starting velocity model)
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 10
• A multielement(multicore) processor, given that CPU frequency has reached a limit. Any multielement processor will be difficult to program.
• This multielement processor must have very low power consumption to make peta‐scale capacity economically viable and technically feasible.
• Widely available peta‐scale capacity requires a very cheap processor. That implies mass production in figures larger than the current production for processors in the PC industry.
The Cell/BE processor met these three characteristics and in addition, testing on the processor evidences that the performance of present Cell/BE vs. present Superscalar Processors is superior in FFTs (up to 40 times), Stencil Computations (more than 15 times), with a power consumption reduction of 10 times. Migration software must give simultaneously the maximum performance and the maximum flexibility to simulate different scenarios. It is critical to exploit the different levels of parallelism with maximum efficiency. In Kaleidoscope we manage the following levels of parallelism:
• Grid level: All the shots in a migration algorithm could be process in parallel. The different computational nodes of a cluster could be used to run simultaneously different shots. This is the called Grid or Application level parallelism. We use the Grid‐SuperScalar programming model to exploit it. This level requires manage workflows with some data dependencies defined by input/output files. Moreover is critical to have a fault tolerance mechanism at this level due to the duration of a complete migration execution. The parallel efficiency of this level is 100%. The key issue at this level is the simplicity to express the workflows.
• Process level: Each individual shot requires some hardware resources.
If these resources are larger than the available resources in a single computational node of the cluster, the shot execution must be splited between some computational nodes using domain decomposition techniques. We use MPI programming model to exploit this level. The scalability of this level is limited by the use of Finite Differences as discretization technique. However, this is not a problem because the number of domains needed to have enough hardware resources is quite small. We always work with a parallel efficiency at this level greater than 90%. Moreover, at this level we must manage the IO needed by RTM. Using asynchronous IO and checkpointing capability we are able to minimize the IO time in a RTM execution.
• Thread level: In the present supercomputers, a single computational node use to be a shared memory multiprocessor. In order to use efficiently all the processors in a computational node we use the OpenMP programming model. This allows us to use all the memory in a single node for a single shot or for a domain from a single shot. The key issue is to manage properly the memory access in order to have a good thread load balancing and the minimum thread memory interferences. We have obtained a 94% parallel efficiency at this level using IBM JS21 blades as computational nodes.
• Processor level: Because migration algorithms use to be limited by memory bandwidth it is critical to minimize the cache miss ratio of the computational kernel. This is accomplished using blocking algorithms. Other important point at this level is to exploit vector capabilities of the processor.
PUBLICATIONS ‐ Technologies Improve Subsalt Imaging, Dimitri Bevc, Francisco
Ortigosa, Antoine Guitton, Bruno Kaelin and Moritz Fliedner. The American Oil & Gas Reporter, February 2008
‐ Modeling of wide‐azimuth towed‐streamer surveys with high performance computing, B. Kaelin, J. Higginbotham, C. A. Fernandez, F. Ortigosa, B. Fontecha & J. M. Cela, SEG International Exposition and 77th Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Sept 2007
‐ 3D Migration of a Simulated Wide‐Azimuth Towed Streamer Survey, A. Guitton, B. Kaelin & F. Ortigosa, SEG International Exposition and 77th Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Sept 2007
‐ Next Generation Seismic Imaging: High Fidelity Algorithms and High‐End Computing, Dimitri Bevc, Francisco Ortigosa, Antoine Guitton & Bruno Kaelin, AGU General Assembly, Mexico, May 2007
‐ Least‐Square Attenuation of Reverse‐Time‐Migration Artifacts, Antoine Guitton, Bruno Kaelin, Biondo Biondi, Geophysics, Vol. 72, N. 1, February 2007
‐ Imaging Condition For Reverse Time Migration, Bruno Kaelin, Antoine Guitton, SEG 2006 International Exposition and 76'th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Oct 2006
‐ Least‐Square Attenuation of Reverse‐Time Migration Artifacts, Antoine Guitton, Bruno Kaelin, Biondo Biondi, SEG 2006 International Exposition and 76'th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Oct 2006
‐ Robust Imaging Condition for Shot‐Profile Migration, Antoine Guitton, Alejandro Valenciano, Dimitri Bevc, SEG 2006 International Exposition and 76'th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Oct 2006
‐ Robust Illumination Compensation for Shot‐Profile Migration, Antoine Guitton, Alejandro Valenciano, Dimitri Bevc, EAGE 68th Conference & Exhibition, Vienna, Austria, June 2006
‐ Imaging methods in complex overburden, Antoine Guitton, Francisco Ortigosa, Bruno Kaelin, EAGE 69th Conference & Exhibition, London, UK, June 2007
‐ Illumination effects in reverse time migration, Bruno Kaelin, Antoine Guitton, Francisco Ortigosa, EAGE 69th Conference & Exhibition, London, UK, June 2007
Figure 5. (a) 3D velocity model, (b) Shot‐Profile Migration (SPM) of the modeled data with 4,047 shot gathers and limited cross‐line apertura. AGC has been applied to the image
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 11
Late Ordovician Palaeovalleys in the Sahara Neil McDougall1, Hussein Abdallah1 and Khaeri Tawengi2
1Repsol Exploración, Madrid, Spain 2Repsol Exploración Murzuq, Tripoli, Libya
INTRODUCTION
An Upper Ordovician glacial episode is widely recognised as a significant event in the geological history of the Lower Palaeozoic. This is especially so in the case of the Saharan Platform where late Ordovician sediments are well‐developed and have become a major target for hydrocarbon exploration in both Libya and Algeria (Figure 1).
Fieldwork in outcrops across both SW Libya and Algeria (Figure 1), together with well log analysis, has confirmed the existence of a generally similar succession of Hirnantian age across the area, known in Libya as the Melaz Shugran and Mamuniyat Formations and in Algeria, as the Tamadjert Formation or Unit IV. As a whole this package records a succession of glacial advances and retreats, assigned to several depositional sequences. Each of these is associated with major erosion surfaces defining a complex series of nested palaeovalley features ranging in scale from a few hundred metres to kilometres in width (Figures 2 & 3). Facies changes, both vertical and lateral, are often rapid resulting in a complex of glacially‐influenced fluvio‐marine reservoirs and potential intraformational seals. The whole succession is terminated by a major post‐glacial flooding event during which graptolitic shales were deposited across the region to form a seal and, locally, organic‐rich source rocks.
Both outcrop and subsurface data (Figure 2) reveal fairly irregular palaeotopographic depressions, often, but not always, associated with normal faulted margins, some of which show evidence of early inversion generating important structural traps (Figure 2). Locally, in SW Libya, it is also important to note the existence of a secondary play associated with the palaeovalley interfluves or palaeohighs composed of the older Middle Ordovician Hawaz Formation (Figures 2 & 6). However, for clarity, this play has been excluded from the current discussion. STRATIGRAPHIC FRAMEWORK
The topmost Ordovician section forms the youngest of 3 major sequences recognised widely across almost the entire Saharan Platform:
• Sequence CO1 comprises the so‐called Cambrian Tin
Taradjelli (Unit II) or Hassaouna sandstones overlain by the Zone des Alternances (Unit III‐1a), El Gassi Shales (Unit III‐1b) and El Atchane sandstones (Unit III‐1c) forming the TST and HST of Sequence CO1. Oil and gas are locally recovered from most of these units in Algeria, especially the Amguid‐Hassi Messaoud Ridge
G&G STUDIES
Figure 1. Location of key outcrops in the Qarqaf Arch, Ghat and Tassili N
Ájjers areas of SW Libya and SE Algeria (LANDSAT)
Well A Well B Well DWell C
SW NE
2km
c1000ft
Well A Well B Well DWell C
SW NE
2kmWell A Well B Well DWell C
SW NE
Well A Well B Well DWell C
SW NE
Well A Well B Well DWell C
SW NE
2km
c1000ft
Figure 2. 3D seismic line cross‐cutting a SSE‐NNW trending palaeovalley complex up
to approximately 1000ft thick in the Murzuq Basin (SW Libya)
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 12
• Sequence CO2 comprises the Hamra Quarztite (Unit III‐2) or Achebayat Formations (SMST) overlain by the shoreface‐shelfal sandstones of Unit III‐3 (In Tahouite Formation) or Hawaz Formation (TST and HST). The former is a deep gas reservoir in Algeria and the latter an increasingly significant oil reservoir in the Murzuq Basin
• Sequence CO3 is the uppermost Ordovician section and is assigned to either the Mamuniyat and Melaz Shugran Formations (Murzuq, Kufra and southern Libyan Ghadames Basin) or the Tamadjert Formation (Algerian basins) known more commonly by the subsurface nomenclature as Unit IV. In all cases subsurface biostratigraphy confirms an Hirnantian age for this sequence, a period of time covering only several million years, of which the glacial episode probably represents considerably less
In most cases the unit is subdivided into several distinctive packages, each bounded by Type I unconformities and is effectively a higher order depositional sequence recognisable across the entire area. Figure 4 summarises this basic stratigraphic subdivision, as derived from both outcrop and subsurface, by reference to four genetic packages termed, for simplicity, UO1 to UO4 most of which have also been recognised, although with different nomenclatures in use and not necessarily with the same interpretation, in individual outcrops, be they in Libya or Algeria.
SEQUENCE UO1 This is a mud‐prone unit locally >150m thick, known as the Melaz Shugran Formation in Libya and Unit IV‐0 in Algeria. Outcrop observations coupled
with both core and image log analysis show this package to comprise a number of subunits and facies types including massive, deformed or flat laminated sandy to pebbly mudstones and interbedded fine grained sandstones and mudstones associated with pervasive soft sediment deformation. Overall, this is clearly not a reservoir unit and in fact may well be implicated in the development of intraformational seals resulting in thicker oil columns than would be expected from purely structural trapping.
Comparison with modern analogues suggest these facies were deposited from a combination of glaciomarine processes such as iceberg rain‐out,
dilute debris flows and density underflows derived from tidewater glaciers. In broader terms it is assumed that UO1 deposition was associated with both high relative sea levels and sediment fluxes, presumably a response to a major glacial retreat following the initial platform‐wide incision event marking the onset of the end‐Ordovician glaciation.
SEQUENCE UO2
This major sand‐dominated (Lower Mamuniyat, Unit IV‐1 or Unit IV‐2/1) reservoir package appears to erosively truncate the underlying argillaceous sediments, locally resting directly on the older pre‐glacial sediments of Middle Ordovician age. The lower part comprises locally conglomeratic channel sandstones, climbing megaripples and debrites. In contrast, the upper part comprises fine sheetflood sandstones passing laterally into thick, areally extensive shallow marine sandsheets. In both cases deposition probably occurred in pro‐glacial or peri‐glacial estuarine and braid‐delta environments associated with retreating ice sheets.
Figure 3. Palaeovalleys in outcrop; geological map of the Tamadjert area (SE Algeria) showing several major palaeovalley complexes up to 20km wide (palaeovalley fill in light green colour)
Figure 4. (a) Composite stratigraphic section for the Upper Ordovician (based on outcrop observations) and (b) a type well log section from SW Libya
UO2b
UO2a
UO1
UO3
UO4
UO2b
UO2a
UO1
UO3
UO4
t
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 13
SEQUENCE UO3
This distinctive heterolithic sediment package is separated from the sand‐prone Sequence UO2 by a major unconformity which, in many cases displays evidence of significant glacial erosion in the form of distinctive striae (Figure 5) or roche moutoneé features and downwards decreasing deformation, such as folds, step‐faulting and injection structures, attributed to glaciotectonism. It records a significant episode of base level fall, glacial incision and the generation of accommodation space followed by rapid post‐glacial flooding and the subsequent progradation of braid‐delta systems fed by the retreating ice. Initially deposition occurred in relatively steep slope‐type braid‐deltas and with reduced accommodation space, deposition occurred principally in lower gradient braid‐deltas, mainly in shallow channels forming stacked northerly prograding clinoforms defining an HST. This package acts as a reservoir but also offers the potential for intraformational seals and stratigraphic trapping.
SEQUENCE UO4
This sand‐prone package is the key Upper Ordovician reservoir horizon across the Saharan Platform associated with often excellent reservoir quality (Permeabilities ranging from 100´s to 1000´s of millidarcies) and is interpreted
to form by subglacial to proglacial flooding events reflecting a further episode of base level fall and ice advance. Outcrop work has identified a three‐fold subdivision, each component of which is bounded by locally to regionally significant unconformities (Figure 4):
• Sequence UO4a: Comprises Coarse to Very Coarse, pebbly and locally conglomeratic sandstones infilling palaeorelief in the form of megachannel bodies tens to hundreds of metres in width and up to 10m thick. Internally, these channel bodies are typically massive with abundant mudchips or intraclasts overlain by large‐scale, low angle cross‐stratification. Sequence architecture and facies combine to suggest deposition from major glacial outburst events or jokulhaups, presumably associated with tunnel valleys
• Sequence UO4b: forms a single coarsening‐upwards package up to 50m thick comprising poorly sorted, Coarse to Very Coarse grained sandstones characterised by a dense deposit‐feeding ichnofauna gradually replaced by medium to large‐scale trough cross‐bedding with a marked bipolar palaeocurrent distribution. The whole assemblage records a significant relative sea level fall, erosion of UO4a and the subsequent progradation of tidally‐influenced braid‐deltas or, in some cases, Gilbert deltas
• Sequence UO4c: Areally the least extensive of the three subunits, this package forms anastomosing channel bodies each tens of metres in width and up to 5m in thickness. Channel bodies are notably incised into underlying Upper Ordovician sediments along steep, highly irregular surfaces cut in response to a further episode of falling base level. The channel fill is virtually identical to Sequence UO4a and is similarly interpreted in terms of outburst floods
BIR TLACSIN (SEQUENCE UO5)
This somewhat enigmatic unit is transitional between the Upper Ordovician and Lower Silurian post‐glacial shales. It is typically highly argillaceous and capped, in many cases, by a thin, cemented transgressive lag above which the Lower Silurian Tanezzuft Shale is encountered.
CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION
The Uppermost Ordovician on the Saharan Platform is clearly a highly complex sedimentary package characterised by multiple erosive events, most of which are probably linked to glacioeustatic and isostatic (“rebound”) events. The challenge is to extend this concept into a three‐dimensional model with predictive value. As a first step this has required geological mapping of the sequences in several key areas, principally the Qarqaf and Ghat areas of SW Libya (Figure 7), with the aim of summarising in some detail, the degree of architectural complexity to be expected in the Upper Ordovician, even on field‐scales.
On this basis, simplified geological models have been constructed (Figure 8) to provide a basis for subsurface correlations and geoseismic interpretations. In both cases maps at several scales were used as a basis for cross‐sections subsequently integrated into composite models which, despite the >500km
Figure 5. Glacial striae exposed at the contact between Sequences UO2 and UO3, Dider, SE Algeria
Figure 6. Panoramic view along the axis of a major palaeovalley (>400m deep) cut into the Middle Ordovician In Tahouite Formation at Iherir, SE Algeria
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 14
distance separating outcrops, show a remarkable similarity. Detailed observations from across both Libya and Algeria confirm the validity of these concepts.
As a final step, fieldwork observations have been used to guide detailed geological interpretations of the palaeovalley fill as seen in seismic with the aim of identifying intra‐UO units and suggesting possible lithologies.
In conclusion, it is readily apparent that the Upper Ordovician although a highly complex reservoir is nevertheless characterised by a consistent large‐scale sequence architecture across a wide area. This provides a sound basis for the more detailed interpretation of subsurface data and the reduction of risk associated with the prediction of both reservoir presence and quality. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the support and encouragement of Repsol Exploración Murzuq and partners Total, OMV and Norsk Hydro. Special thanks are also due to NOC and Sonatrach for their support.
Corresponding author’s email: [email protected]
1000 sq km1000 sq km
80 sq km80 sq km
Figure 7. Geological sketch maps form the Qarqaf Arch and Ghat areas (SW Libya) highlight the architectural complexity of the Upper Ordovician
on several scales (10,s to 100´s of sq km). Also shown in (a) are the locations of the cross‐sections highlighted in Figure 8a
UO1
5km
UO2
UO3
UO4
SL1
EW
UO1
5km
UO2
UO3
UO4
SL1
UO1
5km
UO2
UO3
UO4
SL1
EW
100
m
W E
Lower Mamuniyat
Middle Mamuniyat
Upper Mamuniyat
Melaz Shugran Formation (a)
(b)
Figure 8. Simplified cross‐sections and models summarising the key architectural elements of the Upper Ordovician from the Qarqaf Arch (a) and Ghat (b) areas of SW Libya
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 15
EMGS Seminar
Improving Exploration Performance with EM Technology Kari Husebye
EMGS, Sales Coordinator
Electromagnetic Geoservices (EMGS) invites you to a one‐day seminar designed to provide a complete overview of EM‐imaging (seabed‐logging) technology and how it can be applied. We look forward to seeing you at the Clarion Hotel in Stavanger on 2 April 2008.
Seabed logging is an exploration method that uses electromagnetic (EM) energy to find offshore hydrocarbons without drilling wells. Today the EM sector is thriving and most of the worlds leading energy companies are using seabed logging to reduce finding costs, increase discoveries and vastly improve their exploration performance.
Electromagnetic imaging helps to determine hydrocarbon presence and inform life‐of‐field decisions, from pre‐licensing to asset abandonment. Application areas include prospect finding, prospect evaluation, field appraisal and field development. Our customers routinely rely on EM‐imaging technology to accelerate their exploration and development programmes, maximise the available resources and gain a competitive edge.
SEMINAR OBJECTIVES
Offshore exploration‐drilling success rates still average only 25%, partly because traditional exploration relies on indirect evidence. This seminar is designed to provide a complete overview of the technology and how it can be applied.
SEMINAR OUTLINE
During the seminar we will cover aspects related to survey design, modelling, and evaluation of the seabed‐logging response in different settings, as well as the acquisition, imaging and interpretation of seabed logging and marine magnetotelluric (MT) data. Finally we will discuss the increased value that seabed logging and other EM methods bring to the exploration process.
PROGRAM
Wednesday 2 April 08:30 – 09:00 Registration and coffee 09:00 – 09:30 Opening and introduction (Terje Eidesmo)
09:30 – 11:00 Experience from SBL Scanning Offshore Norway (Johan Mohr and Aker Exploration)
Seabed logging methods and applications (Jens E. Danielsen) Survey feasibility, 3D modeling and optimizing survey
designs (Elisabeth Aasland) 11:00 – 11:20 Coffee Break 11:20 – 13:00 Scanning and 3D SBL – the future is here (Jens E. Danielsen) Safe and reliable operations secure quality products and
enhance survey efficiency (Atle Fyhn) 13:00 – 14:00 Lunch 14:00 – 15:30 Marine magnetotellurics – overview of experiences (Mark
Hamilton) Seabed logging exploration strategies on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (Stein Fanavoll) Seabed logging case studies (Stein Fanavoll)
15:30 – 15:50 Coffee Break 15:50 – 17:30 EMGS well analysis and statistics, interpretation of seabed
logging data and implications for prospect risking (Ketil Brauti)
Discussions and Summary 18:00 Seminar dinner onboard “MS Sandnes” Thursday 3 April 09:00 – 12:00 Individual workshop sessions You are invited on individual basis to discuss specific topics
or subject as well as results from performed surveys or future surveys with our dedicated G&G personnel. If you are interested in these interactive practical sessions we kindly refer you to the booking section of the registration form.
The seminar and the seminar dinner are free of charge, but we ask that you register at www.emgs.com/stavanger/ by the 15 March. Please feel free to forward this invitation to others in your organisation who might be interested. If you have any enquiries related to the seminar please contact Kari Husebye: [email protected].
We hope that all participants will find this seminar useful and inspiring, and we look forward to meeting you.
CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 16
The conference will be held at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, August 13–15, 2008. It will be preceded by a series of pre‐conference field trips in Nova Scotia and a variety of short courses, and followed by post‐conference field trips to Portugal and/or Morocco all of which are subject to attendance thresholds and limits.
Halifax 2008 will be an outstanding opportunity to incorporate the results of hydrocarbon exploration throughout the Central Atlantic conjugate margin basins using the latest concepts and interpretations of divergent margin basin evolution, petroleum systems, productive fields and analogues.
This conference will be of significant benefit to potential industry, academic and government participants for a number of reasons, a few of which are:
• the significant gas discovery in the Late Jurassic (Abenaki) reef trend offshore Nova Scotia;
• the significant deep‐water oil and gas discoveries offshore Mauritania;
• acquisition of new 2D, 3D, and deep‐crustal regional seismic datasets from around the margin;
• recently available well data from previously unexplored frontier basins;
• the US Energy Policy Act of 2005 that mandated a comprehensive inventory of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and natural gas resources; and
• the possible expiration of the exploration moratorium for the entire US Atlantic OCS and Canadian Georges Bank in 2013.
We are convinced that such a gathering is necessary and indeed beneficial to all workers and explorers in the Central Atlantic realm. It is time to collaborate on improving our understanding of these conjugate margin basins. This will lead to an increased understanding of the hydrocarbon prospectivity of the margins, reduced exploration risks, and more exploration successes. We want to build on the well established north‐south relationships (Europe‐Northwest Africa, and the Americas) by creating a pan‐Atlantic gathering for researchers and industry to focus on topics directly impacting hydrocarbon exploration in these Atlantic basins, and to appeal to those exploring and researching the frontier basins along these margins. We are particularly interested in providing a venue for colleagues from both sides of the Atlantic to interact, share ideas, and exchange knowledge on subjects of mutual interest.
The Conference will have three main oral presentation sessions that will run consecutively over three days:
• Margin Evolution & Development;
• Petroleum Systems; and
• Productive Fields & Analogues
Topics within these sessions will be derived from invited and submitted short abstracts as selected by the Steering and Technical Committees.
There will also be a conference‐long Poster‐Only section for authors preferring this form of presentation. In addition, authors of oral papers are strongly encouraged to provide a poster presentation.
Authors of all oral and poster‐only papers must submit an extended abstract. These will be distributed at no charge to all conference attendees as a word‐searchable CD‐ROM. Furthermore, proceedings from the conference will be subsequently published by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists as CSPG Memoir 20.
Halifax 2008 will offer participants the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of events. Five pre‐ and post‐conference field trips are being planned to basins and sections in Nova Scotia (3), and Morocco and Portugal respectively:
• Field Trip 1: Tropical to Subtropical Syntectonic Sedimentation in the Permian to Jurassic Fundy Rift Basin, Atlantic Canada, in Relation to the Moroccan Conjugate Margin ‐ Paul E. Olsen
• Field Trip 2: Classic Carboniferous Sections in Mainland Nova Scotia ‐ Michael Rygel & John Waldron
• Field Trip 3: Onshore equivalents of the Cretaceous reservoir rocks of the Scotian Basin: detrital petrology, tectonics and diagenesis ‐ Georgia Pe‐Piper & David Piper
• Field Trip 4: Triassic Syn Rift Continental Reservoirs of : Depositional Facies and Architecture ‐ Jonathan Redfern
• Field Trip 5: Jurassic carbonates and fluvio‐deltaic clastics of the Lusitanian and Algarve Basins, Portugal: rift basins at paleo 20–25°N ‐ Elliott Burden & Richard Hiscott
Technical short courses on “Geodynamic Modelling of Continental Margin Processes”, “Practical Salt Tectonics” and “Thermochronology”, will be offered to attendees, as well as a Conventional Core Workshop on “Offshore Nova Scotia Reservoirs, Facies & Sequences”. We are particularly excited about the Seismic Data Room where numerous full‐scale seismic lines from the latest industry deep crustal and regional programs in the Central Atlantic Realm will be displayed.
No conference is complete without a centerpiece banquet. In true Nova Scotia style, we invite all attendees to participate in a fabulous Lobster Feast where they will experience fine local cuisine and entertainment. Ice‐breakers will be held each evening amongst the poster and related displays to encourage discussions and networking, as will be the daily refreshment breaks.
On behalf of the Conference Committees members and our sponsors, we look forward to your attendance and participation at Halifax 2008 and seeing you in August 2008!
Further Information: Trudy D. Lewis: [email protected]
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 17
International Lithosphere Program (ILP) joint Task Forces meeting
in Ensenada (Baja California) September 21-26, 2008 François Roure1 and Magdalena Scheck-Wenderoth2
1IFP, Rueil-Malmaison, France, ILP, Potsdam, Germany
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE AND VENUE
Following the successful meetings of the ILP Task Force on Sedimentary Basins held in Paris (2005), Québec (2006) and Morocco (2007), ILP, IMP (Mexican Petroleum Institute) and CICESE (Mexican Research Institute located in Baja‐California) organize the 2008 workshop in Ensenada (Baja California, Mexico), from September 21 to 26, involving the Task Force on Sedimentary Basins, together with the other ILP Task Forces dealing with mantle processes, volcanics and paleostress.
Dr. Luis Delgado‐Argote ([email protected], CICESE, Ensenada), and Dr. Felipe Ortuño‐Arzate ([email protected], IMP, Mexican Petroleum Institute, Mexico DF) are coordinating this 2008 event. Luis is the past President of the Mexican Geophysical Union (Union Geofisica Mexicana, UGM), and Felipe in charge of the basin modeling group of IMP.
The conference will be held at the Corall Hotel in Ensenada, facing the Ocean, 200 m away from the Earth Science building of CICESE. At this stage, we have booked the venue, comprising 3 meeting rooms, and scheduled a 2 days pre‐conference field trip (September 22‐23).
TASK FORCES AND CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
The first day, a plenary session will join all the Tasks Forces to discuss points of common interest. Then, 2 or 3 more thematic meetings will run independently.
Sessions from the Task Force VI on Sedimentary Basins will address the architecture and evolution of the Gulf of Mexico and other Mexican basins, as well as sub‐Andean basins and Circum‐Pacific margins.
Two sessions from Task Force II (New tectonic causes of volcano failure and possible premonitory signals) will focus on:
‐ Volcanism and geodynamics: insights from studies of eroded volcanic systems (convenors: Alessandro Tibaldi, Italy, and Derek Rust, UK);
‐ Long‐term evolution of volcanoes and volcanic systems recording lithospheric processes (Convenors: Edgardo Canon‐Tapia, Mexico, and Alexandru Szakacs, Romania).
At this stage, other sessions are expected also from Task Force III (Lithosphere‐astenosphere interactions), Task Force VII (Temporal and spatial changes of stress and strain), and Task Force VIII on Baby plumes.
More info on the sessions, field trip and on‐line abstract submission will be available on line on the web sites of the Mexican Geophysical Union in December (www.ugm.org.mx), with a dead line for submission of abstract on May 30th. Registration process will also be organized on line via the same UGM website. Abstracts will be edited in the same format as GEOS, the journal of the UGM.
©IF
P
See you soon in ENSENADA (Baja California)
September 21 to 26, 2008www.ugm.org.mx
for the 4th workshop of the ILP-Task Force on Sedimentary Basin
(in association with other task forces, i.e., Paleo-Stress, Volcanism and Mantle)
Convenors:Luis Delgado Felipe Ortuño
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 18
AAPG’s Growth Challenge in Russia: From Enigma to Partner? John Dolson
EMD Councilor, European Region Exploration Advisor, TNK-BP, Moscow, Russia
"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest." INTRODUCTION
Many of you have heard parts of this famous 1939 quote from Winston Churchill on the eve of World War II. However, few have heard the entire quotation, which remains as true today as it was 69 years ago (as it would for any country!). When Hugo Matias asked me to write something on the status of AAPG in Russia, I decided to draw heavily from a talk I gave at APPEX in London in 2006 and to focus on what it will take to make AAPG grow in this important country. The brief history of the industry since the collapse of the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and the look at the present landscape give in this issue’s Coutry Focus section shed some light on the challenges of past and future AAPG members to grow relationships in Russia.
It is virtually impossible today to pick up any journal dedicated to oil and gas exploration without reference to the Russian oil industry. I am now finishing my fourth year here but also had the unique opportunity to work in the Former Soviet Union from 1992‐1994 during the turbulent early days of the breakup of the FSU. In June of 1994, I helped create, through Akif Narimonov of SOCAR, the Azerbaijan Association of Petroleum Geologists which became the first and ONLY affiliate society of AAPG in the former Soviet Union. Since then, we have failed to attract robust membership and have had only sporadic technical presence. In 2004, AAPG held an International Conference in St. Petersburg but with very little follow‐through on new relationships. In fact, conversations with Russian peers revealed some frustration with AAPG ‘disappearing’ after the conference.
The irony of this is simple. Russia has the largest petroleum reserve base in the world, one of the largest and most highly educated work‐forces and stretches across a distance equivalent from Ireland to the Aleutian Islands. With 50% of University age students studying science and mathematics, it has the potential for enormous growth in AAPG members. In fact, SPE has grown dramatically here in the last six years, continuously breaking growth records for other parts of its organization. In the last year, however, even that has slowed.
Why is building that link so important to AAPG in Europe and globally? Because with today’s global economy and thirst for new energy sources in India and China, Russia is now in a powerful political and economic position in the geopolitics of oil.
SUCCESS BREEDS COMPLACENCY: THE CHALLENGE FOR AAPG
What does this have to do with AAPG? Until as recently as 1998, activity in AAPG was officially discouraged. Even today, many Russians perceive no value in our organization (i.e., ‘what can you do for me that I haven’t done?). In addition, no tradition of geological societies which freely share information and ideas really exists here. We can’t find affiliated societies because there are virtually no societies to affiliate with. So, the business model is different.
SPE, EAGE and SEG, like AAPG, have to create new programs that draw in participation and create a real sense of value added. Monthly talks, more local conferences and joint publications in English and Russian are a necessity for growth here. SO WHAT HAS AAPG DONE RECENTLY?
Brought Russia into the European Region in 2006, when it was previously split between Europe and Asia regions.
Successfully added 4 student chapters at Goblin, Moscow State, Tyumen Univ. and St. Petersburg Univ.
Moscow State University Student chapter was recognized with an Honorable Mention, Best Student Chapter Internationally in 2006.
Hosts monthly talks in Moscow in cooperation with EAGE and SEG
Is planning for the 2009 ‘3P’ (Polar Petroleum Potential) AAPG conference in 2009. Appropriate approvals have been obtained from the government and AAPG.
Have successfully had AAPG Memoir 86 on World Hydrocarbon Resources translated to Russian.
The European Region elected its first Russian (Dr. Nikolai Lopatin) to the House of Delegates.
Took a lead role in the December, 2007 International Geological and Geophysical Conference, in conjunction with EAGO, SEG and
Figure 1. Staff participating in an integrated core and seismic high resolution sequence stratigraphic study of the Cretaceous in West Siberia. Interest in new technologies is high here and the labor pool of students and young geoscientists large.
AAPG – European Region News
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 19
ROSNEDRO. The 600+ conference featured a full day of a “Best of AAPG” session, including keynote papers by Henry Posamentier, George Pemberton, Keith Shanley and others.Concluded corporate membership for up to 200 geoscientists from TNK‐BP. Additional discussions are ongoing with Rosneft and Lukhoil.
Completed one Presidential tour (Pete Rose + John Brooks) and preparing for another (Scott Tinker)
Deepened relationships with key leaders through Istvan Berczi, President, European Region.
Brought the AAPG/Imperial Barrel Award competition to Gubkin University in 2007 and to Moscow State University in 2008.
Substantially increased membership, particularly with students
The HOD passed the graduate dues structure, which now makes it easier for lower‐paid Russian geoscientists and academics to join.
WHAT IS NEEDED NOW?
1. AAPG needs to develop sustained and broad Russian leadership. Once Russian leadership takes over AAPG growth in a manner which Russians want, we will start to grow.
2. Bring the winter education conference to Russia
3. Deploy short‐courses in Russia
4. Consider opening a local office, perhaps in Tyumen, the center of the Russian oil and gas industry.
5. Annual presence in small conferences or in cooperation with sister societies
6. Find key Russian papers and translate/publish in English for our broader membership.
7. Continually provide innovative low‐cost services, and most importantly, show the respect to our counterparts they deserve.
8. Find a way to grow both the EMD and DEG here.
9. Get more members of the European Region involved in work and meetings in Russia.
DISPELLING SOME MYTHS
I am preparing to relocate from Moscow to Tyumen in West Siberia for the remainder of this year, to concentrate on coaching and project acceleration with our exploration and development staff. On my first visit there nearly 4 years ago, I recalled the stories of poor living conditions, drafty hotels and bad food from over 14 years ago. Today, by stark contrast, Tyumen is a rapidly expanding and improving city, with many fine restaurants, beautiful wooded country‐sides with abundant lakes and rivers and modern, comfortable hotels.
This is happening all over Russia. With a GDP growth rate of 15%, renovation, construction and economic advancement are visible daily. Our younger staff, in particular, are increasingly well paid, and eager to learn English and develop new skills. I work in a company which improves monthly as our training sinks in and we continue to knock down barriers between eastern and western cultures and technologies.
Figure 2. Dispelling the myths of a hardship location: Rick Fritz enjoying a night with beautiful Russian dancers in West Siberia.
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 20
APPEX London (5th – 7th March 2008)
Carol McGowen AAPG Regions and Sections Manager
By all accounts the seventh annual APPEX – AAPG Property and Prospect Expo in London – held in early March was a significant success.
The Gallery Hall of North London’s Design Centre at Islington was filled with over 400 delegates representing every continent, and the exhibition hall was full with some 47 booths – a 15 percent increase over 2007.
AAPG’s unique brand event is unlike any event offered by any other organization; its focus is on business and networking versus an exclusively technical program.
“The essence of APPEX is its format,” said APPEX chairman Mike Lakin, “providing one‐on‐one interaction among high‐level decision makers and opportunities to give and see prospect presentations from around the world.”
Senior industry decision makers from small independents to the majors – including CEOs, new ventures and exploration management – were
represented. Major and super major companies as well as regulatory bodies attend APPEX because it allows them to personally represent their companies while keeping a low profile.
This year’s event offered a program of regional exploration company and national oil company (NOC) speakers, as well as prospect forums for exhibitors to present and sell their deals.
In addition, attendees benefited from a sold‐out seminar on the “Management and Presentation of Farmouts,” and the Finance Forum broadened the audience by attracting members of the financial community.
Exhibitors hailed from 17 countries and included the International Pavilion (IP),
bringing together NOCs, ministries and other governmental agencies responsible for the promotion of oil and gas exploration opportunities.
Interestingly, the Design Centre at Islington is the original site of London’s old “Agricultural Hall,” a landmark from the Victorian era built in 1862 for entertainment, shows, exhibitions and pageants. Today the venue is a
modern convention centre with nearby upscale hotel accommodations. While this year’s APPEX was housed in the Design Centre’s Gallery Hall, the success of 2008 bodes well for possible expansion in time into the main hall.
“APPEX is an excellent opportunity for networking by establishing formal and informal contacts while connecting different generations of experts and officials,” said Istvan Berczi, AAPG’s European Region president. “APPEX fully supports the strategy of the AAPG European Region by offering a unique event that allows AAPG to stay in close contact with the full range of oil and gas industry players.”
Berczi wasn’t alone in his praise.
“APPEX is the best such opportunity, venue, topical speaker program and key audience for upstream deal makings in the conference calendar,” one attendee said at the closing event.
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 21
The London Office Report
Steve Veal NEW STAFF ADDITIONS
We are pleased to announce two new additions to the AAPG European Office (London Office) staff. Ms. Lika Chambers has joined us as the new European Region Conference Manager. Lika has extensive experience in conference and event management and will be responsible of the logistical organization and operation of the APPEX program, the region‘s Imperial Barrel Award program, the Annual Regional Conference (this year to be held in Oslo on October 6th & 7th) and various education, short course, and fieldtrip programs. Lika is a UK citizen but is originally from Georgia and will be heavily involved in the AAPG Polar Petroleum Potential conference in Moscow to be held in late 2009. Also joining the staff later this month will be Ms. January Arnold as the new office administrator. January joins us having recently worked at the Natural History Museum in London and brings a steady consistent operation to the office management.
Lika and January can be reached via the office contact details ([email protected] and at +44 ‐207‐594‐3283). Lika can emailed directly at [email protected]. Please join us in welcoming these two new important additions to the AAPG staff.
THE PEMBERTON COURSE
The London Office is also working with various members in organizing and operating a series of new student courses located in various places within the regional. The first event for this series was held on February 26th and 27th at Imperial College in London.
Dr. George Pemberton with the University of Alberta conducted his course on Applied Ichnology: The Use of Trace Fossils in Sequence Stratigraphy, Exploration and Production Geology. We thank George for this dedicated effort and for presenting a superb course, well attended by students from throughout the United Kingdom. The details for the course are posted at the office website and we thank all students for their support in attending this course. We are working with George and other key industry geologists to
present more programs in this series this year and asked interested members and students to visit the website at www.aapg.org/europe/office.cfm
Also a the website will be the latest posted information for the monthly Aberdeen explorationist Luncheon, and a variety of new AAPG services, programs, and opportunities for members that are in development. Please contact the office with any request for membership service.
AAPG New Publication The title is Atlas of Deep‐Water Outcrops, AAPG Studies in Geology 56. Edited by: Tor Nilsen, deceased, Roger Shew, Gary Steffens and Joseph Studlick. Co‐published by AAPG and Shell Exploration & Production.
It has 520 printed pages plus an additional 791 pages of material on a CD‐ROM in the back of the book including a GoogleEarth file that locates all of the 103 outcrops discussed in the book. There are 154 chapters—116 of them printed, and the remainder make up the additional material on the CD‐ROM. The book is global in scope and includes some papers that discuss how to study outcrops and a global overview of deep‐water outcrops. A list of countries represented are: Antarctica Argentina Australia Borneo Canada Chile China France Ireland Italy Mexico New Zealand Nicaragua Norway Pakistan Peru South Africa Spain Turkey USA
It will sell for US$189 AAPG Members, and US$239 non‐members. The first meeting at which it will be available for purchase is the AAPG Annual Convention in San Antonio, Texas, 20‐23 April 2008.
The 19th World Petroleum Congress On the eve of the World Petroleum
Council’s 75th Anniversary, in July 2008, Spain will open the doors to the 19th World Petroleum Congress. The most influential meeting place of the global oil and gas industry will be celebrating 75 years of excellence in Madrid from June 29th until July 3rd. This is where governments and oil companies, IOCs and NOCs, industry and takeholders from around the globe come together to set out the way forward for the petroleum sector. Held every three years, the World Petroleum Congress well deserves
its reputation as the ‘Olympics of the oil and gas industry’. The 19th WPC has already received support from the highest levels
in Spain. The King of Spain, H.M. Juan Carlos I, personally extended his support to the Board Members of the World Petroleum Council and the Spanish Association to organize the 19th WPC during an audience at the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid.
The Congress Programme Committee is currently preparing a wide‐ranged Technical Programme to recognize the scientific, technological and professional achievements of the petroleum industry.
To reflect the ongoing concerns of the world‐wide industry, the official theme for the 19th World Petroleum Congress has been chosen as:
A World in Transition: Delivering Energy for Sustainable Growth
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 22
International Year of Planet Earth 2007-2009
Francisco Porturas AAPG Representative to IYPE http://yearofplanetearth.org/
The official Global launch event of the ‘International Year of Planet Earth’ was held in Paris at the UNESCO headquarters, . Paris, 12‐13 February 2008.
The attendance was great, more than 1000 delegates from about 65 countries together with more than 200 young students from around the world.
The “International Year of Planet Earth” is becoming a worldwide success, with several regional events and engaging on a voluntary basis hundreds of people and local communities.
The main tasks and challenges are:
1. The outreach programe, where the focus is public awareness of global benefits and aspects given by geosciences.
2. The legacy, in the form of high scientific content.
3. Geoscience research in the world regions.
THE PARIS DECLARATION
Preamble
Recalling that the General Assembly of the United Nations has declared 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth;
Considering life depends on a self‐sustaining Earth system that is unique, diverse and ever‐changing;
Emphasizing that all decisions on global sustainability should be informed by the wealth of existing and potential Earth sciences’ knowledge;
Noting that the wealth of Earth‐sciences’ related information available on issues like climate, water and other natural resources, energy, health, soils, the ocean, deep earth, natural hazards or life itself remain largely unknown to the public and often untapped by policy and decision makers;
Convinced that the IYPE and the Earth sciences can play a significant role in promoting the sustainable use of Earth resources and can provide valuable contributions to society through the UNESCO‐led United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development and the promotion of UN Millennium Development Goals, and
Persuaded that creating respect for Planet Earth, raising public awareness of the vulnerability and potential of the Earth’s components and mitigating natural hazards will provide the basis for a more peaceful, prosperous and fulfilled community of nations;
Therefore, we 1. Urge decision makers of all nations to make freely available and utilize
the wealth of knowledge about our Planet Earth and to encourage the development of new knowledge and technologies for the benefit of developing and developed nations alike;
2. Encourage Earth science communities, as well as public organizations and private industry, to support this initiative for the development of new knowledge and to develop strategies that will reduce the impact of natural hazards and guide sustainable development to meet the current needs of our expanding global society and of generations to come;
By
a) Improving access to Earth science knowledge through revised national educational systems and enhanced research capacity in Earth and Space Science institutions and universities;
b) Producing global, digital and publicly available information on System Earth such as “OneGeology” and “UN Spatial Data Infrastructure” (UNSDI) projects;
c) Promoting awareness of the structure, evolution, beauty and diversity of the Earth system and its human cultures inscribed in landscapes, through the establishment of “Geoparks”, biosphere reserves and World Heritage Sites as a public tool for conservation and development;
d) Investing in Earth monitoring mechanisms (both remote and in‐situ) for the purpose of predicting large‐scale changes in the Earth’s spheres using and enhancing existing global Earth observation systems;
e) Establishing an International Research Centre on Earth sciences for sustainable development, and
f) Producing books, DVDs and other media tools that will make Earth scientific knowledge more accessible to the public and provide a lasting legacy for the IYPE.
Geosong You can listen to a beta version of the song via a website http://www.myspace.com/iypestudents. The music and lyrics has been written by Anna Moot's and the song was produced in Paris by M‐A.S. Productions Mother Earth
You’ve been using me for centuries I’ve always been so resourceful Creating wealth, building cities Providing raw material
Today my reserves are running low Both in and out of sight We have to be sustainable Restore the balance, make it right
This planet, my people Come together Look after this world
This planet, my people Come as one Look after my earth
This planet, my people Come together Watch my water
This planet, my people Keep my air clean It really matters
My surface is shaken by hurricanes My ground is squeaking, u call it quakes I’m either dry or flooding you I feel there’s nothing I can do
You have such a knowledge, please use it right To keep u and me healthy I’m confident you’ll see the light I’ll be much safer, make it right Chorus x2
Make the Earth a better place for humankind – Earth Sciences for Society
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 23
The Imperial Barrel Award Results
Steve Veal
The London Office, at the direction of the European regional Council, and in coordination with the region IBA Committee, operated the first annual European regional version of the Imperial barrel Award program in Prague on March 15th, 2008. The winning team receives $5000 in scholarship funds for their school program, and free trip to compete in the finals at the AAPG National Convention, this year to be held in San Antonio, Texas. All teams competing receive scholarship prizes with second place awarded $2,500, third place $1,000, and each participating team not placing earns $500 for participating in this truly unique and challenging program.
This year’s results are: First Place: the University of Leoben Second Place: the IFP School Third Place: Moscow State University
Other participating schools included the University of Miskolc and Etovos Lorand University. Further details of the IBA program can be found at www.aapg.org or by contact the London Office.
A very special thank you to the sponsors for this first Imperial barrel Award program. They include Shell, ExxonMobil, TOTAL, Schlumberger, Nexen, CGG Veritas, BG, RAG, and OMV. The companies not only provided valuable economic support of the program but gave time, energy, and experience in participating in the judging of the event. One of the great opportunities the program provides is for students to not only present their technical results to industry judges but to also discuss their performances with the judges after the event. This gives the students invaluable advice and knowledge in their team and individual skills unlike any other program available and without key industry companies sponsoring and judging such an event, that process would be limited. Again, we thank the sponsoring companies for their participation.
FIRST PLACE: The University of Leoben
Left to right: Javier Perez, Barabara Holzweber, Doris Reischenbacher, Advisor: Dr. Reinhard Sachsenhofer, Cosima Theloy, and Birgit Leitner
SECOND PLACE: The IFP School
Left to Right:Advisor Dr. Jean Pierre Roy, Carlos Aizprua Luna, Kingsley Wabara,Nurul Anjalna, Nicolas Pelissier, and Elena Malkina
THIRD PLACE: Moscow State University
Left to right: Advisor Ksenia Sitar, Konstantin Chebotar, Natalia Petrakova, Maria Sokolova, Ivan Panarin, and Tinatin Meskhi
The European Regional Comité. Left to Right: S. Veal, J. Brooks, H. Johnson, W. Nachtmann, D. Cook, V. Dorokova, M. Mylnik, I. Berczi, and L. Chambers.
Student Chapter representatives (from left to righ): Joao Plancha (University of Lisbon), Tom Hindson (University of Southampton), Grzegorz Godlewski (University of Warsaw), Ievgen Ustenko (University of Kiev)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Conferences Course
2008
March
APPEX London (LONDON, UK)
GEO‐Middle East Geosciences Conf./Exhib.
(MANAMA, BAHRAIN)
18th Caribean Geological Conference (SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)
AAPG Pacific Section (BAKERSFIELD, USA)
Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (CALGARY, CANADA)
AAPG National Convention and Exhibition
(SAN ANTONIO, USA)
April
May OTC ‐ Offshore Technology Conference (HOUSTON, USA)
Geological Assoc. of Canada /Mineralogical Assoc. of Canada annual meeting (QUEBEC, CANADA)
June 70th EAGE Conference and Exhibition (ROMA, ITALY)
19th World Petroleum Congress (MADRID, SPAIN)
July 19th World Petroleum Congress
(MADRID, SPAIN)
VI Spanish Geological Convention (LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA, SPAIN)
33rd International Geological Congress (OSLO, NORWAY)
Conjugate Margins Conf. (HALIFAX, CANADA)
August
September
Society of Petroleum Engineers (DENVER, USA)
International Lithosphere Program (ENSENADA, Mexico)
AAPG International Convention and Exhibition
(CAPE TOWN, So. AFRICA)
AAPG Eastern Section (PITTSBURG, USA)
Geological Society of America (GSA) (HOUSTON, USA)
November Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) (LAS VEGAS, USA)
PETEX (PESGB) (LONDON, UK)
December
AAPG Pacific Section
(BAKERSFIELD, USA)
EMGS Seminar (STAVENGER, NORWAY)
October
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
AAPG-ER Newsletter – March 2008 24
AAPG‐ER Newsletter – March 2008 25
AREA COUNCIL President: Istvan Berczi MOL Hungarian Oil & Gas plc [email protected] phone: +36.1.4644653 fax: +36.1.8877579
Past‐President : John Brooks Brookwood Petroleum Advisors, Ltd. [email protected] phone: +44‐1483‐473285 fax: +44‐1483‐473005
President‐Elect: David Richard Cook
Vice‐President: To be elected
European Representative on the AAPG Advisory Council: Stuart Harker Circle Oil plc [email protected] Phone : +44‐7825‐187555
Secretary/Treasurer: Vlastimila Dvorakova Czech Geological Survey [email protected] phone : +42‐0543429253 fax : +42‐0543212370
OFFICE (LONDON)
Director: Steve Veal Room 422, Royal School of Mines Department of Earth Science & Engineering South Kensington Campus Imperial College London SW7 2AZ (UK) [email protected] Phone: +44 (207) 594 3283
INTERNATIONAL DISTINGUISHED LECTURER COMMITEE
William Sassi ([email protected]) Barbara Davis ([email protected]) Steve Veal ([email protected])
HOUSE OF DELEGATES
SPAIN Bruce Blake ([email protected]) UNITED KINGDOM John Brooks ([email protected]) David Jenkins ([email protected]) Jonathan Redfern ([email protected]) ITALY Jonathan Craig ([email protected]) CZECH REPUBLIC Vlastimila Dvorakova ([email protected]) SWITZERLAND Jonathan Green ([email protected]) Carol Lucas ([email protected])
GERMANY Michael Hauck ([email protected]) Martin Jentsch ([email protected])
FRANCE Alain‐Yves Huc (a‐[email protected]) Peter Lloyd ([email protected]) François Roure ([email protected])
NORWAY Sigrunn Johnsen ([email protected])
POLAND Rafal Kudrewicz ([email protected])
RUSSIA Nikolai Lopatin (nlopatin@mtu‐net.ru) PORTUGAL Hugo Matias ([email protected])
NETHERLANDS Jeroen Peters ([email protected])
Alternates Wolfgang Nachtmann ‐ Austria Martin Fleckenstein ‐ Germany John Dolson ‐ Russia Steve Veal ‐ United Kingdom Tony Grindrod ‐ United Kingdom Francisco Porturas ‐ Norway AFFILIATED SOCIETIES Asociación de Geólogos y Geofísicos Españoles del Petróleo (AGGEP) ‐ SPAIN Webpage: www.aggep.com President: Aurelio J. Jiménez Fernández
Association of Petroleum Technicians and Professionals (AFTP) ‐ FRANCE Webpage: www.aftp.net President: Isabelle Le Nir
Austrian Geological Society Webpage: www.geol‐ges.at President: Christoph Spötl
Azerbeijan Association of Petroleum Geologists No current information
Berufsverb and Deutscher Geologen, Geophysiker und Mineralogen e. V. Webpage: www.geoberuf.de e‐mail: BDGBBonn@t‐online.de
Bulgarian Geological Society No current information
Czech Geological Society Webpage: www.geolgickaspolecnostl.cz e‐mail: [email protected] President: Dr. Budil
Energy Institute Webpage: www.energyinst.org.uk
Norwegian Association of Petroleum Geologists Webpage: www.scanviz.org e‐mail: fr‐[email protected] President: Francisco Porturas Tel.: +47 51552566 Mobil: +47 45200830
Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain Webpage: www.pesgb.org.uk e‐mail: [email protected] President: Jerry Chessell Tel.: +44 (0)20 7408 2000 Fax: +44 (0)20 7408 2050
Polish Geological Society Webpage: www.pesgb.org.uk
Romanian Association of Petroleum Geologists No current information
Royal Geological and Mining Society of the Netherlands Webpage: www.kngmg.nl President: P. A. C de Ruiter
Scientific Council for Petroleum (Croatia) No current information
Swiss Association of Petroleum Geologists and Engineers Webpage: www.vsp‐asp.ch e‐mail: [email protected]: Peter Burri
Turkish Association of Petroleum Geologists Webpage: www.tpdj.org.tr
Association of Ukrainian Geologists No current information
AAPG-ER Structure