Exploration Exclusives

Rebecca Torrellas, online editor, reports from the NAPE Expo in Houston. Operators continue to focus on technologies that will monetize unconventional reserves.

With three licenses in tow, the company is on schedule to commence projects in the early part of next year.

Two lawsuits with potentially damaging consequences stir contractors to action.

Information portals are seen as part of a viable solution to integration/collaboration challenges.

Poland is leading the way for unconventionals in Eastern Europe.

OptoSeis system to be further developed for ultra-high channel count onshore applications.

The latest version of Petrel analyzes risk as well as improve exploration.

Multicomponent seismic offers processing and interpretation challenges as well as added cost. But it might be critical in plays like the Bakken.

To remove any hint of a conflict of interest, the US Minerals Management Service’s regulatory duties will be separated from its royalty collection.

The SEG Foundation has founded Geoscientists Without Borders to apply the science of geophysics to aid humanity.

Proponents of simultaneous sources are banking on newer, better processing techniques to take advantage of the cost-savings this technique enables.

New data suggests there are large potential prospects offshore Jamaica, which is about to restart exploration after a 15-year hiatus.

New rigs increase expertise in deepwater exploration.

New MMS Rule expected in June 2010 will set new expectations for the US OCS.

A variety of new ways to interact with computers can ease the drudgery of point and click.

1Q results reveal North West Europe activity was relatively quiet.

While some operators look for ways to get more out of established shales, others are looking for the next big play.

Apache didn’t let a little thing like an international border get in the way of its data acquisition.

A nodal land system proves useful both for acquiring data and appeasing nearby residents.

Geokinetics continues its growth spurt with its recent purchase of PGS Onshore.

A new processing algorithm indicates fracture orientation.

A new seismic acquisition system earns its spurs on the global stage. Three operators report their experiences.

A new imaging system uniformly illuminates the subsurface.

DISCover a new acquisition and signal processing technique solves one of the most vexing problems of deepwater exploration — imaging both shallow and deepwater events with clarity.

Shales are heterogeneous and plays differ, but new, innovative technologies are available to help explorationists and engineers.

Knowing the answer to this question can save costly mistakes.

Across all unconventional plays, speaker Murray Roth said that advanced seismic applications and techniques could provide the benefits before drilling.

The SPE Intelligent Energy conference and exhibition will take place in Utrecht, The Netherlands, March 23-25, 2010. The conference provides a platform to discuss digitally enabled and associated technology that helps maximize production, increase recovery, and improve HSE the oil and gas industry.

Going from nothing to more than 4,500 b/d of oil in four years is having a positive impact on this transformational company. It’s also having a positive impact on the people of Belize.

For years the purview of North Sea operators, 4-D seismic is now being applied around the world in both land and offshore environments.

Buried arrays provide increased reservoir understanding at a fraction of the cost of surface monitoring.

If legislation being debated today is passed, it could have serious financial repercussions for the oil and gas industry.

While the US withdrawal from Iraq is being planned, representatives within the country are laying the groundwork for growth.

Company expects to drill an additional 10 wells in the Rooney Project.

New methodologies reduce cost, improve data quality.

Project portfolio management software solutions help E&P companies profit in challenging times.

Modeling discrete fracture networks optimizes frac design and performance.

The AEC makes progress toward illuminating the reservoir with a world-class team of interdisciplinary researchers working on a portfolio of nanotechnology-based sensor technologies.

The sale covered nearly 32,000 acres of Pennsylvania State Forest land.

The key to deriving reliable images from seismic data is high-quality anisotropic imaging and model building using all relevant data in efficient workflows that recognize there may not be one right answer.

A new approach enables the interpretation of all geologic features represented in a 3-D volume as complete three-dimensional surfaces.

Biggest, fastest, first-ever — it’s all in a year’s work.

You want better-faster-cheaper? You got it! Innovative technologies continue to emerge.

As business cycles back up, we will be presented with different talent management challenges than ever experienced in the past.

The Australian oil and gas industry could soon experience a major skill shortage, says a leading recruitment firm.

Though exploration activity has fallen off, a number of countries in the region are opening licensing rounds to encourage more outside investors. Sizable new discoveries indicate the region is still very prospective.

Jeff Hume, CEO of Black Marlin Energy, discusses his company’s unique business model and his hopes for success in East Africa.

Integrating seismic with non-seismic techniques has proven to lower exploration risk, particularly in deepwater frontiers where challenges, logistics, and costs can be formidable.

EM data are at their most useful when integrated with other data types.

Technique helps reduce risk in GoM projects.

Whether it’s new sources, new acquisition techniques, or new processing algorithms, advances in geophysical technology continue to test the limits.

A recent survey indicates that the geophysical contracting industry is still a tough place to make a living.

A newly introduced data integration and data management system provides energy companies with an open and scalable solution for collecting, managing, securing, and using E&P data from a diverse set of data sources.

Speakers at Offshore Europe warn of increased competition in the face of rising costs.

New find will take everything the industry can throw at it.

New sampling techniques bring field-size tests into the laboratory.

Combining standard petrophysical measurements with new rock physics observations can help characterize unconventional reservoirs.

Interpreting the changes in seismic signature for time-lapse monitoring requires a rock physics model that can handle stress changes.

When I joined the oil industry in 1972, my plan was to retire at 55 and stop worrying about work and career.

A recent report shows industry salaries remain fairly flat, but that geologists, geophysicists and geological/geophysical technicians will see the biggest jump in compensation in the near term.

A new methodology has significantly expanded the operational envelope of wireline.

Predicting reserves and production estimates in complex reservoirs is becoming less challenging with new formation evaluation tools.

CCS is held up by many as a necessary means to combat climate change, while others claim that it has no place in a future of sustainable energy supply. For the energy industry the question is: How can future demands be met with low CO2 emitting energy?

CCS has dominated global thinking on CO2 emissions reduction and has led to industry projects that are pushing the envelope of today’s technology. One newly introduced concept is a large-scale, non-excavated geologic storage system that can store large volumes of CO2.

Brazil’s massive presalt reserves and the need for development open opportunities for services providers.

Chevron latest to announce very disappointing results.

Chinese petroleum industry adopts new GPU-accelerated software solution for seismic imaging, delivering up to a 400x performance increase.

Marine contractors have learned from past mistakes. That doesn’t mean this downturn won’t be painful.

Seismic equipment manufacturers are often the first to suffer in a downturn. But they’re still striving to keep those innovations coming.

A look at onshore and offshore crew counts.

Success in Brazil will depend on a perspective that takes advantage of every step in the E&P process.

A 57% decrease in offshore activity puts internal energy sufficiency and jobs in jeopardy.

Survey respondents were mostly geologists, but quite a few geophysicists also participated. More than 65% of the respondents were from North America.

Software companies listened to operators, assessed the need and they're coming up with answers that make sense.

A look at world region crew counts and global onshore/offshore comparisons. 

Oil companies that license non-exclusive geophysical data need to read their contracts carefully.

My June column about Edward Mike “Tiger Mike” Davis generated numerous comments from the readers of E&P. I share some of those with you here and encourage you to keep ‘em coming!

CGGVeritas has developed a Tilted Transverse Isotropy (TTI) anisotropic reverse time migration (RTM) algorithm.

The industry made some painful adjustments following a reversal of fortunes in 2008, but as oil and gas markets pick up in the second half of this year, a large number of forward looking companies are investing for growth.

New approach provides an intuitive framework to monitor production-induced fluid movements with 4-D seismic.

Some of the biggest names in Rocky Mountain exploration talked about their oil and gas finding techniques and the attributes that put them in the exploratory lime light during a forum titled Discovery Thinking at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists annual conference and exhibition in Denver.

Looking for a structural play in a proven oil province? Check the undrilled anticlines on central Wyoming for potential.

The man at the top of the pack was Michael S. Johnson, named explorer of the year by the organization when it presented him with the Outstanding Explorer Award the previous day for his discovery of Parshall field, the best producing field in the Bakken Shale oil play in North Dakota.

While the conventional wisdom holds that we should “cut back” in lean times, I would assert that lean times demand unconventional thinking.

Faster computers and better software are the keys to bringing different disciplines together.

In unprecedented span and depth, seismic data is providing insight into the world’s well-hidden resources.

A Windows-based integration and interpretation software program is being used by leading sequence stratigraphic consultancy Neftex Petroleum Consultants to help oil and gas companies make informed exploration decisions.

For countries like the US and China, which consume large amounts of energy, establishing energy security is a critical concern. Both countries are actively pursuing energy policies, but a close look at their actions indicates their approaches couldn’t be more different.

New methodology improves prestack time migration.

Next-generation software will allow geologists to integrate seismic and petrophysical data into their computer-aided interpretation workflow.

Noise reduction techniques provide cleaner datasets.

A recent webcast highlights the value of gravity, magnetic, and electromagnetic datasets in exploration projects.

It is clear that today’s 3-D EM is beyond meaningful comparison with the product that was available five years ago.

Deepwater projects are still on the rise.

Tests are ongoing. But recent presalt discoveries offshore Brazil are screaming “tip of the iceberg.”

An increased focus on existing reserves will result in a growing emphasis on time-lapse surveys.

A test in the Gulf of Mexico shows promising results for using ocean-bottom nodes in time-lapse studies.

Rough seas introduce unwanted noise in 4-D surveys. New techniques help keep things quiet.

And unnecessary in an integrated seismic program, one geoscientist argues.

Déjà vu, they’ve been here before – geophysical contractors once again face challenging times. One organization is trying to soften their landing.

World region crew counts as of April 1st.

As a result of drop in price and shrinking or suspended exploration budgets among the world’s operators, ANCAP is recommending relevant modifications to the bidding bases and contract model of the Uruguay Round 2009.

3-D GSMP brings a new demultiple technique to data processing.

The founder of KMS Technologies is continuing to push the envelope of electromagnetic (EM) technology. E&P asked Dr. Strack to answer a few questions about his company and the EM industry.

Guest Commentary: Compared to the other oilfield service technology industries, overall the seismic sector has not done a very good job of migrating through the more difficult times.

OBS technology provides crucial subsalt information at the Deimos field.

From steerable streamers to streamers that steer themselves, a new system targets the issues of trousering and feathering.

A seabed system is working to take both measurements at the same time.

Encouraging seismic data may open the door to an underexplored area.

High bids way down because of economy.

A relative permeability database can overcome hurdles in data acquisition.

The analysis of the microseismicity in space and time sometimes produces surprising results.

Hyperdynamics may be sitting on the play of the century. It’s just looking for a few good risk-takers.

Aging Cement field gets new look.

A new system extends the boundaries of land acquisition.

Roger Soucy, PSAC President, provides detailed background on the oil and gas industry in Canada and its relation to the current economic climate.

It may surprise you, but during tough times in the oilpatch, technical innovation trumps mergers and acquisitions as a means of creating economic value.

International oilfield service company Expro has taken delivery of the only e-line and logging unit of its kind in the North Sea which will shortly begin work for various customers in the UK sector of the North Sea.

Recent exploration in Port au Port Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador has established the presence of a rich source rock/unconventional reservoir unit within the Cambro-Ordovician Green Point formation of the Humber Arm Allochthon. Could it be the next big North American shale play?

Newfoundland and Labrador has had its ups and downs with offshore exploration, but the approval of the Hebron development, combined with forward-looking plans initiated by the provincial government, has changed the local mood from cautiously optimistic to buoyant.

A seismic-to-simulation workflow achieved a 95% history match without porosity modifiers.

The use of impedances inverted from seismic data helps generate attributes for reservoir property analysis and estimation.

This approach starts with raw digital data, data conditioning, and data fusion to create realistic 3-D reservoir models.

Reservoir characterization projects should be undertaken with the end result in mind.

When the Great Crew Change meets the Great Recession, it makes for some interesting demographics.

It’s beyond anecdotal — large-scale visualization centers provide solid return on investment.

Today’s 3-D geological models not only provide the tools for incorporating accurate characterizations of reservoir heterogeneity, but also enable multiple scenarios to be quickly built and analyzed to help quantify the inherent reservoir uncertainty.

Affordable Windows-based geoscience software continues to make rapid advances.

With high commodity prices pushing exploration, several new records were set in 2008.

In a rapidly changing industry, innovation, collaboration, and openness will pave the way forward. Incorporating advances on existing infrastructure will be one of the cornerstones of success.

With capital at their disposal, operators and service companies pulled out all the stops in 2008.

Continuously improving the seismic image quality is key to Shell’s future exploration success in the Canadian Foothills.

First-order free-surface related multiples provide a wider seismic illumination zone than conventional reflections.

In 1986 Diamond Shamrock drilled through hundreds of feet of Gulf of Mexico salt and found a thousand feet of reservoir-quality rock beneath it — and the race was on.

A newly designed system offers vast improvements over conventional technology.

New streamer technology restores full data bandwidth.

Asset planning that considers 4-D monitoring from the very beginning pays dividends for one company’s deepwater fields.

Collocated data centers afford the ability to dedicate an E&P company’s IT resources and staff to other projects and initiatives.

Seismic-while-drilling has finally come of age.

Developing resources in a decentralizing country requires sustainable community development to promote synergies between corporate initiatives and local government goals.

A “numerical laboratory” can do the work of a core laboratory in a fraction of the time.

A calibrated pressure model offers pressure attributes for a holistic solution.

A new service combines a vast array of formation evaluation data into a seamless workflow.

A new data delivery system speeds up processing and interpretation time.

Well placement in mature reservoirs can be tricky, but the right logging-while-drilling tools makes it easier.

The US Geological Survey announces the first publicly available petroleum assessment of the Arctic Circle.

Novel processing techniques help one operator overcoming obstacles related to thin, sub-seismic features in the shallow Gulf of Mexico.

New tools allow the geoscientist to effectively and efficiently make use of multi-dimensional data in the search for new reservoirs or in the optimum depletion of existing ones.

Oman/Shell joint venture PDO uses seismic quantitative interpretation to maximize business impact in Oman.Impedance inversion