Articles
Talisman Energy Inc. in New York State
Timo Von Rudloff
In 2000 Talisman Energy Inc. began a project to drill and produce gas in the northern Appalachian Basin of the United States. In particular, it evaluated and entered into operations in the states of New York and Pennsylvania, with ongoing consideration given to the neighbouring states, like Ohio and West…
My Life in the Trenches
Doug Pruden
In 1999, while oil prices were crashing, the company for which I worked encountered some financial difficulties and was forced to sell (at a significantly discounted share price!). Being 41 years old and forced to make an unplanned career move, I found myself pondering the eternal midlife question, “What do…
Glimmer of Sunshine in the Field
Mike Doyle
Maybe there is a glimmer of sunshine in the business of seismic this year. This year marks the first in many where programs simply did not get shot. It marked a slight realization by seismic contractors that they may be able to do something on some of their risk clauses.…
Too many seismic attributes?
Arthur Barnes
Are there too many seismic attributes? Their great number and variety is almost overwhelming. How can one decide which ones to use? But it is not as bad as it looks. Throw away all the unnecessary attributes and what is left over is quite manageable.
... Outreach Committee Launches Ambassadors Program
Doug Uffen
Formed three (3) years ago, the CSEG Outreach Committee is charged with promoting the science of geophysics on behalf of the society. The role of the Outreach Committee is essentially one of communication. While the CSEG officially stands for the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists, the society has functioned essentially…
Structural Setting and Petroleum Potential of the Orphan Basin, offshore Newfoundland and Labrador
Michael Enachescu
The Orphan Basin region, situated north of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland has undergone repeated extensional episodes. Crustal stretching of the mainly Paleozoic platform started in Late Triassic to Early Jurassic. Subsequent extensional episodes lasting until the Paleocene deepened the basin and enlarged it, by westward (landward) propagation of rifting.…
ARAM from the road
Gary James
Near the end of the last century (around 1990), Geo-X completed a 10 year run as a seismic contractor. Some of you with long memories may remember the Geocor IV crews that used to rumble over the western plains recording Vibroseis data. As part of the experience of trying to…
Some thoughts on working in the exploration services field outside of Canada
Bill Quirk
When I was asked to script a few lines on my perspective of the International Exploration Environment (IEE, everyone has an initialism or acronym so I thought I would create my own initialism for this text), I had to reflect back to the time when I accepted my first foreign…
Predicting lithology and porosity at the Pikes Peak heavy oilfield, Saskatchewan using 3C seismic data and well logs
Natalia Soubotcheva and Robert Stewart
The Pikes Peak oil field is located 40 km east of Lloydminster, Saskatchewan and produces heavy oil (12*API) from the Waseca sands of the Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group. Hulten (1984) provided a comprehensive geologic description for the Waseca formation in and around the Pikes Peak field. Over 42 million barrels…
The Petroleum Geoscience Vision of the University of Calgary
Helen Isaac
In December 2005, Larry Lines (Head of the Geology and Geophysics department at the University of Calgary) and Ron Burke (Director of Development in the Faculty of Science, UofC) met some CSEG representatives to present the department’s new Petroleum Geoscience Vision. In attendance for the CSEG were Oliver Kuhn (VP),…
CSEG Bylaw Amendments
The following CSEG Bylaw amendments will be presented at the CSEG 2006 AGM on Monday March 27, 2006. Please note the changes/additions are printed in red.
... Azimuth Moveout Transformation – some promising applications from western Canada
Satinder Chopra and Dan Negut
Azimuth moveout (AMO) is a partial migration operator that rotates the azimuth and modifies the offset of 3D prestack data. Being a wave-equation based re-gridding algorithm, AMO carries the correct kinematic, phase and amplitude transformation, and handles dipping geological strata and variable velocity relatively accurately. These characteristics set AMO apart…
Attacking localized high amplitude noise in seismic data – A method for AVO compliant noise attenuation
Xinxiang Li and Rodney Couzens
The method of time-frequency adaptive noise suppression, or T-FANS, is designed to isolate and attenuate localized high-amplitude noise in seismic data. By “localized” we mean not only that the noise has a limited range in the space and time domain but also in the frequency domain. Strong ground roll energy…
Single Arrival Kirchhoff Prestack Depth Migration of complex faulted folds from the Zagros Mountains, Iran
Behzad Alaei and Jan Pajchel
Migration is an important stage in seismic imaging that focuses the recorded seismic data and generates a true structural image of the subsurface. In complex fault and fold thrust belts with rough topography, migration is difficult owing to lateral velocity changes and also very steep dips. The geometry of acquisition…
CSEG Distinguished Lecturer’s Tour Diary
I will start this journal by thanking the DL committee chaired by Dr. Mauricio Sacchi of University of Alberta and the CSEG Executive for selecting me as the first-ever Canadian SEG Distinguished Lecturer. This is a real honour and I promise to do my best to represent the high level…
Outreach Update
Helen Isaac
... The Developing World Can Afford to Light Itself Up (It Just Needs a Wee Bit of Help!) LUTW
Dave Irvine-Halliday
Light Up The World Foundation (LUTW) is an international humanitarian organization dedicated to illuminating the lives of the world’s poor. It is the first humanitarian organization to utilize White Light Emitting Diode (WLED) or Solid State Lighting (SSL) technologies to bring affordable, safe, healthy, efficient, and environmentally responsible lighting to…
FUTURE SHOCKS: Modern Science, Ancient Catastrophes and the Endless Quest to Predict Earthquakes
Kevin Krajick
Brian Atwater paddled a battered aluminum canoe up the Copalis River pushed along by a rising Pacific tide. At this point, a 130-mile drive from Seattle, the 100-foot-wide river wound through wide salt marshes fringed with conifers growing on high ground. The scene, softened by gray winter light and drizzle,…
Leakage of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Energy into the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean
T.S. Murty, N. Nirupama, I. Nistor, A.D. Rao
The tsunami of 26 December 2004 in the Indian Ocean propagated not only throughout the Indian Ocean but also propagated into the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Some of the tsunami energy from the Indian Ocean leaked into the Pacific and Atlantic oceans through the opening in the south. This leakage…
