Articles
The workers industry needs, when and where it needs them
Cheryl Knight
Attracting the right people to the right locations is difficult for the upstream petroleum industry, which will need to find personnel for more than 7,000 new Canadian jobs over the next decade. To ensure the industry has the workers it needs, when and where it needs them, the Petroleum Human…
Demographics and a Changing Marketplace – How do I stay as employed as I want to?
David Nordin
This paper combines the thoughts derived from conversations with somewhere between 1000 and 1500 people with ideas from David Foot and Daniel Stoffman’s book “Boom, Bust and Echo” to provide an explanation of some of the current industry trends and offer some ideas on what may evolve in the next…
Western Canada Natural Gas Supply Update “On the Treadmill”
Caral Crowfoot
There are numerous factors at play in today’s natural gas marketplace that account for the strong market conditions. The current production levels, demand characteristics and transportation availability are all contributing to the sustained high natural gas prices throughout North America. This article will examine the production characteristics in the Western…
Ancient Chinese Drilling
Oliver Kuhn
Through a little research I discovered the existence of a museum dedicated to Sichuan’s ancient brine / salt / gas industry. Called The Salt Museum, it is located in Zigong City, named after two of its famous salt wells, about three hours’ drive south of the provincial capital Chengdu. I…
Exploration Just Isn’t What It Used to Be
Arthur Milne
Notions persist that explorationists in the oilpatch are the heirs-apparent of further advancement in their ranks and that exploration activity is the driving force in the industry. These notions, however, are myths – throwbacks to a simpler era.
... The Meaning of Anomaly
Henry Lyatsky
It began by accident, when I casually asked a class of fourth-year geophysics students to define the term anomaly. The disconcerting, blank silence that ensued was repeated by many subsequent senior classes in the following years, and at various schools. Meanwhile, a client wanted to know about EM anomalies on…
Exploring the Unknown
John Amatt
In Straight to the Top and Beyond, John Amatt, mountain climber and C.E.O. uses the metaphor of adventure – climbing Mount Everest – to articulate an innovative strategy for addressing the challenges of a rapidly-changing world.
... CSEG National Conventions – Past, Present and Future
Oliver Kuhn
The first National Convention of the CSEG was held in April, 1973 against a politically volatile backdrop. The year began with oil prices hovering in the $2.50 per barrel range. An Arab oil embargo triggered by the Arab-Israeli war disrupted oil flows and triggered panic buying; later in the year…
CSEG Convention Historical Posters
Oliver Kuhn
In April of 1973, at the first ever CSEG National Convention, Pete Savage was the first author of a technical paper, “Shallow Marine Hovercraft Operations – Mackenzie Delta”. Now, thirty-one years later at the 2004 National Convention, Pete is first author of several posters, ten to be exact! But these…
Pre-stack land surface and interbed demultiple methodology An Example from the Arabian Peninsula
Roald van Borselen, Grog Fookes, Michel Schonewille, Constantine Tsingas, Michael West, Abu Baker Al Jeelani and Mohamad Samir Nahhas
This case study shows the application of data-driven multiple removal techniques to a land data set from the Arabian Plate. Strong surface and internal reverberations are removed using a standardised processing flow, while preserving the original geometry for subsequent processing. This paper highlights some of the practical aspects of applying…
Earth Model Complexity and Risk Description in Resource Exploration and Development
William L. Abriel
During the past 10 years, seismic imaging and analysis has expanded its role from structural exploration to reservoir description and property analysis. As experiences have developed, the description of the earth required to image and analyze the reservoirs has in many cases required significantly more complexity than anticipated. It is…
A comparison of two different approaches to 3D seismic survey design
Gijs J.O. Vermeer
This paper compares conventional 3D seismic survey design with the 3D symmetric sampling approach. Conventional survey design focuses on midpoint gathers, whereas the 3D symmetric sampling approach focuses on shot and receiver gathers. The differences are illustrated by the way in which obstacles are tackled: skidding and off setting as…
Kohat Plateau with Reference to Himalayan Tectonic General Study
Wasim Paracha
The study area (72°N, 33°50’E and 72°30’N, 33°25’E) needs more investigation over the Recent to Eocene time span with regard to the structural changes occurring within different parts of the region. The author tried to study the general geological and geophysical results of the Indo-Eurasian collision (with stable Asia rotational…
Oil Company Key Facts
Christopher Pettit
Samson's financial strength derives from several sources. The Company has a strong base of internal capital with significant cash flow from product sales. It also maintains lines of credit with a network of U.S. and European banks. These re sources provide Samson with the immediate ability to meet its objectives…
Uncertainty in AVO – How can we measure it?
Dan Hampson, Brian Russell, Maurizio Cardamone
AVO analysis has become a basic and accepted tool for both exploration and production. In this regard, it has come a long way from the early days when acceptance of the method oscillated wildly between excessive expectations and total rejection. Probably the biggest change that has come about is that…
Focus Intro: Stratigraphy-Plays, Software, Processing
Oliver Kuhn
The last decade or two has seen seismic interpretation become less qualitative and more quantitative. Geophysicists now commonly work closely in teams with geologists and engineers, who think of the subsurface in terms of lithology and real rock properties. Numerous new techniques and methodologies have evolved to help move geophysicists…
Seismic Waveform Classification: Techniques and Benefits
Eric Andersen & John Boyd
Seismic waveform shape and character can define facies and reservoir parameters with far greater detail than traditional time and amplitude mapping. Modern techniques using waveform classification make it possible to define and map subtle changes in seismic response and to match them to subsurface information. Waveform classification can also be…
Accurate stratigraphic prediction from seismic
Matt Hall & Eric Trouillot
Interpretation of subsurface geology is greatly enhanced by 3-D seismic data, and this accounts for its ubiquity in today’s search for hydrocarbons. Seismic interpretation has two fundamental disciplines at its core: seismic geomorphology and seismic stratigraphy. Plan views allow the interpreter to apply principles of geomorphology, based on analogies with…
3D Modeling of Stratigraphic Heterogeneity in Channelized Reservoirs: Methods and Applications in Seismic Attribute Facies Classification
Renjun Wen
This paper describes a new method of stratigraphic heterogeneity modeling in channelized reservoirs. A 3D model of a channelized reservoir is simulated by migrating and stacking multiple channels in a background facies, whereby reservoir flow units are represented based on geological rules rather than statistical distributions. Spatial distributions of major…
