CAGC Column: Revised Alberta Exploration Directives Will Change the Layout of Future Seismic Programs

…This column represents the authors’ perspectives on the seismic business. There have been important updates to the Alberta Exploration Regulation and the associated Exploration Directive that will allow better subsurface imaging on most new seismic acquisition programs and repeat 4D projects. The major change is described ‘briefly’ in the fourth…

Appreciating the Value of Your Seismic Data

Stephen Kotkas and Joanne Poloway

…Introduction Do you know the value of your seismic assets? They can actually be a significant part of your companies net worth but are often passed over. The revenue generated from sales of your company’s seismic can be used for other projects and can be a source of revenue that…

Exploration and production of oil and gas from naturally fractured and weathered basement reservoirs in Asia, Africa and the Americas

Tako Koning

…Abstract Oil and gas occur in basement reservoirs in many parts of the world. The reserves range from as small as one or two million barrels of oil or gas equivalent to as much as almost two billion barrels of oil, as in Libya’s Augila-Naafora field. Exploration has been remarkably…

John Duhault

An Interview with John Duhault

…DG: John, you became an accomplished geophysicist, then decided to devote a large part of your energy to value integrating geoscience (VIG) with other disciplines, including business. What inspired that focus? JD: In my early career, working Kaybob at Chevron, I was exposed to where the money came from in…

Tracing the Industry

…On the Move... Mike Perz would like to let his peers and friends know that he has accepted the role of Geophysical Advisor with EOG Resources in Houston. Mike may be reached at: michael_perz@eogresources.com. Andy Williams will be joining the Integrated Reservoir Characterization team at Petro-Explorers Inc. as a Geoscience…

Breathing New Life into Old Data

Jason Noble and Paul McColgan

…Introduction Relative strength in oil prices, and sentiment that future supplies may be limited, have led some operating companies to explore in frontier areas that have proven, historically, to be highly productive. Some of these areas have seen little exploration activity for several decades for varied reasons, such as difficulty…

Review of global warming, climate change, renewables, CCUS, geothermal and the geoscience involved (Part 2)

Brian Wm. Schulte

…Author’s note Please note the following paper had to be updated to represent what occurred after the invasion of the Ukraine, which occurred after this paper was written but before it was published. This is the second part of a three-part article, and it was written so that all three…

President’s Messages

…NANNA ELIUK CSEG PAST PRESIDENT As the 2021 President of the Canadian Society of Geophysicists (CSEG), and now Past President, I want to thank all of you for the support you’ve given the society over the years and your ongoing support in working together to promote the science of geophysics.…

Student’s Corner: A Quest for Hot Rocks

…Hello! My name is Zoë Vestrum.  I’m a third year PhD student at the University of Alberta, studying magnetotellurics (MT) under Professor Martyn Unsworth.  My research focuses on incorporating different near-surface resistivity measurements into the MT inversion model, in order to more reliably model deeper resistivity structures.  I am currently…

CSEG Journal: Call for submission of articles to the CSEG Journal

…The CSEG journal is the Society’s premier technical publication and serves as an outlet for its members for publication of new concepts and ideas. It is a peer-reviewed, high-quality publication, which allows the authors to have their articles published at no cost and in a timely manner. Since its inception…

Science Break: The Tardigrade

…Over the years I have seen intriguing references to tardigrades and the unique properties these small organisms possess. Recently there have been headlines floating around claiming researchers had been able to entangle tardigrades at the quantum level. That just seemed too interesting to pass up – I had to look…

Overview of Carbon Management Canada’s pilot-scale CO2 injection site for developing and testing monitoring technologies for carbon capture and storage, and methane detection

M. Macquet, D. Lawton, K. Osadetz, G. Maidment, M. Bertram, K. Hall, B. Kolkman-Quinn, J. Monsegny Parra, F. Race, G. Savard, Y. Wang

…Introduction Carbon capture and storage (CCS) in geological formations is becoming a key technology for the permanent reduction of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. The Government of Alberta’s Carbon Capture and Storage Summary Report of the Regulatory Framework Assessment (2013) states, in its Summary of Recommendations, that it requires MMV…

Marit Brommer

An Interview with Marit Brommer

…Marit, let us begin by asking you about your educational qualifications and your work experience. I studied geology at the Free University in Amsterdam and did my PhD in applied geology and geophysics at the Technical University in Delft. I always wanted to be a pilot and took flying lessons…

The Variogram Basics: A visual introduction to one of the most useful geostatistical concepts

Evan Brown

…Figure 1.  Stacked siliciclastic lacustrine strata of the late Mississippian West Bay formation, East Bay, Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, Canada.  Photo Credit David E Brown. Introduction The job of a petroleum geoscientist is rapidly transforming into a role that requires proficiency with statistical concepts and data management. The goal of this…

CGDMS Column: Standard data terminology, data ownership, standard data types, and data consistency

…Part of having an organized database is creating terminology that is easy to understand and use. Anyone should be able to go into the database and understand how you have organized the data. This article will focus exclusively on terminology and best practices for standardizing your data terminology. Future articles…

Past, Present, and Future applications of Geophysics in Oil Sands – Part 2

Draga Talinga, David Gray, Hong Feng, Don C. Lawton, Brian Wm. Schulte

…This paper is dedicated to Dr. Larry Lines (1949-2019), who was involved with seismic imaging and inversion, reservoir characterization, conventional oil and gas exploration, geophysical studies of heavy oil, oil sands, and monitoring effectiveness of steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), and who mentored us all. We also acknowledge the graduate…

Review of global warming, climate change, renewables, CCUS, geothermal and the geoscience involved (Part 1)

Brian Wm. Schulte

…Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. Dr. Seuss, “The Lorax” To waste, to destroy our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the…

CAGC Column: Focus on the Future

…Like many others, companies and personnel engaged in seismic exploration activities have experienced extreme human and economic challenges since early 2020, many due to the seemingly never-ending waves of viral infections that have plagued the world’s populations but also from the consequential responses and continual attempts to curtail the viral…

Well Tie Methodology: A Very Often Overlooked Critical Step in Seismic Interpretation and Inversion

Joaquin Aristimuno and Carla Carvajal

…Abstract Well tie to seismic is one of the first and basic steps in the process of seismic interpretation and seismic characterization. The process very often is overlooked, and the consequences are not comprehended. In this article, we will explore the basics of the well tie to seismic, starting with…

John Duhault and Julia McElgunn

An Interview with John Duhault and Julia McElgunn

…We first asked Julia and John to tell us a little about themselves. JM – Thank you, David. I’m a geologist working for Vermillion – one of the fortunate employed geologists. I finished my undergrad and grad studies at U of C. I’ve worked at Devon, Compton, and Vermillion, and…