Advances in the Realm of Hydrogeophysics: The Emerging Role of Quantum Geoelectrophysics in Aquifer Exploration

Richard Hatala, Jon Fennell, and Gerald Gurba

…Water is integral to our economy, the health of our environment, and a necessity for all life forms and human development. Most water is accessed from surface sources, primarily rivers, which are now under increased threat due to over use and growing hydro-political forces. Still, groundwater exists as a viable…

Introduction to September Focus: Emerging Methods and Technologies

Oliver Kuhn and Neda Boroumand

…The original vision for this RECORDER edition’s theme was that we would feature a collection of articles that focused on new, leading edge geophysical technologies in applied use. We fell short of that goal, and that is probably because entirely new geophysical technologies are rare, and most of what is…

John Neito

An Interview with John Nieto

…John, let us begin by asking about your educational background and work experience. I have a dual honours degree from London University, with geology/ geography and physics, followed by a postgrad from the Camborne School of Mines, Cornwall, U.K., in hard rock geology, with a focus on hydrothermal mineralization. After…

Board of Directors’ Message

…The CSEG continues to work on transitioning to a digital world. As part of this, the RECORDER Committee and Digital Media Committee are increasing communication and meeting as a Communications Committee – The RECORDER provides the content and DMC provides the media on which we present this content. We’re really…

Chief Editor’s Message

…Our goal this year is to reconnect with our membership via digital communication. In Elizabeth Atkinson’s “message from the board” you will see how we plan to accomplish this. If we get this right, we can go to our sponsors and ask for advertisements because we will have the statistics…

CAGC Column: Walk a Mile in Our Boots

…2018 will mark the transition out of the downturn the seismic industry, and the energy industry in general, has experienced since 2014. The World Bank and the IMF both forecast modest rises in gas prices through to 2025 and oil prices may follow suit as, according to the OPEC Monthly…

Tracing the Industry

…On the Move... Graeme Gibson would like for his friends and colleagues to know that he has joined the team at NAL Resources as a Senior Geophysicist. He may be reached at ggibson@nal.ca and 403.538.8923. Marivi Molina would like to announce that she has joined Parex Resources Inc. as a…

Muon Geotomography: A Novel, Field-Proven 3D Density Imaging Technique for Mineral Exploration and Resource Monitoring

Doug Schouten

…Muon geotomography is a novel density measurement technique based on the absorption of cosmic ray muons in the ground. Naturally occurring cosmic ray muons emanating from the upper atmosphere lose energy as they penetrate the earth. These muons are absorbed at a rate that is proportional to the density of…

Seismic Acquisition Innovations Applied in Canada

Andrea Crook

…Over the past 10 years, land seismic acquisition has changed significantly. Nodal/cable-less systems have broadly replaced cabled systems, vibroseis sources have replaced explosive sources even in areas with difficult terrain, and high-density seismic programs are becoming commonplace. This article, based on the Chief Geophysicists Forum presentation “Top 5 Innovations in…

Applications of DC Resistivity and Magnetotelluric Methods in Exploration

Robert Hearst

…The Schlumberger brothers were the first to use the direct current (DC) resistivity method for exploration in oil well boreholes in Russia during the 1920’s. A unique phenomenon, now referred to as induced polarization (IP) chargeability, was noticed at the time, but not understood until simultaneous developments in both Russia…

Quantitative Comparison of Inversion Methods for Estimating Density from Seismic Data

Jinling Zhang, Kyle McMillan

…In the Athabasca oil sands, lithology and fluid composition are typically better correlated with density than with other elastic properties, such as P- or S-wave velocity. Therefore, improving the accuracy of density estimates in oil-sands reservoirs has become one of the most important goals in quantitative interpretation, which integrates seismic,…

Sedimentary Geology and Implications for Carbon Sequestration: A Field Course in Ainsa, Spain through Project Carbeor

Adriana Gordon, Scott Keating, and Tyler Spackman

…A course organized by the Geoscience Department of NTNU (Norway) took place in mid-June in Aínsa, Spain. Graduate students from NTNU, TUDelft (Netherlands) and the University of Calgary participated. Geological outcrops were used to provide an introduction to deep marine, shallow marine and fluvial sedimentary systems. Implications of these sedimentary…

Introduction to June Focus: New Insights into Canadian Unconventional Resources

Ruth Peach

…The ingenuity of today’s geoscientists equals that of our pioneers, who explored Canada on horse, drilled the first wildcat (exploration) wells, and built the major industry that we now call the Canadian Oil Patch. In this issue, geoscientists Germán Rodriguez-Pradilla, Brian Wm. Schulte, Raphael A.J. Wutz, and Xiaojun Cui discuss…

Changes in the Oil & Gas Industry – Unconventional Plays (Engineering Fused with Geoscience)

Brian Wm. Schulte

…Stacked tight sands and unconventional plays tend to be found together in what has been termed as deep basin environments also known as continuous basin-centered gas accumulations (BCGAs) which tend to be found predominately in foreland and intracratonic basins but are not restricted to these basins. There are four geological…

From X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) to Mechanical Profiling for Better Well Completion. Valuable Analytics for the Exploration Toolbox!

Raphael A.J. Wust and Xiaojun Cui

…The fast pace of drilling and completion of unconventional reservoirs in North America is challenging engineers, geoscientists and petrophysicists who have to make prompt and reasonable plans for drilling and completion strategies. One of the main issues is understanding the physical rock properties, such as clay and organic content, and…

Reservoir Characterization of a Duvernay-Fox Creek Shale Reservoir using Seismic, Microseismic, and Well Log Data

Germán Rodríguez-Pradilla

…The Duvernay Formation, located in central Alberta, Canada, is mainly an organic-rich shale that is a source rock for conventional oil and gas reservoirs, and more recently, also very attractive for exploitation as an unconventional shale play. The development of these types of plays requires the implementation of unconventional techniques,…

Reflections on Dave Robson

Brian Schulte

…I did not know Dave Robson, I knew of him. We at the CSEG RECORDER feel that we should honour those who have made a significant contribution to our society or our industry and Dave has done both. We do this to honour them, reflect on them leaving us, and…

Board Message

…So, here we are at the end of another year – a year that has seen the CSEG come back from a significant loss in operating revenue to nearly breakeven. It was no small task to get back to this viable position for our organization; it took a lot of…

Chief Editor’s Message

…Entrepreneurship from Junior High students, innovation, volunteering and kama muta Recently Steve Kotkas, Seismic Data Broker at Sigma Explorations Inc. and a member of the CSEG Foundation Outreach committee, organized the judging of the Tom Baines Junior High Invention Convention and William Pratt School Icubed. Steve is a former Physical…

CAGC Column

…Prosper Together, Falter Alone I recently attended the CSEG AGM held at the Petroleum Club in Calgary which included a review of association activities over the year and a report on the financial standing of the association. Amazingly the auditor reported that a projected revenue loss in excess of $200,000…