What’s the Future for North American Oil and Gas? A Perspective

Brian Wm. Schulte and Jim Felton

…Abstract Jaws dropped around the planet in April 2020 when the price of oil went below 0 into negative prices. In effect, producers of the fuel that drives the global economy had to pay others to take oil from producers’ stores. It reflected market forces that had never been seen…

“I remember Don Simpson”

John Boyd

…When Don and I first met, we were both in our twenties and had been in the geophysical side of the petroleum industry for a few years. Don, a native Calgarian and a graduate of St Mary’s High School, started his working life in Amoco’s accounting department. One day, seated…

Amanda Hall

An Interview with Amanda Hall

…Amanda, let us begin by asking you about your educational qualifications and your work experience. My first degree, from the University of Toronto – Trinity College – was a BSc majoring in Human Biology and with minors in Physics and English. Trinity College was an eccentric place, complete with secret…

Dedication

…We would like to thank the over 26,000 RNs employed by Alberta health Services; over 11,000 doctors; and more than 5,600 EMS professionals that are working on the frontlines of this pandemic. We would like to thank our leaders that have stepped up in this challenging time and made some…

Introduction to the April 2020 Focus:  Geomodelling and Geosteering

Devik Naidu

…Special Coordinators: Devik Naidu Technical Editor: Steve Jensen Format Editor: Elizabeth Atkinson Improving Your Forward Vision – How 4D Geosteering Software Improves Well Placements by Proactively Catching Deviations Early and Reducing Drilling Risks ROCKY MOTTAHEDEH Forward Vision for Geosteering and Mitigating Risk by Volumetric Simulation of Well Drainage and Frac…

Improving Your Forward Vision – How 4D Geosteering Software Improves Well Placements by Proactively Catching Deviations Early and Reducing Drilling Risks

Rocky Mottahedeh

…Introduction In geosteering, to dynamically and confidently drive forward with confidence in the target with minimum doglegs, we need to have a real-time solution that not only allows us to correlate to the last survey point (how we got here), but which also provides the latest calculated 3D path to…

Forward Vision for Geosteering and Mitigating Risk by Volumetric Simulation of Well Drainage and Frac Shadows

Rocky Mottahedeh

…Creating value and planning for success in field development operations is a multi-disciplinary process that needs both a learning and an integrative approach to optimize capital. Technological advantage for producers comes from implementing just-in-time processes continuously with software systems that do the hard work in the background to provide Dynamic…

Geosteering – The Basics for Geophysicists

Curtis James

…WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK CURTIS FOR THIS PAPER ON GEOSTEERING. CURTIS WAS LET GO WITH THE DROP IN OIL PRICE AND IS CURRENTLY SEEKING NEW OPPORTUNITIES. Gone are the days of old, when geosteering relied solely on drill cuttings. Advancements in drilling technologies have pushed laterals longer and deeper,…

Oil below $20 USD per barrel – what caused this?

Brian Wm. Schulte

…The following is a tutorial on the economics and financing of oil and gas. It looks at the market over the last two years, how several factors have contributed and the role that the following have played into it: OPEC; Production and inventory supplies; Global economy; Deals, treaties and sanctions.…

Determination of Local Magnitude for Induced Earthquakes in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin: An Update

Alireza Babaie Mahani and Honn Kao

…Introduction With the increased seismicity rate in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB), accurate determination of local magnitude (ML) using data from regional seismograph networks is a vital task for induced seismicity monitoring and mitigation of seismic hazard.  Specific mitigation strategies have been put in place by the regulators when…

Aaron Stanton

An Interview with Aaron Stanton

…I would like to begin by asking you about your educational background and experience. I finished an undergraduate degree in Geophysics in 2007 and joined CGG as a seismic processor. I joined in Calgary, but soon moved to the UK, then to Nigeria. I had an interest in algorithms and…

Board Message

…I am writing this Director’s Message on March 14, 2020, three days after the World Health Organization designated COVID-19 as a pandemic. In response to the advice and direction of medical experts and the governments of Alberta and Canada, the CSEG has suspended all of its educational, social and volunteer…

CAGC Column: Small Fish in a Big Pond

…There has been a steady decline in seismic activity since 2012, for reasons listed in the CAGC December 2018 white paper called “Canadian Seismic Overview” (available on the CAGC website www.cagc.ca).  This decline in seismic activity has caused the CAGC, which is an association representing the seismic community, to face…

Chief Editor’s Message

…Winston Churchill “We shall go on to the end.  We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.  We shall fight on the beaches,…

Tracing the Industry

…Socially Speaking While the CSEG Committees are working on rescheduling the Springtime events (and get your rest these days… it’s shaping up to be a busy Fall), let’s focus on what hasn’t been rescheduled yet. CSEG T-Wave Golf Tournament – August 24th, 2020 – Valley Ridge Golf Course https://cseg.ca/social/t-wave-golf-tournament For…

Introduction to February Focus: Geophysics in Québec

Jean M. Legault and Oliver Kuhn

…Special Coordinators: Jean M. Legault and Oliver Kuhn Technical Editor: Ruth Peach Format Editor: Elizabeth Atkinson In the same way that Quebec is rich in mineral and energy resources, it has a rich and long history in exploration geophysics. For most of us that live and work outside of Quebec,…

Mining exploration geophysics in Quebec: Over 50 years of innovation

Marc Boivin

…The province of Quebec has a long and successful history in mining exploration discoveries, and exploration geophysics has played a significant role since the beginning. Innovative people and their ideas over all those decades were essential to the contribution of geophysics in Quebec and elsewhere in the world. It is…

Applied geophysics in a very deep mine context: Example of the >3 km deep, LaRonde Penna mine, Abitibi Greenstone Belt, Quebec

L. Cheng, X. Dai, MC Diallo, C. Liu, N. Foudil-Bey, J. Collins, P. Bérubé, R. Dubuc, D. Fortin, M. Legault, P. Mercier-Langevin, B. Abbassi

…Abstract As mines are operating at ever-greater depths, cutting-edge, economically viable technologies must be developed to help explore for, and accurately locate, potentially mineralized bodies. A promising way to meet the challenges of exploring for mineral resources at great depth, and reduce the environmental impact of exploitation, is to take…

Exploring for Magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE Ore Bodies with Magnetics, Electromagnetics and Reflection Seismic in a Challenging Geological Setting in Nunavik, QC

Circé Malo-Lalande, Maxim Boisvert, Erick Adam and Christopher Grondin

…Abstract Hunting for Ni-Cu-PGE ore bodies is no easy task, especially in the harsh conditions at the Nunavik Nickel Project in Nunavik, northern Quebec. As the near-surface deposits are found, better tools and sound geological understanding are needed to find deeper deposits. As part of Canadian Royalties’ exploration routine, multiple…

A processing strategy for high-resolution seismic imaging of thin unconventional reservoirs: application to the Macasty Formation, Anticosti Island, Canada

Mathieu J. Duchesne, Zhuoheng Chen, Denis Lavoie, Nicolas Pinet and Virginia I. Brake

…Summary Prior to the halt of oil and gas exploration on Anticosti Island in 2017, the Geological Survey of Canada had initiated five research activities related to unconventional resource exploration and development on the island. One such activity aimed to improve the seismic imaging of the Macasty Formation. This thin-layered…