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2 FEBRUARY 2012 WWW.AAPG.ORG

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TABLEofCONTENTS

ON THE COVER:

AAPG member Simon Donatostands atop a cli on OmansMusandam Peninsula, which jutsinto the high-prole Strait o Hormuz.Donato, an adventure scientist, wasthere on a quest to nd the remains oan ancient village and on a bit o apersonal dare. See story on page 12.

Photo by Jim Mandelli. Let: One othe many signal towers that dotted thehigh-points and ridge lines overlookingthe many bays o the Peninsula.

The AAPG EXPLORER (ISSN 0195-2986) is published monthly or members by the American Association o Petroleum Geologists, 1444 S. Boulder Ave., P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, Okla. 74101-3604, (918) 584-2555. e-mail address: [email protected]: Please send address changes to AAPG EXPLORER, P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, Okla. 74101. Canada PublicationAgreement Number 40063731 Return undeliverable Canadian address to: Station A, P.O. Box 54 Windsor, ON N9A 6J5 E-mail: [email protected]

Advertising rates: Contact Brenda Merideth, AAPG headquarters. Subscriptions: Contact Veta McCoy, AAPG headquarters. Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs and videos must beaccompanied by a stamped, sel-addressed envelope to ensure return. The American Association o Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) does not endorse or recommend any products or servicesthat may be cited, used or discussed in AAPG publications or in presentations at events associated with AAPG. Copyright 2012 by the American Association o Petroleum Geologists. Allrights reserved. Note to members: $6 o annual dues pays or one years subscription to the EXPLORER. Airmail service or members: $55. Subscription rates or non-members: $75 or 12issues; add $72 or airmail service.

REGULARDEPARTMENTS

6 The rest o the story? Highexpectations dominate currentoutlooks or U.S. energyindependence, but a pastAAPG president warns againstoverenthusiasm on shale capacity.

10 Home grown: A recent NationalPetroleum Council study suggestsAmerica has enough oil resourcesto meet its growing demand orseveral decades.

12Rocky road to success: AAPGmember Simon Donato oundadventure and much more whenhe accepted the personal challengeo nding archaeological sites in therugged and dangerous mountainsoverlooking the Strait o Hormuz.

20Second time around: Award-winningAAPG geologist Tako Koningalreadyhad one successul career as anexplorationist in Angola, and now hesback or more and helping residentsthere to recognize and appreciate thecountrys geologic splendor.

32Experience counts: LatinAmerican geoscientists arediscovering the experience oNorth American companies can

help them nd success in their ownunconventional plays.

38Howard Johnson let a successul 15-year career with a major oil companyto become a teacher and that stepled to a role in the creation o the wildlysuccessul Imperial Barrel Award.

Making a Dierence .............................20

ProTracks ..............................................26

Washington Watch ................................30

Geophysical Corner .............................31

Regions and Sections ..........................32

Spotlight On .....................................38

Foundation Update ...............................40

Proessional News Bries ......................42

In Memory ............................................44

Readers Forum ....................................45

Classied Ads ......................................46

Directors Corner ..................................47

Divisions Report (EMD) ........................47

STAFF

Communications DirectorLarry Natione-mail: [email protected]

Managing EditorVern Steanice-mail: [email protected]

Communications Project SpecialistSusie Mooree-mail: [email protected]

CorrespondentsCourtney ChadneyLouise S. DurhamSusan R. EatonBarry Friedman

Graphics/ProductionMatt Randolphe-mail: [email protected]

Advertising CoordinatorBrenda MeridethP.O. Box 979Tulsa, Okla. 74101telephone: (918) 560-2647(U.S. and Canada only: 1-800-288-7636)(Note: The above number isor advertising purposes only.)ax: (918) 560-2636e-mail: [email protected]

AAPG Headquarters:1-800-364-2274 (U.S. & Canada only),others 1-918-584-2555

Vol.33,

No.

2

Vol. 33, No. 2February 2012

A Column or You(th): Part DeuxMy September 2011 column was

written specifcally or Student and

Young Proessional members o AAPG.

We received so much eedback thatwere revisiting this topic or Februarys

column this time with co-authors

Nick Lagrilliere and Richard Ball,

chairpersons, respectively, o the AAPG

Young Proessional and Student Chapter

committees.

In my September column I discussedwhy proessional societies areimportant to your uture career, and

why Students and Young Proessionalsshould consider joining AAPG inparticular. This topic seemed to strike anerve. This column is a reply to the manycomments that we received.

As previously mentioned, theadjacent graph shows the distribution

o membership by age. The large peakassociated with Students and YoungProessionals (YPs, ages 21-30) signiesthe long-term critical aspect o AAPGsuture success, namely recruiting andretaining you as new members, andwelcoming you into the Association.

To set the stage, consider thesetwo stark realities: First, as o 2011, thecurrent retention o Student Membersater graduation is less than 9 percent.When these numbers are projectedinto the uture, AAPGs membershipis static to slowly declining a topicthat I will examine in greater detail in auture column. Second, HQ has a hardtime locating students once they havegraduated.

The eedback rom my Septembercolumn ell into two categories:

1. Students/YPs dont join AAPGbecause they dont perceive its value.

For example, they may mistakenlybelieve they can get all their career

mojo technical inormation andcareer guidance rom the web or rom

their employers. Or, in some cases,students and YPs may not eel a personal

connection to any AAPG members;nobody has enticed them to participatein proessional or social events.

2. Students/YPs perceive value inthe AAPG, but eel they cannot aordthe dues. Or, they may simply beoverwhelmed, and eel they dont havetime to engage.

All o these are legitimate concerns.Well address these concerns, while

also reviewing three programs that aredesigned to transition Students andYoung Proessionals into the AAPG.

u First, the Student sponsorshippays or 100 percent o AAPG or theirmemberships, which makes membershipree or students. Student corporatesponsorship began in 2003, initiallysponsored by Halliburton and, mostrecently, by Chevron. This program pays

the membership ees ($10/year) or allStudents. In addition, last spring, theHouse o Delegates voted to extendStudent dues rates up to 24 monthsater their graduation to help ease theirtransition into the proessional workingworld. Chevron, through Bobby Ryansleadership on the Corporate AdvisoryBoard, is to be commended or itssponsorship, which has had signicantglobal impact in our membership. Theevidence shows that this program iseective. In 2002, beore this programwas initiated, there were 2,173 Studentmembers. By contrast, as o June 2011,we now have 6,928 Student members.

u Second, the Student Chapter

By PAUL WEIMER

PRESIDENTSCOLUMN

Scan this for themobile version of thecurrent web Explorer.

See President, next pge

WEIMER

A geologic call to arms! Here is an open invitation to

engage in AAPG activities.

Photo Simon Donato

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Committee (Students.aapg.org) helpsto maintain the more than 245 StudentChapters o the AAPG. A primaryobjective o this committee is to increaseStudents awareness o membershipbenets, both proessionally and

personally. AAPG supports Students byproviding ready-made programs thatStudents can participate in: the VGPand Distinguished Lecture Program, theL. Austin Weeks Grant program (seepage 38), the Imperial Barrel Awardprogram, and the Local-Student ChapterLeadership Summits. In addition, theStudent Expos and Annual/Internationalconventions provide venues or Studentsto expand their networks every year. Asthe AAPG retains a strong commitment to

scholarly pursuits, the Student ChapterCommittee encourages Students to takeadvantage o AAPG and the Foundationgrant/scholarship programs to help payor college.

AAPG also nurtures the leaders oStudent Chapters. This year, the StudentChapter Committee will launch phase IIo the James A. Hartman Local-StudentChapter Leadership Summit (L-SCLS)

program. Four successul pilot programswere held in 2011. During the summitsChapter ocers come together tonetwork, learn about other successulchapter programs and events, and buildon each chapters lessons learned.

u Third, ater graduation, the YoungProessional Committee comes into play(www.aapg.org/youngpros). Restructuredin 2008, its goal is to retain membersater graduation and to promote activemembership by creating a community obelonging or the YPs (see related story,page 28). Most recently, we have triedour new things. We have ounded YPChapters in most Sections and Regions,with more to come. To ease the transition

rom Student member to YP, we arecreating a concept or YP outreach toStudent Chapters along with the StudentChapter Committee. We are collaboratingwith the Division o Proessional Aairsto develop a Member-in-Trainingconcept as a track or YPs to ollowto certication. Finally, we also areworking with Je Lund (chair o theHouse o Delegates) and Section/Regionleadership to encourage having YPs onthe ballot or the next House o Delegateselection. Ryan Lemiski (see NovemberEXPLORER) was the rst to be elected,but we hope there will be many more inthe near uture.

In 2012 the SCC also will completeits restructuring process, at which point

every Region and Section will havea liaison or both Student and YoungProessional questions and programdevelopment. More details on thesecommittees will be updated in upcomingEXPLORER articles. By providingStudents and Young Proessionals withthese resources, we look to aid themin building their proessional networksaround the globe.

In summary, we oer a geologiccall to arms! To all Students and YoungProessionals, here is an open invitationto engage in AAPG activities. The bestway to get started is to just jump in. Finda colleague or subject youd like to workwith, and invest a ew hours o time into

your uture.

* * *

Arnold Bouma, the 2007 Sidney PowersMedalist, died in mid-December. Arnoldmade a major investment in my earlycareer by oering me unprecedentedpublication opportunities based on myresearch activities. I would likely havenever become a proessor or been electedAAPG president had Arnold not openedthese doors or me. His actions serveas a reminder o the signicant role thatindividuals can make in others careers(i.e. those o us to the right o the 26-30age category on the graph), a role thatwe all need to emulate or the Young

Proessionals and Students entering oureld. I am orever indebted to Arnold or hissupport he will be sorely missed.

Biographies and individual inormationor all AAPG candidates or the2012-13 Executive Committee

continue to be available online at www.aapg.org.

The material includes eachcandidates written response to the

question o why they accepted theinvitation to stand or public oce, plus abrie video statement by each candidatethat was lmed at the AAPG LeadershipDays event in Boulder, Colo.

The president-elect winner will servein that capacity or one year and will beAAPG president in 2013-14. The vicepresident-Sections and secretary will servetwo-year terms, beginning July 1.

Ballots will be mailed in spring 2012.The slate is:

President-ElectpDonald D., Clarke, geological

consultant, Lakewood, Cali.pLee Krystinik, Fossil Creek

Resources, Arlington, Texas.

Vice President-Sectionsp

Thomas E. Ewing, FronteraExploration Consultants, San Antonio.pKenneth E. Nemeth, Schlumberger

Seismic Reservoir Characterization,Houston.

TreasurerpRebecca L. Dodge, Midwestern State

University, Wichita Falls, Texas.pDeborah K. Sacrey, Auburn Energy,

Houston.

Meet the AAPG Candidates Presidentfrom previous pge

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Numbers dont indicate energy independence

Study Cautions Overenthusiasm on Shale Capacity

T

alk abounds that unconventionalhydrocarbon production rom shale

ormations or the most part is settingthe stage or energy independence orthe United States, along with a signicantincrease in product supply or much o theworld.

The persistentscramble to get inon the shale action isunderscored by theentry o some o themajors who essentiallyabandoned theonshore U.S. not sovery long ago.

Additionally,overseas companies continue to arrive onthe domestic scene to cut deals a starkcontrast to times past.

One o the latest transactions was struckbetween Devon and China PetrochemicalCorp., aka Sinopec. Indeed, the New Yeararrived in style or Devon when the Chineseentity agreed to ork over $2.5 billion to joinDevon in developing several o its shaleelds.

Almost simultaneously, Frances TotalSA became an investor in ChesapeakeEnergys shale holdings when it agreed toinvest $2.3 billion to explore the Utica shalein Ohio.

Despite such big deals, however, thereare plenty o potential investors who remaincautious. Many maintain the ongoing shaleboom ultimately will prove to be a here

today, gone tomorrow phenomenon.It wouldnt be a rst or this industry,

where todays new big thing can (and has)

quickly become tomorrows has-been. Notsurprisingly, many veteran players continueto look back over their collective shoulders.

Nonetheless, there are high expectationsamong the optimists, which include the

substitution o now-plentiul domesticnatural gas or imported oil, large increasesin the use o domestic gas as a cleaner/saer alternative or coal/nuclear-generatedelectricity, and the addition o gas exports.

For the United States, there are manypredictions o production rates to createenergy independence.

Sounds good, huh?

Reminders o Realism

This sounds good because all enjoy theoptimism o a new discovery and today,with over 2,300 source rocks identiedaround the world, the potential seemsunlimited.

But according to past AAPG president

Dick Bishop, limits are inevitable.Any prediction about production rate

inevitably has a physical link to the length otime it will last and the total reserve, he says and that time the production will last islacking orm virtually all such predictions oenergy independence in the press.

This is the cautionary message beingespoused by Bishop and his colleagues atHouston-based RSK, where he and RSKcolleagues Wayne Kelley and Rick Baggotdecided to test the predictions.

We looked at what the United Statescould produce and how long the volumes

By LOUISE S. DURHAM, EXPLORER Correspondent

BISHOP

Some predict U.S. energy independence, but past experience may suggest otherwise. Above, giantsproduce 60 percent o our daily oil supply (top); total consumption vs. 60 percent rom giants.

See Unconventionals, pge 8

Data by Kelley et al; graphics courtesy o Dick Bishop

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would last, Bishop said. People talk aboutrates, but this is not good science unlessyou include the time those rates can last.

Importantly, Bishop adds, this wasnot asked casually, but was the resulto several years studying the economic

controls on global energy supply rates (notvolumes). The basic approach was, giventodays technology, well rates and resourcevolumes, what might the production ratesbe and or how long?

Bishop outlined the straightorward RSKcomputational model:

u Assume representative well productionproles, i.e., decline curves.

u Assume drilling eort, i.e., number origs and wells drilled per rig per month.

u Sum individual well production per

month assuming 100 percent chance osuccess or each well.

u Limit the production by estimatedultimate return (EUR), area o the resource,or years to drill the resource.

u Calculate project and well economicsusing standard models.

Bishop oered a succinct summary oconclusions based on their models:

u Shale gas can signicantly reduce

the negative economic impact o importedoil but not in the near term, owing to slowmarket growth.

u Shale gas will displace some coal andnuclear use but probably will not completelyreplace them due to the large, long-termenergy needs o the nation.

u Shale oil will help to maintain and toincrease U.S. production modestly, but itscurrent EUR probably isnt large enoughto provide oil economic independence, letalone actual oil independence.

How It Will Work

Where weve been says a lot aboutwhere were headed.

Sixty percent o daily oil consumptionhas come rom the giant elds, Bishopsaid. For many decades, weve beenconsuming about 2 percent o theresource volume, but over the next 20years well see signicant increases in

percentage consumption rom theseelds.

This says the world doesnt have thespare capacity we used to have, Bishopsaid.

The novice likely would say, so just drillmore wells. Ater all, the Middle East usedto punch wellbores down that would kickout 10,000 to 20,000 bopd at a productioncost o perhaps a nickel a barrel.

Were in a dierent era now and cantadd capacity at will like we could in past

decades, Bishop said. The percentageo consumption rom the giants continuesto go up, and that means upwardpressure on oil prices.

That says shale oil will be developedin the United States, he noted.

Its a dierent world in the natural gassector, where operators have essentiallyslammed on the brakes in some areas.Soaring shale gas production volumes

over the past ew years have kickedprices into the basement making thecommodity a victim o its own success.

Even now, during the annual highseason or gas prices, the cost reportedlyell below $3/MM Btu on Dec. 30 orthe rst time in more than two years(1,020,000 Btu = 1Mc o gas).

Bishop predicts LNG will be the majorprice competitor to a lot o natural gas,noting that LNG will be like cheap MiddleEast crude in the 1960s.

Its moving to a global commoditytoday.

Where Are the Facts?

A study recently released by the

National Petroleum Council concludedthat America could have enough oilresources to meet todays oil demandlevels in the uture or decades withoutimporting rom unriendly oreigncountries.

Among the reports highlights is acomment attributed to Goldman Sachs,which indicated that it expects the UnitedStates to take the top spot as the largestoil producer by 2017.

When mentioning this to Bishop,the comment elicited a wry chuckle,and he noted the RSK models dontsupport that kind o production increase.While perhaps physically possible, thebrie duration could never be justiednancially.

Equally as mystiying are predictionso $1.50 gasoline in the United Statesannounced publicly by a nancial houserepresentative as well as a long-termpolitician hoping to have the opportunityto compete in the next presidentialelection.

We dont know the basis or theirdecisions or their orecasts, so we dontsee where these numbers are comingrom, Bishop said.

Our models arent perect, he noted.Were using public data and trying toshow what these things look like given thestate o knowledge today.

The technology and state oknowledge are going to change in theuture, and the models are going to

change, he emphasized. But this is away you can get at communicating boththe rate and the duration over which youcan maintain that rate.

Then theres the issue o expandingthe inrastructure as well as addedrening capacity to handle the dramaticproduction volume increase beingpredicted in some quarters.

A real kicker is the transportationinrastructure to reneries, Bishop said. Ithis is possible, then show us. Convinceus what is the basis or it.

As an industry, we need to becomebetter communicators to build ourcredibility with both the public and thegovernment we can no longer aordto make widespread, wild unsupported

claims to the production, he declared.I you want to make claim to a large

amount o productive capacity, thensupport this with models like we have,he said. You can say whatever you want,but back it up with models to show how itworks. EXPLO

RER

Unconventionalsfrom pge 6

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An NPC report says U.S. natural gas technically recoverable resources are increasing.

Longer leases in rontier areas backed

Shales Give Basis or RosyNPC Resource Report

Do you catch yoursel sometimeseeling antsy over the possibility oinadequate supplies o domestic

uel now and into the uture?Results o a recent study by the

National Petroleum Council (NPC) maycalm you.

According to the Institute o EnergyResearchs overview o the NPC studysndings, America could have enough oil

resources to meet todays oil demandlevels or decades without imports romcertain countries who really dont like usmuch, i at all.

Theres also a predicted decades-long supply o homemade natural gas,mainly rom actoring in the vast shalegas resource.

Just as with shale gas, the study notesthat hydraulic racturing will open uphuge shale oil resources or developmentas well an occurrence were alreadyseeing.

But beore you relax and toss yourValium supply, keep in mind that thejury is still out over the continuing

implementation o hydraulic racturing ina number o key areas.

Among other issues, hard coreopponents appear to be convinced thatmany people, particularly in the vicinityo disposal wells receiving racturingwastewater, will soon reach their demiserom resh water supplies supposedlycontaminated by this common, decades-long oileld practice.

Then there are those pesky littleearthquakes that are becoming relativelycommonplace, principally in thevicinity o hydraulic racturing/disposaloperations.

But thats a whole other story oranother day.

Study Highlights

A ew o the highlights presented inthe oil segment o the NPC study are:

u The United States is the worlds thirdlargest oil producer, ater Russia andSaudi Arabia. In act, Goldman Sachsnoted it expects the United States to takethe top spot as the largest oil producerby 2017 (see related story, page 6).

u The United States and Canadacombined produce 4 percent more oilthan largest global oil producer Russia.

u Domestic sources o oil in the UnitedStates include tight oil e.g., the Bakkenand Eagle Ford ormations, oshoreGul o Mexico and Atlantic and Paciccoasts, the Arctic, and shale oil deposits

in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.Developing these resources will

necessitate assistance rom the ederalgovernment through their inclusion in the2012-17 leasing program.

u Two scenarios were evaluated:Constrained, or limited (assumed limitedresource access, constrained technologydevelopment, greater regulatorybarriers); and unconstrained (assumedmore access and substantial technologyadvances).

u Oil rom shale ormations couldproduce as much as three million bopdby 2035.

u Together, the United States andCanada could produce up to 22.5 millionbopd, which is todays demand volume.

With increased demand, some importsstill would be necessary.

By LOUISE S. DURHAM, EXPLORER Correspondent

See NPC, pge 22

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Omans Musandam Peninsula oered challenges

Adventure Scientists Explore Remote Regions

A

APG member Simon Donato andhis adventure science colleague

reely admit they got clied outwhile inching along a limestone precipice encrusted with goat poop and strewn withloose rocks that measured 24 inches at itswidest and eight inches at its narrowest.

Falling was not an option. The ruggedlimestone mountains o Omans MusandamPeninsula plunge 500 meters to the waterso the Persian Gul. Carnivorous in nature,the ossilierous Cretaceous age limestonesshred hands, skin, even running shoes, oncontact.

The Musandam Peninsula juts out intothe Strait o Hormuz, a strategic body o

water that stretches 55 kilometers romOman to Iran.

Yes, the same Strait o Hormuz whereearlier this year Irans navy fexed itsmuscles, threatening to block the passageo oil tankers carrying a signicant portion othe worlds oil supply.

In the end, Donato and his colleagueturned around, leaving the goat trail to thegoats. They retreated to the peninsulasridge line, with its commanding views othe Persian Gul, traveling along barelydiscernable trails let by people who hadlikely vanished centuries ago.

It all occurred last March, as Donato andtwo team members mounted an adventure

science expedition to the MusandamPeninsula their mission was to investigate

undocumented archaeological sites andto explore or evidence o paleotsunamideposits.

What, you might very well ask, isadventure science?

The concept was developed by Donatoto solve and explore natures mysteries.

Adventure science is about gettingoutside, exploring the world, andunderstanding nature in a scientic way,said Donato, a Calgary-based geologistwith Imperial Oil Resources who holds adoctorate rom McMaster University.

Donato treads lightly, with a low carbon

ootprint, relying upon manpower to accessand explore remote regions o the planet.

Being a eld scientist is not about beingable to do math in your head its aboutobservational skills, Donato said. Were aresource or data collection in poorly studiedareas, primarily because theyre tough toget to.

Adventure scientists, he continued,trade hiking boots or nimble trail runningshoes, and can cover tens o kilometers ina day. Skilled at quickly conducting regionalreconnaissance, adventure scientists passtheir eld notes, GPS locations and digitalphotographs to experts who determine, inthe eld or at a later date, whether ollow-upscientic or archaeological investigationsare warranted.

The athletes bring mental and physicaltoughness, endurance, durability and

speed, he said. And the experts coachthe athletes to look or specic attributes orindicators.

A Daring Challenge

A man on the run, Donato, 35, is a talland lean endurance athlete. Last year, hebowed out o a 330-kilometer-long, non-stopmountain race in Courmayeur, Italy, aterhe sprained an ankle at the 150-kilometermark. In act, he pushed onward, to the172-kilometer mark, beore stopping toavoid long-term physiological damage.

Donato also is a man who runs towarda challenge: While reviewing a geologicalreport by R.L. Falcon, detailing a 1971expedition sponsored by the Royal

Geographic Society o London to mapthe oil and gas potential o the MusandamPeninsula, Donato was struck by one oFalcons sentences:

We were told o archaeological sites

in the interior, but the terrain was ar too

mountainous to explore; thereore, we did

not visit them.

By SUSAN R. EATON, EXPLORER Correspondent

See Expedition, pge 14

Strait ofHormuz

OMAN

UNITED

ARAB

EMIRATES

QATAR

SAUDI

ARABIA

A The view east rom Macchu Pichu isnothing but open ocean; this is the last piece oland beore a mariner would enter the Gul oOman and Indian Ocean.

B Donato makes his way down the steep and

loose rock wadi (380 meters o terror) atergetting clied-out crossing the isthmus.

C A large graveyard preserved on one o theinterior plateaus near one o the ancient villages.There were several hundred graves.

A

C

B

Photos courtesy o Jim Mandelli

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Unknowingly, Falcon had throwndown the gauntlet; 40 years later, Donatoaccepted the challenge. The MusandamPeninsula, a ormidable natural ortress orock with no roads and ew inhabitants,was a perect candidate or an adventurescience expedition.

Donato, a Fellow with the New York-based Explorers Club, led BeyondRoads: The Musandam Peninsula OmanExpedition rom March 5-20, 2011. Thethree-man expedition carried the ExplorersClub Flag #71 to Oman.

The team arrived during the Arab Springuprisings, and tensions had spilled intoOman. The initial meeting with the Omaniboat captain went badly, and he warned theteam: Foreigners are not allowed to travel

there its patrolled rom the air.The boat captains parting words

beore he quit were: I somebody ndsyou, its bad or you, and its bad or me.

Luckily, the team ound a replacementwho erried them, their gear and 80 liters owater to the remote tip o the MusandamPeninsula.

High Way to the Danger Zone

Apart rom alling, health risks on thetrip included sunburn, dehydration andbites rom venomous vipers, scorpions andcamel spiders. The team carried a satellitephone or emergency communications.

Richard Rothaus was one o Donatosteam members. Rothaus, president and

principal archaeologist o Treoil Culturaland Environmental LLC in Sauk Rapids,Minn., conrmed that hes not an enduranceathlete nor was he the colleague stuck onthe goat ledge with Donato.

Ater an arduous day o shuttling 50-literbackpacks ull o supplies and water andclimbing 200 meters with no trails to speako, in 30-degree C temperatures Rothauselected to camp at lower elevations, actingas the resident archaeology expert whileDonato and the third team member, JimMandelli, an engineer and elite athlete romVancouver, British Columbia, conducted 50kilometers o reconnaissance in 10 days.

Daily rations, per person, consisted o2,500 calories, placing team members ina caloric decit based upon their exertion

levels. Each man had a daily allocation othree liters o water, which included cookingwater.

Due to the areas remoteness and anagging concern that the boat captain

Expeditionfrom pge 12

Formerly irrigated elds (water transported along mudded stone walls visible) next to ruinedstructures on a plateau bounded by a vertical drop o several hundred meters. Cloud-cappedmountains in the distance belong to the isthmus connecting our starting point to the peninsula.

Rothaus and Donato resting at Camp 2, and drying wet gear. The adventure scientists weresurprised to discover that the uninhabited beaches were covered in plastic bottles and otherfotsam discarded at sea by mariners.

See Adventure Science, pge 16

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might not return the team was exploringa militarily strategic area without any ocialpermits water was rationed, at one pointduring the expedition, to 1.5 liters a day.

Arm Chair Archaeology

Using Google Earth, modern-dayexpedition planning involved arm chairarchaeology. Honing in rom space, Donatoand his team scoured the area or geometricshapes evidence o human habitation discovering the existence o circular andrectangular buildings, stone retaining wallsand long-since abandoned agriculturalsettlements connected by a network o oottrails on the high plateaus o the MusandamPeninsula.

One site, in particular, captured Donatoscuriosity: a circular stone structure andretaining walls, which Donato dubbed theMachu Picchu o Oman.

The view rom space enabled the teamto select barely visible oot trails criss-

crossing the rocky, sand blown terrain,which Donato described as pretty damngnarly.

Good luck with nding a 500-year-oldtrail, on the ground, in an environment likethat, he said.

Google Earth has changed everything,Rothaus said. Its now the number oneplace to start or mission planning.

In the absence o any recent topographicmaps, the group relied upon Google Earth,as well as some old Russian maps and the1971 geological maps produced by Britishgeologists.

Going in, we had absolutely no ideawhether someone had built the stone walls4,000 years ago or 50 years ago, Rothausexplained. There was no soil development,

which led to an amazing level o preservedmaterial.

Rothaus has worked with geologists ormore than 20 years, and has benettedimmensely rom the cross-pollination oskill sets. Archaeology and geology, hesaid, rely upon the same tools to perormresponsible documentation in the eld.

Archaeologists investigating coastalarchaeological sites, he said, need tounderstand the complex impacts o seismicevents, climate change, sea level rise,sediment deposition, subsidence andablation.

Forgotten Outpost

Omans Machu Picchu was the rst o

20 sites including several large villages the team documented. A lost outpost inOmani history, the site consisted o a largecircular rock structure measuring 40 metersin diameter.

Several hundred meters uphill, Donatoand Mandelli discovered a grouping o20 large rectangular buildings, most withwalls intact and massive limestone lintelsstill perched above the doors. Accordingto Rothaus, the majority o the sitesinvestigated were built between the 15thand 19th centuries, and the pottery pointedto both Portuguese and Asian infuences.

Several o the villages containedbuildings with large pottery vesselsin pristine condition. The team alsodocumented cemeteries, cli shelters,

cisterns, agricultural sites, lookouts, signaltowers and various walls and ortications.

No ground was broken at any o thesites, and Rothaus believes theres potentialor signicant discoveries through proper

Adventure Sciencefrom pge 14

See Danger Zone, pge 18

Final day o the trip: AAPG member Simon Donato walking northward along a ledge, several hundred meters above the wadi bottom. This ancienttrail led to the isolated town o Kumzar, which is the most northerly inhabited spot on the Peninsula.

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archaeological excavations, which couldinclude carbon dating.

There was such a unique ecologicalniche on the plateaus, Rothaus said,because habitation only worked when theclimate was wetter and cooler than today.

The presence o cisterns and irrigationsystems, he said, indicated that althoughlie was tough, people armed on theMusandam Peninsula beore the climatechanged.

According to Rothaus, its alwaysgood to have a dual-purpose expedition.The peninsulas rocky coastlines and acorresponding lack o readily accessiblebeach sediments prevented the teamrom investigating evidence o paleotsunamideposits.

No stranger to Omans geology, Donatosdoctorate work involved three eld seasonso studying paleotsunami deposits in theSur Lagoon located 200 kilometers south oMuscat, Omans capital city.

In the world o tsunamis, paleo reers

to anything thats buried and that we donthave historical records or, Donato said.

In the mid-2000s, Donato, his doctoratethesis adviser and Rothaus worked on aVibracore project, searching or sedimentso tsunamigenic origin. The team mappeda laterally extensive shell horizon, greaterthan one square kilometer in size, whichextended deep into the lagoon.

The ve- to 25-centimeter-thick horizoncontained numerous sub-tidal and oshorebivalve species, including many articulatedshells.

The bivalve horizon they mappedcorrelated with an 8.1 magnitudeearthquake on Nov. 28, 1945, which wasocused in the eastern portion o the MakranSubduction Zone o the Arabian Sea. The

earthquake generated a powerul tsunami,causing destruction in Pakistan, Iran, Indiaand the city o Muscat.

Donatos doctorate work demonstratedhow low cost, geological investigations canbe used or risk assessment purposes in coastal areas with a history o seismicactivity but no documented paleotsunamirecord.

Your Own Back Yard

In order to protect the settlementsrom looting, Donato and his team haventpublished the coordinates o their studyarea.

(A ull report o Beyond Roads: TheMusandam Peninsula Oman Expedition can

be ound on the New York Explorers Clubwebsite, under the Flag Report section:

http://www.explorers.org/pd/Flag_71_-_Simon_V._Donato_Flag_Report_7-19-11.pd.)

However, theyve provided all othe expeditions ndings to the Omanigovernment.

The good news, Rothaus said, isthat the area is remote and its not underimmediate threat.

Donato has replaced his trail runners,which, by the end o the Omani expedition,were held together by medical tape andsurgical glue.

He challenged ellow geoscientists tolace up their running shoes, to practice theirart o eld observations and to make new

discoveries in their own back yards or in themost remote regions o the planet.

Geologists are a rare breed, and theymake good adventure scientists, he said.

We have an appreciation or the naturalworld and or landscapes, and wereendowed with a sense o curiosity. EXPLO

RER

Delegates will consider threeproposals at the House oDelegates meeting at the AAPG

Annual Convention and Exhibition inLong Beach, Cali.

Two o the proposals deal with

change o membership classications.House Chair Je Lund said the

proposals were generated rom the HoDConstitution and Bylaws Committee,chaired by Dave Entzminger.

The membership classicationproposals are:

u Membership SimplicationProposal.

u Membership Class SolutionProposal.

u Delegates also will consider a

Strategic Plan Amendment proposingany recommendations to the ExecutiveCommittee involving potentialamendments to the Constitution andBylaws shall also be orwarded to theHouse o Delegates or review and

comment.Both o the membership classication

proposals address the present memberclassications o the Association(Active, Emeritus, Honorary, Student andAssociate) with the aim o simpliyingand clariying the classication scheme.

The C&BLC voted unanimously at itsmeeting to present both proposals atthe Long Beach meeting or delegatediscussion o both proposals.

Both proposals are orwarded without

endorsement rom the C&BLC.Ater discussion on the House foor,

an inormal vote could be solicitedrom the delegates to establish whichproposal or parts o the proposals, iany, the House would endorse.

The C&BLC would then rewritethe appropriate sections o thebylaws needed to ollow the Housesendorsement and bring it to a ormalvote in 2013.

The proposals have been sent todelegates and are published online.The specic proposals and a discussionarea are accessible rom the AAPGwebsite ront.

Member comments are invited. EXPLORER

HoD to Consider Membership Classifcations Danger Zonefrom pge 16

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Angola Field Trips Are Geology And More

A

APG award-winning geologistTako Koning doesnt need to be

schlepping through the oil seeps,dotted with abandoned land mines, inthe Barra do Dane and Libongos regionso Angola, leading a group o shakingand rightened tourists, students andgeoscientists on a geological tour manywondering i its sae to use the nearbybushes or a bathroom break.

In case youregoing, make a note:Its not.

So why do I leadthese eld trips?

Koning has a wayo anticipating thequestions.

It must be orthe passion, or its

certainly not or thepaycheck.

I lead the trips on a volunteer basis no one pays me to do this.

So, this time, I ask the question.I like to share my knowledge o the

ascinating geology o this area, hesays, simply.

This area is Angola.For him, its a long way rom home.Except or him, it now is home.Koning, who received AAPGs Public

Service Award in 2010 ater a lietimeo mixing humanitarian aid with hisscience on a global basis, was born inHolland, but raised in Canada. It was

there, at 21, he started a 40-plus-yearcareer by working or Texaco. He alsohas published more than 100 papersand abstracts, received awards, andbeen acknowledged in journals andmagazines.

Over that span, hes had positions inIndonesia, Nigeria and, lastly, Angola.

He retired about 10 years ago orabout a hal hour.

Hes now in his second career, andstill in Angola, where he worked as aconsultant or Tullow Oil and now holdsa similar position in Luanda with Ganey,Cline and Associates.

But what has him passionate these days,really or the last eight at the time o theinterview, has been the eld trips that hehas been leading in Angola trips he callsGeology Field Trips with a Dierence.

They have been designed andplanned so visitors and natives can

experience the geologic wonders oa country he has come to love andalong the way, experience a ew o itsheartaches, as well.

As he says, It provides people theopportunity to visit, as part o a group, abeautiul area o Angola.

War and Peace

Koning has led approximately 20 tripsover the past eight years, which meansclose to 800 people have seen rom ageologic perspective this war-torn, yetoten pristine place.

Specically, he shows his groupoutcrops that are lovely to view and, orexplorationists, important clues to the

subsurace.I also show them interesting and

historically signicant oil seeps that haveormed rich asphalt deposits, he said.

He then talks about the wonders ohaving lunch at an outcrop consisting oractured Precambrian granites.

The attendees are provided theopportunity to see rocks as youngas Miocene sandstones to as old as2.5-billion-year-old granite, he said. Notbad or a one day eld trip.

Its not just about the rocks, though.

By BARRY FRIEDMAN, EXPLORER Correspondent

Angolas Dande River, a popular picnic site or eld trip groups: Rest, ood and geology.

KONING

See Angola Treks, pge 22

MAKINGaDIFFERENCE

Photo courtesy o Angola Field Group

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It is more than that, Koning said.The area which we traverse is beautiulwith rolling hills along the coastline andsemi-rain orest in parts o the trip.

He doesnt go alone, oten beingjoined by his wie, Henriette; the Angolan

Field Group, which she started; militarydeminers; and members o the Society oPetrophysicists and Well Log Analysts.

What makes these eld trips a littledierent rom geologic eld trips inplaces like the USA, Canada or Europe isthat the area we traverse was aected bymilitary confict, Koning said. There is areal and present danger o land mines inthe area.

Though Angolas 37-year civil warended in 2002, one can still nd manyo these land mines as well as anabandoned Russian tank.

Still, peace and progress have nowintroduced a new kind o danger thatgoes beyond discarded weapons o war.

In actual act, the biggest rush on the

eld trips is not land mines, Koning said,but the possibility o trac accidents.

And that is because Angola, thankslargely to increased oil production, isexperiencing boom times. The countryspopulation has increased rom 0.5 millionin 1975 to more than ve million today.Oil production is up to almost two millionbarrels per day or this southern Aricannation.

(According to the CIA World Factbook,the country ranks 16th internationally inoil production more than Libya.)

Talk About Geology

But with growth comes trac.Its a mess.

I highlight the importance odeensive driving [and carpools are themode o transportation to the sites], hesaid, but I must coness that I am alwaysrelieved when everyone returns saelyback to Luanda.

Everyone including people whoalready live there.

The trips are not only or expatriates,he said, but many Angolans.

He says having Angolans join him isspecial. While the geoscientists on tourhave wanted to explore the countrysideor years, the people o Angola havebeen araid to.

During the civil war, Angolans did notleave their homes in Luanda (the capital)and venture into the countryside, he

explained, so many o the Angolans onmy eld trips have not been to the areaswhich we visit.

For me, it is very satisying to bestanding at a battle site near the BengoRiver and explain to them the geologyo the area and then discuss the battlethat took place there in 1975 a time justprior to the countrys independence romPortugal, he added.

Whats most satisying, he says, iswhat happens to his participants whenthe trip is over.

Everyone benets rom inormation-sharing, he says, equating this type ogive-and-take with what occurs at anyAAPG annual convention.

From a broader view point,

he continued, my opinion is that ipeople shared more inormation andcommunicated openly and eectively,the world would see much less confictand there would be better standards oliving.

And ewer tanks and land mines. EXPLORER

Angola Treksfrom pge 20

Step on the Gas

Regarding the natural gas scene, theNPC study results noted:u The United States is the largest

producer o natural gas worldwide.In combination with Canada, the twoproduce 25 percent o the worldsnatural gas supply.u Hydraulic racturing and horizontal

drilling triggered a reassessment o thenatural gas resource base, showingsignicantly higher levels than only a ewyears back.

u The natural gas resource basecould supply more than 100 years odemand at current consumption levels,

and more than ve decades at muchexpanded levels.

The classication o natural gas as aclean uel or purposes o clean energystandards is included among the NPCslist o recommendations.

One recommendation stands out inparticular: Allow longer lease times orrontier areas, such as ultra-deep water

and the Arctic, which are especiallychallenging both in the planning stageand the actual operations.

Additionally, the NPC advocated:u Inclusion o environmental ootprints

and ull uel cycle impacts whencomparing dierent energy sources andtechnologies.

u Assembling industry-led, regionalcouncils o excellence to ensure thatbest practices or sae natural gasdevelopment are shared among all

companies.u Devising government regulations

that balance prescriptive andperormance-based regulations.

u Maintaining tailored royalty relieprograms that serve to encourageexpedited development and production. EXPLOR

ER

(Editors note: The NPC is an

advisory group comprised o industry,academic, government and other

ofcials who provide advice on oil and

natural gas issues as requested by the

DOE Secretary o Energy. Secretary

Steven Chu in 2009 tasked the group

with evaluating oil and natural gas

resources based on the our concepts

o economic prosperity, environmental

sustainability, energy security and

prudent development, with the fnal

report outlining the results.)

NPCfrom pge 10

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WWW.AAPG.ORG FEBRUARY 2012

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Recruiters Look to Shape Future o Industry

Oil giant BP,whose imagetook a hit with

the 2010 Macondooil spill in the Gul oMexico, has a bigresolution or 2012: Toadd talent to its teamby recruiting the nextgenerations leadinggeoscientists.

Not an easy task, you may think,considering a recent history that wasdominated by what some see as publicrelations missteps.

But company ocials already havebegun implementing their strategy withgusto and they say the new ocus on

entry-level opportunities could do much toundo the companys old image.

Indeed, Simon Drysdale, head o BPsHuman Resources Department-Upstream,says its recruiting strategy is not aboutportraying a particular image, but ratheropening a window or uture generationsto see BP and the scale, global reachand breadth o our business, and thetremendous career opportunities thatrepresents.

Since the Macondo incident, we havemade a number o investments in ourrecruitment capability, he said, but thesehave been driven by the need to attracttalent to ll the new jobs being created byour increased investment and successin exploration, our strong project portolio

and our success in recovering more romexisting elds.

Drysdale said BP has seen a spikein interest in careers at BP, both throughinquiries and web trac to bp.com/careers and he believes this indicates thatpotential recruits have been impressedby BPs response to the Gul o Mexicoincident.

According to him, recruiting the newgeneration is essential, because theentry-level geoscientists that we hire todayare the innovators that will keep BP at theoreront o the industry and the coachesand mentors o uture generations.

And helping him bring in the talentis a name amiliar to AAPG: CindyYeilding, a current member o AAPGs

PROWESS Committee, a previousAAPG Distinguished Lecturer and anexplorationist who was eatured in DPAsspecial publication, Heritage o thePetroleum Geologist.

According to Yeilding, who is BPs vicepresident o exploration and appraisalor the Gul o Mexico, BP is looking orminds that dont just accept the norms odoing things, but challenge the dogmaand create new ways o thinking.

Were also looking or people with thedesire and appetite to learn and develop,she added, both themselves and others.

Enter the Young

Yeilding said that her company, like

others, looks or candidates with a strongacademic record and a good degree ingeosciences, geophysics, geology, naturalsciences, earth sciences, mathematicor physics. It equally emphasizes theimportance o applicants having strongknowledge o the rst principles ogeosciences, and being able to applythose concepts to practical applications.

To recruit these types, BP is setting upat universities at many dierent locations but the companys recruiting actually startseven beore university level.

In hopes o recruiting uture studentsto not just BP but the industry as a whole,we take part in high school outreachprograms where we bring in science andengineering students to spend the day

here to learn about our careers, Yeildingsaid. We also sponsor Take Your Child toWork Day, where elementary through highschool students join us at BP or a day to

By COURTNEY CHADNEY, EXPLORER Correspondent

PROTRACKS

YEIldING

See Careers, pge 28

BPs Highly Immersive Visual Environment, or HIVE, is a high-tech draw or young proessionals.

Photos courtesy o BP

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YPs invited

Creating Community

K

ey initiatives or AAPGs YoungProessionals or the coming year

were discussed at last years YoungProessionals Leadership Summit in Boulder,Colo., where a number o breakout sessionsinvolving AAPG leadership producedvaluable results.

The Summit eortsare complementedby the results o arecent survey o YoungAAPG Proessionals,which received over700 replies, helpingto urther dene keyissues that needed YPCommittee ocus.

Our primary goalor the coming year is to continue to workon retaining Student members ater their

graduation by creating a YP communityacross the entire membership. We have setup YP Chapters in several cities out overmost Sections and Regions and are workinghard to expand that network.

To help ease the transition rom Studentto YP status we also are creating jointly withthe Student Chapter Committee a conceptor YP outreach to Student Chapters.Details are currently being discussed, but itenvisages YPs adopting a Student Chapter.

Furthermore, we are collaborating withthe DPA to ormulate a Member-in-Trainingconcept that would provide a track or YPsto ollow to DPA certication.

It was clear rom the survey that manyYPs are unaware o the Young Proessionals

Committee, nor have visited our websiteor Facebook page, which we recentlyredesigned to increase visibility and improvecommunication.

The survey also showed that YPs eelthey play no role in the decision making othe organization; we are tackling that issuethrough recruiting YPs to committees wherewe had identied vacancies.

We also are working with Je Lund,chair o the AAPG House o Delegates,and AAPG Section/Region leadershipto encourage the placement o YPs onthe ballot or the next HoD election. RyanLemiski was the rst to be elected to theHoD (see November EXPLORER), and wehope there will be many more in the nearuture.

Finally, I would like to invite all YPs outthere who want to contribute to what weare trying to achieve to get in touch withme or their Section/Region leads and getinvolved!

Follow us online, on Facebook and inupcoming EXPLORER articles.

And o course we hope to see many oyou at the ACE in Long Beach. EXPLO

RER

(Editors note: Nick Lagrilliere, AAPG

YP Committee chair, is with Maersk Oil

in Copenhagen, Denmark, and can be

reached at [email protected].)

By NICK LAGRILLIERE, Chair, AAPG Young Proessionals Committee

learn about the science and engineeringwe apply on the job.

Yeilding also spoke o the data thecompany has been releasing as anotherway they are not only recruiting but alsoeducating others about the industry.She said BP just released to 14 U.S.universities access to more than 300gigabytes o high-resolution geophysicaldata in the Gul o Mexico.

The data was originally gathered anddeveloped or operational planning atour BP-operated deepwater elds, shesaid.

The les included multi-beam echo-sounder data or detailed bathymetricmapping, sidescan sonar or seabedimaging and sub-bottom prolerrecords or analysis o shallow marinesedimentary layers.

This project provides data touniversities to continue academicresearch and develop specializedexpertise among students andresearchers in the oshore, whilegiving BP the opportunity to strengthenrelationships with and learn romgeosciences researchers and potentialrecruits.

Team Work

Yeilding and Drysdale both spokeo the great career environment andopportunities or growth available at BPor the next generation o geoscientists.

They also cited two programs thathelp support geoscience proessionals

beginning their careers with thecompany:

u The HIVE, or Highly ImmersiveVisual Environment, a collaborative workspace that enables young proessionalsto image and integrate a wide range odata below the earths surace.

u The Challenge Program, oering

structured training and mentorship intheir early career years.

We get great eedback rom ourChallenge Program, Yeilding said.My riends in the program value thestructured training the ChallengeProgram oers, the responsibility thatthey get early in their careers and the actthat people always take the time to helpthem out and answer their questions.

Yeilding cited technology, peopleand opportunity as reasons why BPwould be an attractive place or younggeoscience proessionals, but alsoadded, Its not just about the rocks andthe high-tech equipment.

A geoscientist at BP gets realresponsibility, working with amazing

people to deliver energy to the world,she said. We work as one team todevelop, test and challenge our ideas,creating an excellent environment ornew industry entrants to develop theircareers. EXPLO

RER

Careersfrom pge 26

laGRIllIERE

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WASHINGTONWATCH

Politics Puts KeystoneXL Pipeline in Limbo

Irst wrote about the Keystone XLpipeline in this column back inSeptember 2010. At the time, the project

was nearing the end o a review by theU.S. Department o State or a PresidentialPermit.

Fast orward nearly 1-years later, andnot only has the permit not been approved,but the project has become a rallying pointor environmentalgroups opposed to oildevelopment,particularly romCanadas oil sands.

The White Housesdenial o the proposalin mid-January

did not scuttle thepipeline, and PresidentObama said, Thisannouncement is nota judgment on the merits o the pipeline butthe arbitrary nature o a deadline

While not dead, any timeline or thepipeline proposal is certainly muddled.

Meanwhile TransCanadas chieexecutive ocer, said in a statement, Plansare already under way on a number oronts to largely maintain the constructionschedule o the project.

Thus, the conversation continues.First proposed by TransCanada in

September 2008, the 36-inch diameterKeystone XL pipeline is designed to bringcrude oil rom Canada as well as U.S.

producing regions to reneries along theGul coast. It is an expansion o the existingKeystone pipeline system. And atercompletion the entire system will carry 1.3billion barrels o oil per day more thandouble its current capacity.

Canada is the largest supplier o crudeoil to the United States by a signicantmargin. This is a mutually benecialrelationship that underpins the worldslargest trading partnership.

The Keystone XL project requires aPresidential Permit, because it crossesthe U.S.-Canadian border. And part o thereview involves preparing an environmentalimpact statement (EIS).

The EIS, released in April 2010, wascriticized by the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency or being too narrowly

ocused on the pipeline itsel and notconsidering the potential impact o both theproduction and consumption o the crudeoil in the pipeline. O particular concern toEPA was the impact on greenhouse gasemissions.

This sentiment was echoed bycongressional critics and environmentalgroups, and their collective eorts orcedthe postponement o a decision while theState Department gathered additional data.

Ater nearly one year o review and ninepublic meetings in Texas, Kansas, Montana,Nebraska, South Dakota, Oklahoma and

Washington, D.C., the State Departmentannounced last November that it neededyet more inormation beore rendering adecision. It revised its target date to the rstquarter o 2013.

The announcement drew howls oprotest rom Republicans and supporterso the pipeline project. They charged thatthe Obama administration was intentionallystalling to appease environmental groups,as well as avoid the issue until ater the 2012

election.

* * *

Politics certainly played a role in thedecision to delay the permit. Thats nota criticism, but rather a characteristico the policy-making process. And inthis instance the president really doesace a thorny political problem, with twoimportant constituencies on opposite sideso the issue: labor unions support it andenvironmental groups oppose it.

But the core reason or the delayarticulated by the State Departmentwas growing concern in the state o

CURTISS

By DAVID K. CURTISS, AAPG Executive Director

Canada is the largestsupplier of crude oil tothe United States by asignificant margin.

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The Geophysical Corner is a regular column in the EXPLORER, edited by Satinder Chopra,

chie geophysicist or Arcis Corporation, Calgary, Canada, and a current AAPG-SEG Joint

Distinguished Lecturer. This months column deals with multicomponent seismic stratigraphy.

Aundamentalthesis o elasticwaveeld

seismic stratigraphy(or multicomponentseismic stratigraphy)is that S-wave seismicdata have equalvalue to P-wavedata or geologicalinterpretation.

Seismic stratigraphy analyses,then, should be based on interpretingP and S data in combination (the ullelastic waveeld) rather than restrictinginterpretation to only single-componentP-wave data (traditional seismicstratigraphy).

An example illustrating dierencesbetween P-wave and S-wave denitions orefecting interaces and the rock physics

principles that cause this behavior arediscussed in this months column.

The particular S-wave mode used inthis example is the converted-shear (P-SV) mode.

* * *

Marked contrasts betweencompressional-wave (P-P) and P-SVseismic sequences and seismic aciesoccur across numerous stratigraphicintervals. The example chosen or thisdiscussion is rom west Texas (gure 1).

The arrows on the P-P and P-SVimages o this gure identiy a signicantdierence between P-P and P-SVrefectivities or a targeted reservoirinterval the Wolcamp ormation.

Well log data across the Wolcampinterval local to this seismic prole aredisplayed on gure 2.

P-P and P-SV refectivity behaviors areanalyzed across the Wolcamp interace,shown at a depth o approximately 10,300eet, to demonstrate the geologicalreason or the dierence in P-P and P-SVrefection amplitude strengths exhibited ongure 1.

Compressional-wave and shear-wavevelocities and ormation bulk densityvalues were averaged across 300-ootintervals immediately above and belowthis internal Wolcamp interace, andthese average rock properties were usedto calculate the refectivity curves shownas gure 3.

These curves conrm that or thisparticular interace, P-SV refectivity is

greater than P-P refectivity when bothrefectivity curves are evaluated over alarge range o incidence angles.

For example, P-P refectivity exceeds0.04 only or incidence angles between 0and 15 degrees, but P-SV refectivity has amagnitude greater than 0.04 or incidenceangles between 15 degrees and 45degrees an angle range that is twice aslarge as that o the high-amplitude P-Presponse.

Because the multicomponent seismicdata across this study area were acquiredwith a ull range o incidence angles, thedierence in P-P and P-SV amplitudebehavior shown on gure 1 has a validrock-physics basis.

P-P amplitudes should be weaker than

P-SV amplitudes, and the data exhibit thatbehavior.* * *

The principle documented by thisexample is that an elastic waveeldseismic stratigraphy interpretation basedon both P-P and P-SV data can providea dierent and oten a more valid geological model o seismic sequenceboundaries and seismic acies thancan a single-mode seismic stratigraphyinterpretation based on P-P data only.

Future applications o seismicstratigraphy probably will rely more andmore on ull-elastic waveeld seismic datathan on only single-component seismicdata. EXPLOR

ER

(Editors note: Bob A. Hardage is

senior research scientist at the Bureau

o Economic Geology, the University o

Texas at Austin. He was the past editor

o Geophysical Corner, and is currently

serving as president o SEG.)

Multicomponent Seismic Proves Its ValueBy BOB HARDAGE

GEOPHYSICALCORNER

HaRdaGE

Figure 1 P-P and P-SV images centered on the Wolcamp (arrows). P-P data exhibit a low-amplitude seismic acies that is dicult to interpret; P-SV data produce a h igh-amplitudeseismic acies. Data provided by Fasken Oil and Ranch.

Figure 2 Log data across the Wolcamp interval (9,714 to 10,902 eet KB). The velocity curve on the let

o the center panel is shear velocity, VS. The curve on the right is compressional velocity VP. Wolcamprefectivity was evaluated at the interace drawn at approximately 10,300 eet (3,149 meters).

Figure 3 P-P and P-SV refectivities at the Wolcamp interace, at approximately 10,300 eet(3,140 meters).

Nebraska about the pipeline runningthrough the Sand Hills, which ederalocials described as including a highconcentration o wetlands o specialconcern, a sensitive ecosystem,and extensive areas o very shallowgroundwater.

This public concern was real. And theNebraska legislature convened in specialsession to review the matter. It passed alaw requiring the Nebraska Departmento Environmental Quality to review andcertiy all pipeline projects to be builtthrough the state. It also was clear romthe debate that the pipeline would have

to be rerouted away rom the Sand Hills.TransCanada publicly supported

the legislatures action and indicated itsdesire to work cooperatively to nd asuitable route or the pipeline.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Washington, D.C.,tempers were running short as policymakers labored to pass a payroll tax relieextension beore leaving or Christmas. Inan attempt to orce the presidents hand,congressional Republicans inserted aprovision in the bill that required him todecide on the Keystone XL permit byFeb. 23.

I the president had granted the

permit it would have delivered a victoryto the projects supporters but apolitical one, as opponents would haveled a blizzard o lawsuits claiming thatthe ederal review process was short-circuited.

Denying the permit avoids that courtbattle, but provides the presidentspolitical opponents with a ready-madesound bite in an election year. And onethat is particularly potent i oil pricesspike.

And so, once again, the Keystone XLpipeline is in limbo.

But i you can tune out the clamorand din o the debate and see past thepolitical posturing and point scoring,your ocus is drawn to a pipeline project

that generates jobs, economic activityand enhanced energy security. All o thatwrapped up with a heightened sensitivityto prudent and necessary environmentalsaeguards.

Its time to get on with it. EXPLORER

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Editors note: Regions and Sections is a regular column in the EXPLORER

oering news or and about AAPGs six international Regions and six

domestic Sections. Contact: Carol McGowen, AAPGs Regions and

Sections manager, at 1-918-560-9403; or e-mail to [email protected].

Geoscientists and others working the

booming plays o Latin America knowexperience is a great tool.

When it comes to unconventional plays,that means learning rom the experience otheir peers in North America.

That was obvious during the 2011 AAPGGeoscience Technology Workshops (GTWs)held in Buenos Aires in June and Bogota inDecember, when operators rom Argentina,Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuelawere eager to maximize their capitalinvestment by learning rom the experience

o U.S. and Canadian companies.u First, in Buenos Aires, 155

geoscientists, engineers and geophysicistsrom 52 companies and eight countries

participated in GTW Argentina. The

workshop was co-hosted by the AAPGLatin America Region and the AsociacinArgentina de Gelogos y GeosicosPetroleros.

u Then in Bogota, the Latin AmericaRegion and the Asociacion Colombianade Geologos y Geosicos del Petroleocollaborated to co-host GTW Colombia,where a new record or GTW attendancewas set by 163 proessionals rom 56companies and seven countries.

Unconventional play development iscostly, and by escalating the learning curve,Latin American companies hope to benetrom both the successes and ailures oNorth American experiences.

In 2011, companies across LatinAmerica and North America invested in

learning through AAPG GTWs.

Measures o Success

U.S. natural gas production rates in the1970s were in a state o continuous decline and as recently as 2007 it was believedthat U.S. consumption demand couldonly be met by importing large volumes oliqueed natural gas (LNG).

Instead, recent shale gas productionhas more than doubled the size o knownnatural gas reserves in North America, andis expected to supply over 100 years oconsumption at current rates.

Currently there are at least sixcompeting shale gas plays in the UnitedStates, including the Barnett, Marcellus,

Haynesville, Fayetteville, Woodord andEagle Ford, as well as several producingshale plays in Canada. I ully developed,the Marcellus is estimated to become one othe largest natural gas elds in the world.

In its February 2010 study, FuelingNorth Americas Energy Future, IHS CERAestimated the recoverable gas resourcebase o the six major U.S. shale gas playsexceeded 1,100 trillion cubic eet (Tc), orabout 40 percent o the total estimated U.S.natural gas resource base at the time o thereport.

As recently as last month, the U.S.Energy Inormation Agency reportednatural gas working inventories continue toset new record highs and ended December2011 at an estimated 3.5 Tc, about 12

percent above the same time last year.Discoveries o abundant shale gas have

not only reversed the nations decliningenergy supplies, but also made signicanteconomic impacts across the United Statesand Canada.

And enormous untapped potentialremains, as indicated by a U.S. GeologicalSurveys Q3 2011 assessment o shale gasresources in the lower 48 states, whichcalculates mean total shale gas resourceso 336 Tc o gas rom yet undiscovered buttechnically recoverable resources in ninebasins.

The Learning Curve

Geoscientists have long known that vast

volumes o natural gas and other orms ohydrocarbons are stored in low permeabilityrocks across North America. But only in thelast ew years with improved methods and

GTWs provide international platorm

Shared Shale Experience is a Great ToolBy CAROL McGOWEN, Regions and Sections Manager

REGIONSandSECTIONS

See Latin America, pge 34

Latin American companies hope to benefit

from both the successes and failures of

North American experiences.

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the combined use o technologies like multi-stage hydraulic racturing and horizontaldrilling have operators been able toextract signicant commercial quantities othese unconventional resources.

With each new play, North Americanteams apply learnings rom the previousplay along with improved drilling andcompletion methods. This continuouslearning approach has yielded anexponential increase in unconventionalresources production.

For example:u Natural gas production rom the

Barnett Shale was discovered in the early1980s. Laterally expansive, the shaleormation covers over 5,000 square miles

in North Texas. Production was steady butremained relatively fat until approximately2001, when production increaseddramatically and continued increasing to arate o 1 Bcd around 2004.

The production spike is attributedto substantial eld development eortsinduced by technological improvementsin recovery methods and a avorableeconomic environment.

u The Fayetteville shale gas play covers9,000 square miles across the ArkomaBasin. For practical purposes, developmento the play began in 2005 with theintroduction o horizontal drilling. Beginningin approximately 2006, production ratessoared to the 1 Bcd level within three years.

u The Marcellus Shale covers 54,000square miles, running through Ohio, WestVirginia, Pennsylvania and into New York. In2002, the U.S. Geological Survey estimatedthe Marcellus Shale held 30.7 Tc o natural

gas. Actual gas production rom theMarcellus Shale jumped to 1 bcd between2008 and 2010.

According to the most recent USGSassessment, the Marcellus is now estimatedto contain about 84 Tc o undiscovered,technically recoverable natural gas and 3.4billion barrels o undiscovered, technicallyrecoverable natural gas liquids.

The increase in resource is due to new

geologic inormation and engineering data,according to the report, as technologicaldevelopments in producing unconventionalresources have been signicant in the lastdecade.

Economic Impact o Unconventionals

Examples o the positive economicimpacts o unconventional resourcedevelopment are not hypothetical.Positive contributions to economic growth,

employment, government revenues andcapital investment have been quantiedacross North America.

The shale gas industry alone contributessignicantly to the U.S. economy both interms o direct employment o workers andindirect employment o supplier industries.

The December 2011 IHS Global Insightreport attributed economic benets romunconventional resource production in

terms o employment.In 2010, the shale gas industry

supported over 600,000 jobs, the reportread. By 2015, the total number o U.S.jobs supported by the shale gas industryis projected to increase by 45 percent tonearly 870,000 jobs.

The IHS report urther said that inaddition to jobs creation and support in2010, shale gas production contributed$18.6 billion in ederal, state and local taxrevenues and ederal royalty revenues.

By 2015, total government tax revenuesrom the shale gas industry, government taxrevenues comprised o ederal, state andlocal taxes plus ederal royalty paymentsare projected to increase by 54 percentto $28.5 billion, according to IHS reported

data.A number o recent independent studies

have assessed the economic impact ounconventional shale plays in the UnitedStates rom the Barnett, Haynesville andMarcellus plays, among others. Withoutexception, communities, states andregions have benetted rom the shale gasindustrys contribution o jobs, inrastructureimprovements and tax revenues.

Lower energy costs resulting romplentiul natural gas supplies also areattracting new industries. Similar economicbenets rom production o shale gas andshale oil can also be cited or Canada.

A Perryman Groups 2011 study o theBarnett Shales impact on business activitysaid, Direct spending or exploration and

production activity leads to multipliereects through the economy, which, in turn,initiate a chain o spillover business stimulusthrough the area.

Lessons or Latin America

What are the lessons learned rom theNorth American experience that can beapplied and will oster the development ounconventional resources in Latin America?

Because the unconventional oil and gasbusiness is undamentally dierent thanconventional exploration and production,company and individual investment inlearning is critically important. Over thelast ew years, technical expertise hasbeen acquired to economically benet

producers o unconventional resources andcommunities in North America.

Clearly, AAPG GTWs are serving toacilitate knowledge transer.

This year, AAPG will continue the trendby partnering with local aliate societies tooer GTWs in Brazil and Peru.

In time, economic benets similar tothose derived in North America can also berealized in Latin America rom developmento unconventional resources. And as recentoperations by companies in Argentina,Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay indicate, theunderstanding o unconventional reservoirsystems gained in North America already isbeing applied as analogs or undrilled areasin Latin America.

And i the business environment

is right, the high cost o producingunconventional resource plays will payo in reduced reliance on imported oil orLNG or the producing country plus muchneeded economic activity in the ormo jobs, tax revenues and inrastructuredevelopment. EXPLO

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Latin Americafrom pge 32

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ACE can be a amily aair

Child CareService OeredIn Long Beach

You may have noticed parentswith very small children ininant carriers at the Icebreaker

reception and other AAPG AnnualConvention and Exhibition (ACE)events over the years.

Have you ever wondered whathappens to those children when theyget old enough to walk and are notallowed in the exhibit hall?

They certainly are not HomeAlone.

However, or parents to attend anout-o-town meeting requires complexlogistics and a supportive amily andor the growing number o dual-career

households it is even more diicultto ind proessional and reliable childcare while attending meetings awayrom home.

To answer this problem, AAPG isproviding proessional and un childcare at this years AAPG AnnualConvention April 22-25 in Long Beach,Cali.

This service has been initiated byAAPGs Proessional Women in EarthSciences Committee, ater a survey opotential convention attendees showedthat the availability o reliable childcarewould persuade many parents toattend the ACE.

AAPG has selected KiddieCorp toprovide licensed, proessional child

care at the Renaissance Long BeachHotel, which is located next to theLong Beach Convention Center.

Parents can bring their childrento Long Beach, participate in all themeeting events and then spend timewith their children enjoying the manylocal attractions, such as the Aquariumo the Paciic, the Queen Mary and theFerris wheel and later in extendingyour visit to include a trip to nearbyDisneyland or Universal Studios.

The service will be available:u Sunday (April 22) rom

2:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.u Monday rom 7:30 a.m. to

10:00 p.m.u Tuesday rom 7:30 a.m. to

9:30 p.m.u Wednesday rom 7:30 a.m.

to 6:00 p.m.KiddieCorp has provided high-

quality child care at conventions andcorporate events or over 25 years;the Geological Society o America hasused KiddieCorp to provide child careat its annual conventions since 2005.

The service will be available inLong Beach or children aged sixmonths through 12 years. The cost is$8 per hour and a two-hour minimum isrequired.

To use the childcare service, submityour reservation at www.aapg.org/longbeach2012/Childcare.cm beoreMarch 21, 2012.

Some companies may subsidizetheir employees use o the service,so check with your manager orHR department to see i support isavailable. EXPLO

RER

By EDITH ALLISON, PROWESS Co-Chair

The technical program is in place andonline registration is now open or thisyears AAPG Annual Convention and

Exhibition, which will be held April 22-25 inLong Beach, Cali.

The ACE theme is Directing the Futureo E&P: Starring Creative Ideas and New

Technology, and more than 400 papersand 700 posters will be oered, coveringthe latest in science, exploration andindustry trends rom around the world.

Also eatured will be ve special orumevents, including this years presentationo the Discovery Thinking program recognizing ve more geologists who jointhe 100 Who Made A Dierence list andthe annual Michel T. Halbouty Lecture,this year eaturing John Grotzinger, JonesProessor o Geology at the Caliornia

Institute o Technology and chie scientistor the Mars Science Laboratory, who willdiscuss the search or source rocks onMars.

This years technical program is set on11 themes:

u Active Oil and Gas Fields Development and Production.

u Emerging Frontiers.u Siliciclastic Reservoirs Exploration

and Characterization.u Carbonates and Evaporites

Exploration and Characterization.u Unconventional Resources.u Basin Analysis and Petroleum

Systems.u Alternative Energy.

u Environmental and Energy Research.u Structural Geology and Neotectonics.u Geophysics and Seismology.u Geoscience Principles and

Applications.u Student Poster Sessions.As usual, registration ees are based on

a tier structure and registering by the rstearly bird deadline o Feb. 28 can meansavings o up to $200.

To register and or more inormation, goto www.aapg.org/longbeach2012.

Registration Savings Available Online or ACE

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Editors note: An article on Andrew Hurst, also a recipient o this years Grover E. Murray

Award, appeared in the January EXPLORER. Both Johnson and Hurst will be honored April 22

at the opening session o the AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in Long Beach, Cali.

Barrel Founder IntegratesAcademe, Training

It says something that aterspending 15 successul yearsas a geologist or a major oil

company, Howard D. Johnsonnally got a chance to ulll one ohis goals: To leave the company.

Why? Because he wanted toteach.

Its that kind o commitmentthat makes a teacher a greateducator; its the kind ocommitment that gets one an AAPG Grover

E. Murray Memorial DistinguishedEducator Award.

Teaching geology at whateverlevel, says Johnson, now theShell Proessor o PetroleumGeology at Imperial College inLondon, must be one o the bestjobs ever!

For a man who has beenaround both the business(longtime at Shell Oil) and

academic worlds o petroleum, itsnoteworthy that the excitement includingthe exclamation point is still there.

For Johnson, according to hiscolleagues, his success is that he neverviewed academic and proessional geologyas being in competition with one another.

In act, he thinks theyre seamless.I had the good ortune to have been

taught, and prooundly infuenced by, someo the best geological teachers in the world,most notably my Ph.D. supervisor, HaroldReading at Oxord University.

He added that Reading, a superlativePh.D. supervisor and all around geologicaleducator, is legendary.

(Incidentally, Reading won the GroverMurray Award in 1997, a act Johnsonknows, as he acted as his mentorsbiographer.)

But Johnson believes great geologyeducators are not just ound in theclassroom sometimes theyre in the ocedown the hall.

When I joined Shell in the late 1970s, Iound that it was ull o brilliant geologists,who were also extremely gited teachers,he said, naming colleagues Koen Weberand the late Bob Sneider, both winners othe AAPG Sidney Powers Award, as twoexamples.

It seemed, though, that no matter howrewarding his Shell experience, the pull othe classroom kept calling him.

I received an opportunity to join thesta at Imperial College London, which,he says, allowed him to embark, albeitbelatedly, on a university career.

His goal then and his goal now are thesame: To share with students the joy andenthusiasm or pursuing geology and itsmany applications.

Birth o the IBAJoy and enthusiasm those are words

not oten associated with the teachingo development geology, reservoircharacterizations and appraisals, and

sedimentology. But Johnsons a unique kindo teacher, and a unique kind o educatorand leader.

To that end, he was instrumental in twochanges at Imperial College that changed

By BARRY FRIEDMAN, EXPLORER Correspondent

SPOTLIGHTON

JOHNSON

The success of theIBA was built on a simpleconcept, which fires the

imagination equally ofboth the students involvedand the industry panelassessors.

Continued on next page

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Two infuential, award-winninggeologists who also have beenlongtime supporters o the AAPG

Foundation have been named recipientso the Foundations top awards or 2011.

uWilliam J. Bill Barrett is thisyears recipient o the L. Austin WeeksMemorial Medal, given in recognition oextraordinary philanthropy and servicedirected to advance the mission o theAAPG Foundation.

uHerbert G. Davis has been namedthe winner o the Chairmans Award,given to recognize those who have madeextraordinary contributions monetaryor service to the Foundation.

Barrett, who last year was named an

AAPG FoundationCorporation Member,is a past FoundationTrustee and hasbeen Trustee

Associate since2002. Currentlyretired as CEOand chairman oDenver-based BillBarrett Corp., Barrettis considered one o the proessionstop explorationists he received theAAPG Norman H. Foster OutstandingExplorer Award in 2003, and in 2009 wasnamed one o AAPGs 100 Who Made ADierence.

He has undedthe William J. BarrettFamily Named Grant,awarded annually toa deserving student

at Kansas StateUniversity throughthe FoundationsGrants-in-AidProgram.

Davis, an AAPGHonorary Member and a past chairmano the AAPG House o Delegates, wasa charter member o the FoundationTrustee Associates. He served as thegroups chairman; was a Member othe Corporation; Trustee Associate

chairman; and a Trustee Emeritus.He received the AAPG DistinguishedService Award in 1982.

Davis and his wie, Shirley,established a Grants-in-Aid Named

Grant with the AAPG Foundation in 2006or geology students at Oklahoma StateUniversity.

Barrett will receive his award at theupcoming AAPG Annual Conventionand Exhibition in Long Beach, Cali.;Davis will receive his award at this yearsTrustee Associate meeting in Scottsdale,Ariz. EXPLO

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Barrett, Davis Win Top Foundation Awards

BaRRETT daVIS

the departments dynamics and, to hismind, made it a one-o-a-kind institution:

u The integration o three masters-levelcourses petroleum geoscience, petroleumgeophysics and petroleum engineering.

u The merging o the earth science andengineering departments into a single entity.

And while calling that second step arare combination, especially in the UnitedKingdom, Johnson says what made it workwas the mindset o the proessors.

A vital key to this success, he said,was that the whole teaching acultyembraced the new possibilities.

Johnson is perhaps most noted, though,or building a program that would come toexempliy that bridge between academiaand proessional geology the ImperialBarrel Award competition, which has grownto become an AAPG global sensation

involving hundreds o geoscience studentseach year.

Johnson said the IBA was actuallyan upgrade rom a program already inexistence at Imperial one in which hesequally as proud.

In (Imperials) Field DevelopmentProject, we created around 20 integratedteams o geoscientists, geophysicists andpetroleum engineers (six-seven studentsper team), he said. Each team is thengiven a subsurace dataset rom an oil eld,comprising 3-D seismic and ve wells (withwell logs, cores, well tests, fuid samples,pressures, etc.), which is used to mimic theappraisal/early development stage.

The teams then have three weeks toevaluate the data and present an initial eld

development plan, including STOIIP andUR.

This, says Johnson, is extremelyrealistic, hard work and intellectuallydemanding.

The Barrel Award, which evolved aboutthree years later, is similar except in itscase the data set is more regional in extentand the aim is to evaluate basin evolution,petroleum systems and hydrocarbonanalysis.

The teams are comprised o our-vegeoscience students, who have ve weeksto complete their evaluations, he said.They present their results t

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