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SPECIAL TOPIC
Modelling / Interpretation EAGE NEWS Association award-winners take a bow TECHNICAL ARTICLE Introduction to naturally fractured reservoirs CROSSTALK
OUR PLANET. FROM A NEW PERSPECTIVE. cgg.com/earthdata SEE THINGS DIFFERENTLY
FIRST BREAK® An EAGE Publication
CHAIR EDITORIAL BOARD Gwenola Michaud (Gwenola.Michaud@cognite.com) EDITOR Damian Arnold (editorfb@eage.org) MEMBERS, EDITORIAL BOARD • Paul Binns, consultant (pebinns@btinternet.com) • Lodve Berre, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (lodve.berre@ntnu.no) • Satinder Chopra, SamiGeo (satinder.chopra@samigeo.com) • Anthony Day, PGS (anthony.day@pgs.com) • Peter Dromgoole, Retired Geophysicist (peterdromgoole@gmail.com) • Rutger Gras, Consultant (r.gras@gridadvice.nl) • Hamidreza Hamdi, University of Calgary (hhamdi@ucalgary.ca) • John Reynolds, Reynolds International (jmr@reynolds-international.co.uk) • James Rickett, Schlumberger (jrickett@slb.com) • Peter Rowbotham, Apache (Peter.Rowbotham@apachecorp.com) • Dave Stewart, Dave Stewart Geoconsulting Ltd (djstewart.dave@gmail.com) • Femke Vossepoel, Delft University of Technology (f.c.vossepoel@tudelft.nl) • Angelika-Maria Wulff, Consultant (gp.awulff@gmail.com) EAGE EDITOR EMERITUS Andrew McBarnet (andrew@andrewmcbarnet.com)
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Seismic interpretation workflows for sand injectites — examples from the UK North Sea and Faroe-Shetland Basins
Editorial Contents 3
EAGE News
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Personal Record Interview
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Monthly
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Crosstalk
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Industry News
Technical Article
MEDIA PRODUCTION Saskia Nota (firstbreakproduction@eage.org) PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Ivana Geurts (firstbreakproduction@eage.org) ADVERTISING INQUIRIES corporaterelations@eage.org EAGE EUROPE OFFICE Kosterijland 48 3981 AJ Bunnik The Netherlands • +31 88 995 5055 • eage@eage.org • www.eage.org EAGE RUSSIA & CIS OFFICE EAGE Russia & CIS Office EAGE Geomodel LLC 19 Leninsky Prospekt 119071, Moscow, Russia • +7 495 640 2008 • moscow@eage.org • www.eage.ru EAGE MIDDLE EAST OFFICE EAGE Middle East FZ-LLC Dubai Knowledge Village Block 13 Office F-25 PO Box 501711 Dubai, United Arab Emirates • +971 4 369 3897 • middle_east@eage.org • www.eage.org EAGE ASIA PACIFIC OFFICE UOA Centre Office Suite 19-15-3A No. 19, Jalan Pinang 50450 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia • +60 3 272 201 40 • asiapacific@eage.org • www.eage.org EAGE AMERICAS SAS Calle 93 # 18-28 Oficina 704 Bogota, Colombia • +57 1 4232948 • americas@eage.org • www.eage.org
31 Introduction to naturally fractured reservoirs Part 1 – Fracture origins, characteristics and parameters Tim Wynn
Special Topic: Modelling / Interpretation 43 Geophysics for sequestration Huw James 49 Using digital models to identify hydrodynamic interference between producing and injection wells to improve field development management efficiency A. Drobot, D. Vasechkin and S. Urvantsev 55 Combined regional multi-beam and seafloor sampling to derisk hydrocarbon exploration Paolo Esestime and Felicia Winter 61 Artificial intelligence for automating seismic horizon picking Norman Mark 67 Ranking and evaluation of CO2 storage sites using an advanced workflow Cyrille Reiser, Noémie Pernin and Nick Lee 75 Unlocking the hydrocarbon potential of the Mannar Basin (Sri Lanka) based on new data and new ideas Oliver Schenk, Ching Tu, Ngo Lee Sii, Wei Ching Ong and Chaminda Kularathna 85 Seismic interpretation workflows for sand injectites — examples from the UK North Sea and Faroe-Shetland Basins Chris Han, Abdulqadir Cader and Peter Szafian 95 Interpretation and modelling for deep geothermal energy in Vienna Marcellus Gregor Schreilechner, Christoph Georg Eichkitz, Heinz Binder, Maha Hasni, Christina Neuhold, Catherine Jara, Markus Jud, Jürgen Schön, Godfrid Wessely, Ewald Lüschen, Hanns Sperl, Mikaël Garden and Peter Keglovic 101 Dynamic 3D subsurface modelling — an innovative approach to complex reservoirs Nicholas Matthies, Rodney Barraclough, Nam Nguyen, Rafael Garcia, and Gwynfor Jones
EAGE MEMBERS CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTIFICATION Send to: EAGE Membership Dept at EAGE Office (address above)
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FIRST BREAK ON THE WEB www.firstbreak.org
cover: Aerial view of Grand prismatic spring in Yellowstone national park, US.
Calendar
ISSN 0263-5046 (print) / ISSN 1365-2397 (online) FIRST
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European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
Board 2022-2023
Jean-Marc Rodriguez President
Edward Wiarda Vi c e-President
Pascal Breton Secretary-Treasurer
Near Surface Geoscience Division Esther Bloem Chair Andreas Aspmo Pfaffhuber Vice-Chair Alireza Malehmir Immediate Past Chair Micki Allen Contact Officer EEGS/North America Adam Booth Committee Member Hongzhu Cai Liaison China Eric Cauquil Liaison Shallow Marine Geophysics Deyan Draganov Technical Programme Officer Wolfram Gödde Liaison First Break Hamdan Ali Hamdan Liaison Middle East Vladimir Ignatev Liaison Russia / CIS Musa Manzi Liaison Africa Myrto Papadopoulou Young Professional Liaison Catherine Truffert Industry Liaison Panagiotis Tsourlos Editor in Chief Near Surface Geophysics Florina Tuluca Committee member
Oil & Gas Geoscience Division
Caroline Le Turdu Membership and Cooperation Officer
Peter Rowbotham Publications Officer
Maren Kleemeyer Education Officer
Lucy Slater Chair Yohaney Gomez Galarza Vice-Chair Michael Peter Suess Immediate Past Chair; TPC Erica Angerer Member Wiebke Athmer Member Juliane Heiland TPC Tijmen Jan Moser Editor-in-Chief Geophysical Prospecting Francesco Perrone Member Matteo Ravasi YP Liaison Jonathan Redfern Editor-in-Chief Petroleum Geoscience Giovanni Sosio DET SIC Liaison Aart-Jan van Wijngaarden Technical Programme Officer
SUBSCRIPTIONS First Break is published monthly. It is free to EAGE members. The membership fee of EAGE is € 80.00 a year (including First Break, EarthDoc (EAGE’s geoscience database), Learning Geoscience (EAGE’s Education website) and online access to a scientific journal. Companies can subscribe to First Break via an institutional subscription. Every subscription includes a monthly hard copy and online access to the full First Break archive for the requested number of online users. Aart-Jan van Wijngaarden Technical Programme Officer
Esther Bloem Chair Near Surface Geoscience Division
Lucy Slater Chair Oil & Gas Geoscience Division
Orders for current subscriptions and back issues should be sent to EAGE Publications BV, Journal Subscriptions, PO Box 59, 3990 DB, Houten, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 (0)88 9955055, E-mail: subscriptions@eage.org, www.firstbreak.org. First Break is published by EAGE Publications BV, The Netherlands. However, responsibility for the opinions given and the statements made rests with the authors. COPYRIGHT & PHOTOCOPYING © 2022 EAGE All rights reserved. First Break or any part thereof may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transcribed in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopying and recording, without the prior written permission of the publisher. PAPER The publisher’s policy is to use acid-free permanent paper (TCF), to the draft standard ISO/DIS/9706, made from sustainable forests using chlorine-free pulp (Nordic-Swan standard).
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HIGHLIGHTS
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Arab Plate core workshop coming up
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EOR is on agenda in Bogota
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Spanish gas storage visit
Congratulations to our 2022 Award winners Every year at the EAGE Annual Conference, the EAGE Awards are presented to honour individuals who have demonstrated outstanding dedication to geoscience and engineering, and the EAGE community. As an Association with the mission of promoting innovation and technical progress for inclusive and sustainable development. EAGE recognizes the efforts of its members and their contributions to the development and cooperation in geoscience and related engineering disciplines. Candidates for the 2022 Awards were nominated by colleagues, such as yourself. Nominations were submitted to an international Awards Committee who worked hard to select the winners. EAGE is delighted to announce the following exceptional winners for the 2022 Awards. Desiderius Erasmus Award For lifetime contributions in the field of resource exploration and development.
Conrad Schlumberger Award For outstanding contributions to the scientific and technical advancement of the geosciences, particularly geophysics.
Honorary Membership Award For highly significant and distinguished contributions to the geoscience community at large or to the Association in particular.
Aria Abubakar Aria Abubakar is recognized for outstanding contributions to geophysical modelling and inversion of electromagnetic and seismic data. In electromagnetics, Aria has carried out pioneering work in modelling and inversion of cross-well EM, CSEM, and MT data. These algorithms enabled the effective processing of electromagnetic data and robust extraction of the subsurface information.
Gijs J. O. Vermeer Gijs J. O. Vermeer is a modest geophysicist whose influence on the design of seismic surveys has been outstanding for over three decades. The now well-known concepts of cross-spread geometry, symmetric sampling and offset-vector tiles were formulated by Gijs, who continues to publish new insights in this field. His work has covered land, marine and seabed surveys and has been the principal guide for seismic survey design all over the world. Look out for the August issue for our illustrated report on EAGE Annual 2022.
Alfred Wegener Award For outstanding contribution to the scientific and technical advancement of EAGE’s disciplines, particularly petroleum geoscience and engineering. Matthew David Jackson Matthew David Jackson is recognised for his outstanding contribution to petroleum and reservoir engineering, including the ongoing transition to a low-carbon energy future. Dr. Jackson FIRST
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EAGE NEWS
acoustic sensing measurements: their nature and methods for elimination. Geophysical Prospecting, Volume 69, Issue 5, May 2021, p. 1034 - 1054 Norman Falcon Award Presented to the authors of the best paper published in Petroleum Geoscience in the past year.
Nominations are open for the 2023 EAGE Awards: start preparing a package now.
has advanced the fundamental understanding of physical flow and transport processes in porous geological media. Arie van Weelden Award For Young Professionals who have made highly significant contributions to one or more of the disciplines in our Association this year the Arie van Weelden Award is presented to two recipients for the first time in EAGE history. Matteo Ravasi An outstanding independent researcher with many groundbreaking and original ideas, Dr Matteo Ravasi is assistant professor at KAUST. His breakthrough technical contributions are related to the challenging field of seismic amplitude imaging of the subsurface. He is also a passionate advocate for the students/young professionals community. and Leonardo Azevedo Dr Azevedo’s research interests convey an extraordinary scientific curiosity, and showcase his creativity to solve complex modeling and interpretation problems in the geosciences. He is an outstanding and multi-disciplinary young researcher who has already made substantial contributions to the estimation of subsurface elastic and petrophysical properties from seismic amplitude measurements. Nigel Anstey Award Presented to the authors of the best paper published in First Break in the past year. David G. Quirk and co-authors John R. Underhill, Jon G. Gluyas, Hamish A.M. Wilson, Matthew J. Howe, Sean Anderson For their paper The North Sea through the energy transition. First Break, Volume 39, Issue 4, Apr 2021, p. 31 - 43. Loránd Eötvös Award Presented to the authors of the best paper published in Geophysical Prospecting in the past year. Evgeniia Martuganova and co-authors Manfred Stiller, Klaus Bauer, Jan Henninges, Charlotte M. Krawczyk For their paper Cable reverberations during wireline distributed 4
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Long Wu and co-authors Rune Thorsen, Signe Ottesen, Renata Meneguolo, Kristin Hartvedt, Philip Ringrose, Bamshad Nazarian For their paper Significance of fault seal in assessing CO2 storage capacity and containment risks - an example from the Horda Platform, northern North Sea. Petroleum Geoscience, Volume 27, Issue 3, Aug 2021 Ludger Mintrop Award Presented to the authors of the best paper published in Near Surface Geophysics in the past year. Mick Emil Kolster and co-author Arne Døssing For their paper Simultaneous line shift and source parameter inversion applied to a scalar magnetic survey for small unexploded ordnance. Near Surface Geophysics, Volume 19, Issue 6, Nov 2021, p. 629 - 641 Robert Mitchum Award Presented to the authors of the best paper published in Basin Research in the past year. Oliver B. Duffy and co-authors Tim P. Dooley, Michael R. Hudec, Naiara Fernandez, Christopher A.-L. Jackson, Juan I. Soto For their paper Principles of shortening in salt basins containing isolated minibasins, Basin Research, Volume 33, Issue 3, May 2021, p. 2089 - 2117 Louis Cagniard Award Presented to the authors of the Best Poster Presentation at the previous EAGE Annual Conference. Dieter Werthmüller and co-author Evert C. Slob For their poster Time-Domain CSEM Modelling Using Frequency- and Laplace-Domain Computations, presented at the 82nd EAGE Annual Conference & Exhibition 2021. Guido Bonarelli Award Presented to the authors of the Best Oral Presentation at the previous EAGE Annual Conference. Bogdan-George Davidescu and co-authors Mathias Bayerl, Christoph Puls and Torsten Clemens For their presentation Horizontal Versus Vertical Wells: Assessment of Sweep Efficiency in a Multi-layered Reservoir Based on Consecutive Inter-well Tracer Tests - A Comparison Between Water Injection and Polymer EOR, presented at the 82nd EAGE Annual Conference & Exhibition 2021.
EAGE NEWS
Time to submit nominations for EAGE Awards 2023 New Awards Committee chair Prof Tiziana Vanorio and her immediate predecessor Prof Anton Ziolkowski extend this invitation to members to submit nominations for awards at the 2023 Annual Meeting in Vienna. Recognition by peers has tremendous power - whether it is in laboratory and research settings, or within companies, or in the real world. Creating an environment where professional societies selflessly recognise and reward the works of colleagues has the power to attract
the best talents, retain key members, and ultimately allow communities to stay ahead of the challenges and the changes in business. Energy geosciences and engineering face unique and fascinating challenges and opportunities, and it is now more than ever the time to collectively engage through nominations and support the growth of our community. Dear EAGE members this letter is addressed to you …
One of the high points of the year is the presentation of the EAGE named awards at the Annual Meeting, recognising the outstanding achievements of geoscientists and engineers nominated by the members of our community. Whoever wins any of the EAGE awards, rest assured of one thing: behind the recognition of each awardee there is the hard work and research by a selfless nominator, who puts together the nomination package and persuades colleagues, friends, co-workers and fellow scientists to write in support of the nominee. It is not a five-minute job. It takes dedication, resolve and perseverance. The Awards Committee salutes our nominators. A good nomination is a well-written document that describes the specific achievements and contributions of the nominee, distinguishing them from the work of others, explaining in simple terms why they are important, and supporting them with references. Nominations can be submitted more than once. If at first you do not succeed, please be persistent and try again. Nominations can be improved by additional information, new research, or a change in emphasis on the distinguishing characteristics of the nominee. The deadline for submitting a nomination for the 2023 Annual Meeting is 31 October 2022. The web page https://www.eage. org/en/about-eage/awards/nominations provides all the information required to put together a nomination. There are three components: 1) The nominee’s CV and list of publications (if appropriate). 2) A nominating letter that summarises the nominee’s achievements and explains why he or she deserves the award you have identified. It is particularly important to describe how the candidate’s work has made a significant difference to society, to the Association, or to science. 3) At least one letter of support from technically qualified people who know the nominee and his or her work. FIRST
Although the minimum is one supporting letter, nominators are encouraged to include a variety of letters to illustrate the nominee’s strengths. It is the quality of these supporting letters, rather than the quantity, that is important. The complete overview of the EAGE awards is available at https://www. eage.org/en/about-eage/awards/overview-awards. This page describes the purpose of each award and provides the names and dates of past award winners. To ensure that EAGE honours the right people, you need to tell the Awards Committee whom the EAGE should honour and recognise. We rely on you. Most awards are limited to one candidate. There are usually several nominations for each award. Often there are many nominations, and the competition is intense. The EAGE Awards Committee works on the nominations you make to determine the strongest candidate for each award. When the Awards Committee makes recommendations, the EAGE Board may accept or reject the nominations. Board members usually accept them. They may not propose an alternative. We want to be, and be seen to be, as fair as possible. Obviously, it is crucial that your candidate should not be aware that he or she has been nominated. Occasionally an award is not made for lack of a strong enough candidate. If that happens it is a lost opportunity. Be aware that certain people cannot be nominated for awards. This applies to all serving members of the Awards Committee and all serving members of the Board. Only EAGE members are eligible for Honorary Membership, Schlumberger, Wegener and Van Weelden Awards. The Desiderius Erasmus Award is not restricted to EAGE members. Again, the deadline for submitting a nomination for the 2023 Annual Meeting in Vienna is 31 October 2022. BREAK
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Make sure you meet the Arabian Plate Core workshop abstract deadline We’re back with the 8th EAGE Arabian Plate Core Geology Workshop, being held
to make sure you get your contribution included.
Striking rock formations in the Middle East.
on 28-30 November in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and the deadline for submission of abstracts is coming up on 15 July. So time
The workshop focus will be on the stratigraphic interval covering the Early Jurassic Aalenian to the Early
Cretaceous Barremian. This is one of the economically most important stratigraphic intervals of the Arabian Plate. It hosts a number of world-class source rocks, reservoirs and seals. However, the stratigraphic architecture is complex and requires a regional approach, crossing country boundaries, to understand the depositional history and develop predictive geological models. The creation and infill of intrashelf basins had a profound impact on the paleogeography and depositional environments, resulting in diverse facies associations and lithologies across the Arabian Plate. Abstracts are invited on any of the six main themes: Evaporites; Intrashelf basin creation and infill; Reservoir analogs from outcrop and subsurface: Why do they matter and how do we maximize their value?; Multi-scale reservoir quality and geological control; Unconventional source rocks/reservoirs; and Updating regional stratigraphic models. For more details see website: https://eage.eventsair.com/eighth-arabian-workshop/event-overview. Call for Abstracts Deadline: 31 July 2022.
ADDITIONS THIS MONTH EarthDoc is one of the largest geoscience & engineering database with over 75000 event extended abstracts, technical articles and journal papers. You can find papers from significant events such as the EAGE Annual, the Near Surface Geoscience Conference and Exhibition, the GET and many others. The database includes material from our technical journals: First Break, Near Surface Geophysics, Geophysical Prospecting, Basin Research and Petroleum Geoscience. The number of papers increases rapidly, as new material is added continually. Volume 70 Issue 6 will become available on EarthDoc in July.
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85 Hz FWI IMAGE
FWI VELOCITY BEX MC3D data courtesy of Multi-Client Resources
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For more information contact us at info@dug.com
EAGE NEWS
Talk on fibre-optic seismology in challenging environments
OUR JOURNALS
THIS MONTH
Dong Zhang (EAGE Local Chapter Netherlands) reports on a talk given by: Professor Andreas Fichtner from the Department of Earth Sciences at ETH Zürich at a virtual event on fibreoptic seismology techniques in March by the EAGE Local Chapter Netherlands. After a brief introduction on the principles and potentials of distributed acoustic sensing, Prof Fichtner provided some case studies regarding volcanic and glacial environments. Based on the Rhone glacier experiment, it was found that the deployment of fibre-optic cables on glaciers is logistically feasible, and that the snow cover provides good coupling and data quality. Compared to conventional seismometers, significantly improved location accuracy can be achieved via fibre-optic cables with similar logistic efforts. From the volcanic Mount Meager experiment, previously unobserved low-frequency volcanic tremor and
Geophysical Prospecting (GP) publishes primary research on the science of geophysics as it applies to the exploration, evaluation and extraction
shows promise in overcoming the limit of maximum interrogation distance for distributed fibre-optic sensing. It involves the measurement of the deformation-induced phase changes of the transmitted laser pulses, and is capable of mimicking distributed measurements by time-dependent analysis. In theory, it is possible to use the new integrated sensing for tomography and earthquake location. Many questions made by the talk, the online stimulated interesting audience online discussion, for example, focused on the coupling quality of the distributed fibre-optic cables or the possible use of distributed sensing technology for micro-
of earth resources. Drawing heavily on contributions from researchers in the oil and mineral exploration industries, the journal has a very practical slant. A new edition (Volume 70, Issue 6) will be published in June, featuring seven articles.
Editor’s Choice articles: • How does anisotropy of focal region change structure of moment tensors?
Previous studies undertaken in the Mount Meager peaks of British Columbia, Canada.
- Çagri Diner • Joint inversion of muon tomography
unknown high-frequency seismic activity were discovered, thanks to the benefits of the distributed fibre-optic sensing. In the most recent volcano-glacial experiment, this technology clearly outperformed the local seismometer array in terms of detection of the high-frequency local earthquakes and of the observation of previously unknown ice sheet resonance. Later in the talk Prof Fichtner introduced the emerging integrated fibre-optic sensing technology. This
and gravity gradiometry for improved monitoring of steam-assisted gravity drainage reservoirs - Sara Pieczonka
CHECK OUT
THE LATEST GP Please note that for two weeks this month, we are offering free access to the Editor’s Choice articles.
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seismicity monitoring in Groningen. Prof Fichtner finally explained the time-sampling rate issue between distributed and integrated sensing. The recording of this successful event is available on the EAGE YouTube channel, for anyone interested in fibre-optic technology. Stay informed about the chapter activities through the Linkedin page https:// www.linkedin.com/groups/13690220/ and become a member by sending an e-mail to eageLCNetherlands@gmail.com.
EAGE NEWS
EOR methods will be focus of workshop in Bogotá the unconventional fields, EOR methods have been gaining significant momentum globally. Colombia and other major oil-producing Latin American countries are no exception to these trends. The workshop programme will address topics related to the theoretical modelling and numerical simulation for EOR and the advances in theoretical modeling and simulation of EOR/IOR processes. The Technical Committee is excited to announce four of the top keynote speakers - Mikel Morvan from Solvay, Dr Ganesh Thakur from the University of Houston, Dr S. A. (Raj) Mehta from the University of Calgary, and Dr Dawood Mahruqi from Petroleum Development Oman. For the worksop EAGE is inviting the participation of a group of students from the América University of Colombia. For more information about all the subjects to be covered during the workshop, refer to EAGE website.
Offshore production bird’s eye view.
Second EAGE Workshop on EOR in the Americas is to take place in Bogotá, Colombia from 12-14 October 2022, the first time in Latin America. The event is designed to bring in experts to discuss
new ideas, trends, and experiences covering all phases of an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project from research, planning and field implementation to surveillance. As existing oil fields mature, including
EAGE Online Education Calendar START AT ANY TIME
VELOCITIES, IMAGING, AND WAVEFORM INVERSION - THE EVOLUTION OF CHARACTERIZING THE EARTH’S SUBSURFACE, BY I.F. JONES (ONLINE EET)
SELF PACED COURSE
6 CHAPTERS OF 1 HR
GEOSTATISTICAL RESERVOIR MODELING, BY D. GRANA
SELF PACED COURSE
8 CHAPTERS OF 1 HR
CARBONATE RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION, BY L. GALLUCCIO
SELF PACED COURSE
8 CHAPTERS OF 1 HR
27 JUN 27 JUL
INTRODUCTION TO MACHINE LEARNING FOR GEOPHYSICAL APPLICATIONS BY J. MONDT
EXTENSIVE ONLINE COURSE
14 HOURS (INCL. 5
5-6 JUL
MACHINE LEARNING IN GEOSCIENCES BY G. SCHUSTER
IOSC
4 HOURS/DAY
7-8 JUL
GEOLOGY AND ENGINEERING OF CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE BY G. WACH & MAURICE DUSSEAULT
ONLINE EET
4 HOURS/DAY, 2 PARTS
12-15 JUL
DEEPWATER RESERVOIRS: EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION CONCEPTS BY D. STOW
IOSC
4 HOURS/DAY, 11 MODULES
19-20 JUL
SEISMIC RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION: AN EARTH MODELLING PERSPECTIVE BY P. DOYEN
ONLINE EET
4 HOURS/DAY, 7 MODULES
27-28 JUL
AN INTRODUCTION TO OFFSHORE WIND BY JEROEN GODTSCHALK
IOSC
4 HOURS/DAY, 5 MODULES
2-5 AUG
INTRODUCTION TO DATA ANALYSIS: CONCEPTS AND EXAMPLES BY R. GODFREY
IOSC
4 HOURS/DAY, 8 MODULES
9-12 AUG
BOREHOLE SEISMIC FUNDAMENTALS AND INTRODUCTION TO ADVANCED TECHNIQUES BY A. CAMPBELL
IOSC
4 HOURS/DAY, 6 MODULES
WEBINARS OF 1-2 HRS EACH)
(GEOSCIENCE AND ENGINEERING)
* EXTENSIVE SELF PACED MATERIALS AND INTERACTIVE SESSIONS WITH THE INSTRUCTORS: CHECK SCHEDULE OF EACH COURSE FOR DATES AND TIMES OF LIVE SESSIONS FOR THE FULL CALENDAR, MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION PLEASE VISIT WWW.EAGE.ORG AND WWW.LEARNINGGEOSCIENCE.ORG.
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EAGE NEWS
Cape Town to host two African workshops in one week It’s true. We are holding two events in one week in Cape Town on E&P issues on the African continent So make sure to join us for the 6th EAGE Eastern Africa Petroleum Geoscience Forum on 10-12 October 2022, followed by the 1st EAGE Western Africa Exploration & Production Workshop on 12–14 October 2022. The East Africa event will focus on lessons learnt and future prospects for petroleum geoscience activities in the Eastern Africa energy mix. The forum will be promoting and enabling both local and global participation and will include
keynote speakers raising awareness of the issues and proposed solutions. The EAGE week in Cape Town will include one interconnected day on 12 October 2022 discussing Energy Transition with key industry speakers talking about the carbon intensity of different plays in Eastern and Western Africa as well as hydrogen resources. Our first West Africa workshop will highlight what can be done to boost exploration and appraisal activities in frontier and emerging domains of Western Africa. The workshop encourages working across boundaries that may not
have been explored in the past. Results from this kind of workshop have in the past led to collaboration in licensing, permits and ideas for standardisation in HSE. Please use the official event websites to view the programmes and registration. Event website for 6th EAGE Eastern Africa Petroleum Geoscience Forum: https://eage.eventsair.com/sixth-eage-eastern-africa-petroleum-geoscience-forum/ Event website for 1st EAGE Western Africa Exploration & Production Workshop: https://eage.eventsair.com/first-eage-west-africa-enp-workshop/
Further support for Ukraine’s EAGE community
EAGE Board has approved further measures to support the Ukrainian geoscience and engineering community with the cre-
ation of the EAGE Ukraine Professional Development Fund. This initiative adds to the special registration fee waiver programme whereby Ukrainian members are granted free access to EAGE conferences, workshops and courses. The new support provided through the EAGE Student Fund is to support the continuous professional development of Ukrainian students and academic community, as well as the community of Ukraine professionals involved in career development activities aimed at Ukrainian students. It will offer contributions towards the total expenses for attending an event. Setting up the EAGE Ukraine Professional Development Fund was inspired by EAGE member Dr Pauli Saksa (Geosto Oy, Finland). He said: ‘In mid-March EAGE
introduced a special fee waiver in support of Ukrainian geoscientists and engineers. However, funding to arrange travelling costs might still be an issue for many. So it called for action and I decided to support the travel expenses part. It is crucial to keep the Ukrainian professional sector on-going and to enable management of Ukrainian natural resources in the future.’ EAGE members are encouraged to follow the lead of Dr Saksa in helping to support the travel and accommodation costs of our Ukrainian colleagues intending to attend EAGE events in 2022. Should you have any questions please contact us at info@eagestudentfund.org.
You can donate at
EAGE Student Calendar 18-22 SEP
NEAR SURFACE GEOSCIENCE CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2022
BELGRADE, SERBIA
7-9 NOV
3RD EAGE GLOBAL ENERGY TRANSITION CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION (GET 2022)
THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION PLEASE CHECK THE STUDENT SECTION AT WWW.EAGE.ORG
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EAGE NEWS
Field trip sees Spanish gas storage in action EAGE Annual 2022 was kicked off with various interactive activities including workshops, chairperson’s lunch, opening ceremony and icebreaker reception at the exhibition hall. One of the highlights of the day on 6 June was the field trip to the underground gas storage site at Yela, in the municipality of Brihuega, Guadalajara province, 100 km away from Madrid.
Reservoir site of underground gas storage.
Enagás, the Spanish main TSO (Transmission System Operator), manages the facilities. It is a deep aquifer converted into underground storage in 2012 after more than 10 years of exploration and investigation in the centre of Spain. It is an anticline with two tops. The reservoir is a dolomite formation from Upper Cretaceous at 2300 m depth and the seal is a compound of anhydrites from the upper Cretaceous. It has a working gas capacity of 1bcm. The trip was led by Enrique Hernandez and Juan Klimowitz from Geologica de Exploracion y Sintesis. The group visited three stops observing different geological sites and reviewing the geological concept features, e.g., the reservoir rock–dolomites of the upper Cretaceous (Santa Bárbara Dolomites); the seal: anhydrites of the upper Cretaceous (Upper Evaporitic Unit); and the hermetic trap– East-thrusting anticline alpine. Also in the field trip other reservoirs which had been considered were discussed.
The first stop of the trip was at Entrepeñas dam closure. This is where the regional structural model of the asymmetric anticline of the Ciudad Encantada dolomites (Turonian age) can be seen as analogous to the Yela Structure. Near Sacedon-Buendía, the group had the opportunity to observe the Campanian serie, analogous to the Yela anhydric seal (Fm Evaporítica Superior) as Yela‘s reservoir seal Fm. (close to 400 m thickness in wells and partially dissolved in surface). After the lunch break at a local
Explaining the geology.
restaurant in Brihuega, the group travelled to the Enagas’s Yela Facility. After the safety introduction, a reservoir engineer explained the main mechanisms of the reservoir, the injection and withdrawal cycles throughout the year, the monitoring performed and the well architecture. The process carried out in the surface facilities to receive/send the gas from/to the gas network was also explained. The trip was seen as a great opportunity for geologists and engineers in the oil and gas industry to exchange knowledge and learn from each other. We were happy to see knowledge flow during the whole trip as it triggered inspiring discussions and development of new perspectives. Commenting on the trip Luis Carmona Elizalde, director del Proyecto Viura, said: ‘It was great to participate in this field trip around the Yela Gas Underground Storage which exceeded my expectations and was an excellent chance for me, after 44 years in the E&P business, to still continue learning something else about geology and engineering. I also enjoyed very good company, the excellent weather, a little bit hot, and the beautiful landscape of Guadalajara in spring time.‘ EAGE would like to thank field trip leaders Enrique Hernandez and Juan Klimowitz and Borja González Cansado for hosting at the Enagás facility.
Group ready for Yela facility visit.
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EAGE NEWS
Latest Short Course Catalogue now available online Our updated EAGE Short Course Catalogue is out and available online. With over 90 short courses offered in different formats, it covers a wide variety of topics in geoscience and engineering while providing great room for flexibility. The online version also lets users search and filter by topic, instructor, and format, depending on their need. This is in line with EAGE’s commitment to meet the demand for innovation and participation through constant improvement and expansion. Being multi-disciplinary in nature, the courses include topics from Data Science, Engineering, Geology, Geophysics, Near Surface, Reservoir Characterisation, Training & Development, plus the new addition of the Energy Transition category.
For those unfamiliar with the services available, EAGE offers a broad range of learning opportunities in various formats. The focus is on online education through the Learning Geoscience platform with its three pillars: Free Learning, EAGE Short Courses, and Partner Courses. Free learning offers materials to members, and in some cases non-members, while Short Courses are offered in various online formats designed to address the needs of different audiences. Finally, Partner Courses are training programmes designed and created in collaboration with external partners. The online courses come in three different formats: Self-Paced, Extensive
Online with Interactive Elements, and Interactive Online Short Courses (IOSC). Self-Paced Courses are pre-recorded online courses with self-paced study materials, quizzes and exercises that you can complete at your convenience. Extensive Online Courses with Interactive Elements offers a more in-depth learning experience through extensive self-paced online materials with regular interactive sessions with the instructor. Finally, IOSCs are real-time instructor-led online courses of two to four days with the chance to interact with the instructor through discussion and Q&A. See for yourself and start your EAGE (online) education experience with the new Short Course Catalogue.
Renewable energy in the Middle East and Africa on the agenda for conference in Muscat
View of Muscat, Oman.
Success of the 1st EAGE Conference on Renewable Energy in the Middle East and Africa has encouraged EAGE to hold a second edition of the event. It is sched-
uled to take place in Muscat, Oman on 6-8 December 2022. The intention is to provide a platform to share developments, ideas, case stud-
ies, successes and lessons learned in all aspects of renewable energy, particularly in the Middle East and Africa regions. The conference will focus on four main themes: Climate Change, Technology, Resources, and Energy Security Abstracts for possible inclusion in the conferenc programme should be submitted before 15 July 2022. For details, please visit the conference website: https://eage.eventsair.com/second-eageconference--on-renewable-energy-in-themiddle-east-and-africa/.
The EAGE Student Fund supports student activities that help students bridge the gap between university and professional environments. This is only possible with the support from the EAGE community. If you want to support the next generation of geoscientists and engineers, go to donate.eagestudentfund.org or simply scan the QR code. Many thanks for your donation in advance!
D O N AT E T O DAY ! 12
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PERSONAL RECORD INTERVIEW
Maximilian Haas
Personal Record Interview
What inspires a young professional today Maximilian Haas provides an encouraging example of how young professionals view geoscience as a career in the energy transition era. He has just joined Schlumberger as a geomechanical engineer after doctorate studies at ETH Zurich, Montanuniversität Leoben and University of Geneva with his research project based at CERN. He is also a great supporter of professional society education and networking.
Grandpa got you started in science? He evoked my inner self to always question and dig up things carefully. It all started when I was about eight years old. I heartfully remember that my grandfather always picked me up from primary school, and we walked home while talking about everything I had learned that day. Explaining the world surely laid the foundation for my interest in physical science. Village life and school? Back then, I thought it was great but I would say today that it was quite boring. I joined various science projects and also chose the extra modules on natural science and Latin in school, as they interested me the most. I was pretty much what you would call a ‘nerd’, although I did play football and tennis and spent quality time with my grandparents. Highlights of student days? There were many – and many, which I should probably not mention here. While being the classical nerd at school, I discovered the party side of life at university. The main highlight for sure was the six-week offshore expedition on the research vessel SONNE operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute carrying out a 2D seismic and magnetic survey in the Indian Ocean thanks to my supportive master thesis supervisor. I met some great people from all around the world, some of whom are still friends.
The CERN project? I was a PhD student at CERN, and directly involved in the Future Circular Collider (FCC) study, the proposed ca. 100 km subsurface infrastructure to host the next-generation particle accelerator. I developed a multi-disciplinary rock characterisation for the proposed tunnel spanning the domains of rock mechanics, petrophysics, geochemistry, and mineralogy of the Geneva Basin and concluded with application scenarios for its excavated rock and soil. Why volunteer? I personally think it is of uttermost importance to contribute to our community through volunteering work. I started out as a chairman of our local geological association during my studies in Austria, and continued to become the committee leader of the Public Relations and Outreach committee of DGG (German Geophysical Society). I sincerely enjoyed the work with great team colleagues and appreciated the network one can build with people from industry and academia. After completing my studies, I wanted to continue my volunteering work. As an active member of EAGE, I wanted to engage in organising and contributing to its planned activities and conferences, and with EAGE’s focus on energy transition that was the way to go for me. Currently we are setting up a Skill Mapping Initiative, which aims at geoscientific skills in need for the energy transition, by supporting in particular the younger generation (PhD students, PostDocs, young professionals). FIRST
Future for young professionals? I joined Schlumberger to be able to be part of the solution and shape the future. It will be a multi-disciplinary, integrated approach among various domains of geosciences in order to not only master the energy transition but also to ultimately maintain and optimise it. It is not just one single source of energy anymore, but a very multi-disciplinary, integrated approach. Hence, we as geoscientists have the opportunity and challenge to become more versatile. My advice to colleagues: learn as much as you can from any other field than the one you studied. The CrossFit connection? To me sport has always played an essential role in life. It balances mind and body. Whenever I want to burn off some energy and ease my mind, I lift some weights, run or row a few km. When I lift weights, run or row 5 km, I go into the CrossFit zone, burn off some energy and ease my mind. Outside work interests? I love the mountains (climbing) although this is a bit tricky in London … but I like going for a dive in the sea, listening to music (huge Eminem fan), playing the drums or golf, root for the Red Bull Formula One team in every race, and reading. Lately, I have rediscovered some of the ancient histories including the Maya. To me, this is a very spiritual and inspirational topic. I have also dived back into the (ancient) philosophers (Socrates, Plato, Kant, Descartes), as well as classical literature books. BREAK
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Make sure you’re in the know
EAGE MONTHLY UPDATE
Geophysical Prospecting
OUR JOURNALS
PUBLISH IN
UKRAINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND
Special Issue: Seabed Prospecting Technology planned for Geophysical Prospecting
R E G I S TR ATI O N D E AD LI N E S 2 0 2 2
Submission deadline: 31 July 2022
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Second EAGE Workshop on Advanced Seismic Solutions in the Gulf of Mexico 4 July 2022: Early Registration 4 August 2022: Regular Registration Fourth HGS/EAGE Conference on Latin America 12 July 2022: Early Registration 12 August 2022: Regular Registration Third EAGE Marine Acquisition Workshop 15 July 2022: Regular Registration Near Surface Geoscience Conference & Exhibition 2022 22 July 2022: Early Registration 22 August 2022: Regular Registration
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Sixth International Conference on Fault and Top Seals 31 July 2022: Early Registration 31 August 2022: Regular Registration EAGE Conference on Digital Innovation for a Sustainable Future 15 August 2022: Early Registration
CA L L F O R A B S T R AC T S
D E AD LI N E S 2 0 2 2 23 July 2022 Second EAGE Workshop on Advanced Seismic Solutions in the Gulf of Mexico 15 August 2022 3rd EAGE Global Energy Transition Conference & Exhibition (GET 2022) 14 September 2022 Second EAGE Workshop on East Canada Offshore Exploration
CO M M U N ITI E S
ECMOR 2022 31 August 2022: Regular Registration 3rd EAGE Global Energy Transition Conference & Exhibition (GET 2022) 15 September 2022: Early Registration 31 October 2022: Regular Registration
2022
EAGE Young Professionals Committee Call for volunteers for the 2022-2024 term Apply via communities@eage.org
CROSSTALK BY AN D R E W M c BAR N E T
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Everything in moderation It is for others to judge the value of the plenary forums at the EAGE In a panel context it is always difficult to separate statements Annual in Madrid. The discussions were intended to share insights about what needs to be done from what is actually happening. into a wide range of issues affecting the energy and related industry However, Imaz was very clear about Repsol’s continuing role in communities and drew on the views of high-level decision-makers the production of oil and gas. He reiterated comments he has made and analysts. publicly before reminding the audience that his company has a longstanding decarbonisation policy and indeed in 2019 was the Offered here are the impressions, doubtless fallible, of the moderator (your Crosstalk correspondent) who was charged with first major European company to commit to the 2050 net zero target. steering four very different groups of panellists through a sequence At the same time he said the energy transition should not mean of related topics. An overview of energy challenges was followed the demonising of the oil industry. His worry was that ideology by a review of the oil and gas industry in the energy transition era, might restrict oil and gas production just when we will be seeing then emerging low carbon subsurface solutions and finally a look at a post-pandemic increase in demand. He also made the point that opportunities for geoscientists and engineers as the mining/minerals electrification of power – the focus of renewable energy – does business ramps up to meet demand for materials needed to support not solve our need for various industrial processes, plastics and air energy transition. travel. Hopefully it was correct to assume that the underlying question This of course raised the crucial issue of how much of the onus for affecting the energy transition should on everyone’s mind would be how the energy transition will unfold. In a sense this was unfair or will be borne by the oil and gas industry. ‘Net zero by 2050 on our panellists because no one really has a What came abundantly clear from numerous is what the next panellists over the series of forums was that the clue. For example, it is a matter of speculation generation wants’ how the many renewable energy resources and Russian-Ukraine turmoil, the Covid pandemic, decarbonisation options will develop and how soaring oil/gas prices and oil company profits rapidly, whether carbon capture and storage has a serious future, or have seemingly done little to alter the general direction of IOC and what the future holds for the mining industry. NOC investment policy, i.e, nothing much has changed. Given the hazards of prediction, it was notable – and presumably Baby steps was how Flowers described current energy transition encouraging – that Josu Jon Imaz, CEO of Repsol, and top analysts moves, with no sudden flick of the switch likely in prospect. The Leanne Todd (S&P Global) and Simon Flowers (Wood Mackenzie) investment required, he said, was for the big guys not everyone. all answered with a more or less unequivocal ‘Yes’ when asked Wood Mackenzie reports a huge disparity between IOCs and NOCs. whether the Net Zero targets set for 2050 would be met. Todd and The majors are expected to produce around 22 million boe/d in 2022 Flowers both emphasised it is what the next generation wants. and allocate 15% capital expenditure to decarbonisation. Eighteen Quite how the needle can be moved from today’s energy key NOCs will spend less than 5% while producing 60 boe/d of the scenario was less clear. In the short term there was agreement global oil supply. that energy security trumps everything. A 3-5 million b/d gap in In this context it made sense that Irene Waage Basili, CEO of global oil supply has to be plugged while uncertainty reigns the marine geophysical contractor Shearwater GeoServices, stated that global marketplace everywhere you look. Future energy scenarios the seismic service sector would need to look increasingly to NOCs in Russia, China, Iran and the Middle East all pose major question for survey business, maybe at the expense of IOCs and others. The marks and risks. reality is that larger commercial oil companies are focusing on sat-
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CROSSTALK
isfying their stakeholders. This means returning a heavy proportion comfortable in discussing the impressive list of decarbonisation of their profits as dividends or buybacks, and in effect avoiding E&P measures being adopted to provide oil and gas in a more environmentally acceptable manner, less so when it came to CCS. investment risk at a time of huge uncertainty over future supply and demand. In addition there is the constant pressure of public sentiThe importance of CCS was acknowledged, the relevance for ment to increase spending on energy transition, not to mention to get the geoscience community and each company’s initiatives were described. But it was obvious that the research and projects being out of oil altogether (however unrealistic such calls may be). NOCs, on the other hand, are mainly concerned with energy security and undertaken so far do not amount to very much. It was left to Ann generating revenue to meet national budget requirements. Also, Robertson-Tait, president of Schlumberger company GeothermEx, to hit the nail on the head. The technology and NOC surveys tend to generate proprietary work information exists (although oil company data rather than multi-client. This is better business ‘No surprises sharing remains problematic), but she said for dedicated marine seismic contractors. where future E&P the investment is happening too slowly: and Marc Gerrits, EVP, Shell, voiced the stratedollars will be spent’ that’s because the value proposition isn’t there. gy which seems to be guiding all the major oil Robertson-Tait wondered whether CCS should companies. He talked about riding out the cycle. be left to the market, also advocating public education to move This implied that a post-Covid return in market confidence means things forward. There was general agreement that CCS could be a a more significant budget for exploration for E&P after a couple of case for some kind of government intervention, just what that would lean years. That accorded with Waage Basili’s expectation of more look like was unclear. survey demand in the pipeline and the acknowledgement by Joseba Assuming CCS does take off, there is no doubt that the geosciMurillas, executive director, global exploration at Repsol, that oil ence skillset will be essential – in both the identification of suitable companies had money to spend in their pockets. sequestration locations but also in long-term monitoring of storage However, at the start of the panel on exploration prospects, facilities which are expected to be mainly offshore. This should Michael Wynne of S&P Global had cautioned that oil companies be good news for the career prospects of the next generation of were not going to go crazy. He said they would continue to exercise geoscientists and engineers. The same applies to the nascent interest capital discipline and that turned out to be an accurate interpretation. in deepsea mining for minerals and metals as well as deeper mining Murillas echoed the view of his boss a day earlier in stating that (undercover) onshore. Adriana Citlali Ramirez, chief geophysicist/ Repsol would continue its policy of focusing its spending on technology advisor, TGS and Torgeir Stordal, director, technology existing profitable areas and back off from frontier adventures. and coexistence, Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, confirmed that According to Gerrits, Shell’s policy will to be to focus 80% of future the current work to investigate the potential for exploitation of spending on the company’s core countries and 20% on frontier minerals on the Mohn oceanic spreading ridge within the Norway’s with 70% in deep water. He reflected also that Shell had arbitrarily offshore Exclusive Economic Zone makes full use of the geoscience (because of market uncertainty) set 2035 as the date for payback on multi-physics approach. Ramirez added that seismic data is relevant the likes of frontier oil investment, 2040 for gas. Given the 10-year in the global search, for example in the Red Sea. lead time for such investments, 2025 was when spending initiatives Cam McCuaig, formerly head of geoscience and excellence, would have to be taken. BHP (now part of Woodside), said that as mining goes deeper Predictably there were no surprises about where future E&P onshore the exact same skills employed in the oil and gas industry dollars would be concentrated, basically it was all the usual will be needed at every stage, i.e., identifying locations, detecting suspects. Waage Basili said Shearwater compiled its own hotspot resources and in the extraction process. He suggested that minerals map. This turned out to be mostly made up of mature basins – North mining needs to catch up with the kind of integrated geoscience Sea, Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast approach developed over 50 years by the oil and gas business. Asia, Australia, and Brazil. What may be changing is oil company The panel recognized that it was very early days for deepsea E&P spending assessment criteria. So called advantaged oil (clean, mining with environmental rules and regulations as well as the efficient, scaleable, high value) will continue to be a priority, but business model still to be developed. The word of caution from Paul long term options for mineral exploitation, geothermal energy Lusty, critical raw materials topic lead, British Geological Society, and most importantly carbon capture and storage (CCS) will be was that the likely requirement for extensive, cost-effective drilling increasingly taken into account. could well be an economic barrier compared with land-based The possibilities for CCS were the principal topic of interest projects. when it came to discussion of subsurface low carbon solutions. But From all that was said during the four days of forum discussion, the future for CO2 sequestration has clearly some way to go, despite there was one nagging question that remains tantalizing unanswerthe agreed urgency if it is to make a major contribution to meeting able, and that is: How far can we rely on a market-driven energy net zero goals. Oil company panellists Ariel Flores (BP), Mikel transition? Erquiaga (Repsol) and Claude Bordenave (TotalEnergies) were
Views expressed in Crosstalk are solely those of the author, who can be contacted at andrew@andrewmcbarnet.com.
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HIGHLIGHTS
INDUSTRY NEWS
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Shearwater launches ‘game changing’ node
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PGS and TGS launch 3D survey offshore Canada
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Norway releases seafloor minerals study
Reframe the energy transition, say industry leaders The concept of global energy transition must be reframed, said the CEO of Repsol, Josu Jon Imaz at the EAGE Annual Conference. Speaking at the opening forum session, Imaz said the global energy supply crisis demanded new rules to the game. ‘We need to rethink the energy transition. We have to accept that all kinds of energy will be there to guarantee security of supply or people will not be able to pay energy bills. We needed more oil and gas even before Russia invaded Ukraine.’ Other panellists at the session themed ‘How Energy Transition Will Unfold: The Big Picture’, agreed that oil and gas would still have a big role to play in the energy mix for the next 10 to 20 years, but Repsol added that big energy companies would continue to switch their investment plans to develop renewable energy. ‘Market forces are pushing in that direction. We are entering these new businesses because we are making money. This year 35% of our capital will be spent in low carbon businesses. Much of the investment, he added, was to decarbonise hydrocarbons. For example, Repsol is investing 500 million euros a year on transforming its refineries. ‘People are always talking about electrification but there are a lot of sectors that are not going to electrify in the short term, such as aviation, which will need to carry on dealing with liquids,’ he added.
Leanne Todd, head of upstream solutions at S&P Global, said that despite fears that there was still no business model for sectors such as carbon capture and storage, geoscientists can change that by inventing innovative solutions: ‘Please don’t be discouraged. We need this. We need geoscientists’ innovation. It’s expensive and we’ve got to work out how to do it. There is absolutely opportunity for young people in this industry. People said the shale revolution wasn’t possible but geoscientists did that. The encouraging thing is that in the first half of the year we are seeing record projects in hydrogen, mostly green hydrogen, and I would like think next year we will go a step further, but we need more subsidies in the US and the development of carbon pricing in Europe.’ Simon Flowers, chairman and chief analyst at Wood McKenzie, said there was a worrying dichotomy between International Oil Companies (IOCs) and National Oil Companies (NOCs) on energy transition spending: Eighteen NOCs account for more than half of global oil and gas output but are spending less than 5% of capital on decarbonisation. IOCs have allocated around 15% of 2022 capital investment to low-carbon projects. NOCs on the other hand don’t have shareholder accountability, technical expertise or the political will. ‘They don’t have the Shell or Repsol business model and it’s going to be harder to get those FIRST
Josu Jon Imaz, CEO of Repsol.
companies to deliver when oil, gas and coal are so critical to those countries’ energy strategy,’ said Flowers. He added that it was regrettable that energy companies had been excluded from the United Nations’ COP26 climate conference last autumn but that the industry could do much more to present a responsible face. ‘The oil industry has to clean up its act if it wants to stay in business because policy is going to harden again against oil and gas and you are going to have to be a clean supplier. The bulk of the industry is still taking baby steps.’ The session ended with the panellists asked whether net zero will be reached by 2050. Flowers said: ‘I would like to think that the curve will be longer but then will go down more quickly. The next generation really wants it and will find the solutions.’ Imaz said, ‘Yes, but that is while still producing oil and gas.’ Todd said: ‘I believe we can. People want to get there and governments want to get there.’ BREAK
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INDUSTRY NEWS
Energy companies give seismic contractors greater visibility Big energy companies claim to have stepped up their communication with seismic service companies to give them greater visibility about seismic acquisition plans required going forward. Speaking at the EAGE annual conference, Marc Gerrits, EVP Exploration at Shell, told the session ‘Adapting O&G Exploration to the New Energy Era’: ‘We have spent a lot of effort with our IOC partners to talk to the seismic industry about where the programmes are going to be in the next year and we are working with them to build their programmes.’ His comments were confirmed by Irene Waage Basili, CEO of Shearwater: ‘We have been working with Marc and his team looking at framework agreements,’ she said. Basili predicted that going forward IOCs would invest heavily in ocean bottom seismic projects, which would become the
dominant form of seismic acquisition as the equipment and operation costs come down. Seabed projects already accounted for 50% of Shearwater’s backlog and in the longer term Basili predicted that seabed and hybrid towed-streamer and seabed projects would comprise 80% of its business. ‘Seabed has lots of potential to be the preferred option of the market as costs come down. There is no doubt that the data quality is better,’ she said. ‘We are investing in technology. We have launched a seabed node and we are trying to work much closer with our clients. We have done five or six projects but the industry as a whole still can’t afford it. There will be much more pooling of efforts between us and our clients and between peers.’ Michael Wynne, VP international upstream at S&P Global Commodity Insights, said that as digitisation and AI
continued to evolve there would be increasing pressure for service companies to provide ‘seismic from ship to workstations in one day’. Waage Basili said that there had been a ‘significant uptick’ in demand for seismic data this year as energy companies step up their investment in exploration. Wynne noted, for example, that there had been a huge influx of capital into the Gulf of Mexico in recent months. Joseba Murillas, executive director of exploration and BD at Repsol, predicted significant investment in the North Sea, offshore North and West Africa, the Mediterranean, offshore Australia, Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico. Gerrits said that Shell would be investing in areas including the West African coast, Malaysia, Namibia (where ‘good financial terms’ have been set), Suriname and Argentina.
Shearwater launches ‘game-changing’ node for ocean bottom seismic
Pearl node – Credit: Shearwater (supplied).
Shearwater GeoServices has launched an ocean bottom node that it claims includes several industry firsts and improved time and cost efficiencies. Irene Waage Basili, CEO of Shearwater, said that the Pearl node would enable OBN projects that have previously not been considered possible on account of high cost. ‘We have already challenged efficiency boundaries in ocean bottom operations in deep water in several basins and methodologies. We were the first to deploy
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triple sources and multiple ROVs to beat the cost curves to the benefit of clients. With Pearl, we present our clients with an opportunity to perform OBN surveys that were previously thought impossible due to time and cost.’ Pearl’s small size and low weight allows for wider and denser spreads reducing operational time by a third compared with current deployments. Smaller size also means surface vessels and subsea vehicles can carry substantially more nodes for deployment and makes large volumes of nodes easier to ship around the world. The Pearl node is flexible and can be used in deep and shallow water depths and may be applied across a wide range of activities from exploration and production seismic to capturing geophysical data for carbon storage and in new energy markets, said Shearwater.
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The company added that Pearl has the longest battery life of any node, with more than 150 days of continuous recording. The node also has multiple methods of wireless communication and GNSS. Pearl is a fully wireless node for both data retrieval and charging. The multi-component node design combines hydrophones with tri-axial microelectromechanical system (MEMS) accelerometers. The MEMS sensors measure the full bandwidth of the seismic wavefield, down to the lowest frequencies. Massimo Virgilio, CTO of Shearwater, said: ‘Pearl is the lightest, smallest, smartest node ever developed. We have set out to remove the constraints our clients say they experience for ocean bottom seismic projects, not in increments but in a significant leap forward.’
INDUSTRY NEWS
Big energy companies must be compelled share historical well data to stimulate carbon capture market
Seismic data is key to catalysing the carbon capture storage and utilisation market but big energy companies must be incentivised, or compelled, to share it, the EAGE Annual Conference heard. In particular, data on dry wells that have the potential to be converted into storage reservoirs should be made freely available in order to kickstart a sector that is cited as being a prerequisite for the world to reach net zero by 2050, but which currently comprises just 30 projects around the world. The forum session on ‘Advancing Subsurface Low Carbon Solutions’ heard that oil and gas companies have data on dry wells, but operators ‘still don’t want to give away company secrets’. Ann Robertson-Tait, president Geothermx at Schlumberger, said: ‘There are plenty of storage opportunities around the world, but we need the data. Oil and gas companies have it but won’t release it.’ Claude Bordenave, VP geoscience and reservoir at Total Energies, said that 15% of the company’s budget was now FIRST
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devoted to work on CCS. He predicted that there will need to be global governmental agreements to force companies to share data. Michael Wynne of S&P global predicted that CCUS would eventually become a lucrative market for seismic companies and attract new entrants to the market as a result. ‘The seismic industry will eventually meet the very different imaging needs for carbon storage. When CCS takes off we are going to see start-ups, but at the moment research funding for CCS is pretty limited.’ Joseba Murillo, executive director of exploration and BD, Repsol, said: ‘Outside of the UK and Norway it’s difficult to invest in new seismic for CCS because the business model isn’t there. ‘We are not seeing a lot of money going into research, but I still think there is a strong need for seismic. Many flows will come in for CCUS.’ However, he added that companies such as Repsol ‘need to know the geology’ before they start investing in the technology. BREAK
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DATA FOR PHASE 1 ARE NOW AVAILABLE, COVERING 4 BLOCKS IN THE CUVETTE CENTRALE BASIN OF CONGO.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Africa set to fill Europe’s gas supply gap in the long term, says Rystad Africa is forecast to reach peak gas production at 470 billion cubic metres (Bcm) by the late 2030s, equivalent to about 75% of the expected amount of gas produced by Russia in 2022, according to Rystad Energy research. In early March, the European Union announced plans to reduce its dependence on Russian gas by two-thirds by the end of this year alone. Africa is forecast to increase its gas output from about 260 Bcm in 2022 to as much as 335 Bcm by the end of this decade. If oil and gas operators decide to up the ante on their gas projects on the continent, near and mid-term natural gas production from Africa could surpass the above conservative forecasts, said Rystad. Russia has historically supplied about 62% of Europe’s gas imports in the past decade. About 18% of Europe’s gas imports currently come from Africa. Projects in Africa are, however, perceived as carrying greater risk due to delays arising from high development costs, challenges accessing financing and issues with fiscal regimes. Recent signals from big energy companies such as bp, Eni, Equinor, Shell, ExxonMobil and Equinor indicate a shift in strategy towards Africa, with several projects that were previously on ice back on the agenda. ‘The geopolitical situation in Europe is changing the landscape for risk globally. Asian and European importers will need to consider African projects. Existing pipe-
line infrastructure from Northern Africa to Europe and historical LNG supply relationships make Africa a strong alternative for European markets after the ban on Russian imports,’ said Siva Prasad, senior analyst at Rystad Energy. Current pipeline exports to Europe run through Algeria into Spain and from Libya into Italy. Talks of long-distance pipelines connecting gas fields in Southern Nigeria to Algeria via the onshore Trans Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP) and the offshore Nigeria Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) have picked up. While the TSGP aims to utilize existing pipelines from Algeria. NMGP aims to extend the existing West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP) to Europe via West African coastal nations and Morocco. Further afield, African LNG exports have predominantly come from Nigeria and Algeria, with smaller volumes from Egypt, Angola, and a fraction from Equatorial Guinea. In addition, largescale discoveries offshore in Mozambique, Tanzania, Senegal, Mauritania, and South Africa have the potential to yield additional natural gas exports. The European Union’s decision earlier this year that all natural gas investments are equivalent to investments in ‘green’ energy, said Rytsad. The supply crisis driven by security interests may push Europe to fund projects that will help with energy affordability back home, it added. For instance, Europe could be a key financer of the proposed $13 billion TSGP project.
Bp has several big gas projects in Senegal and Mauritania: the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA), Yakaar-Terenga and BirAllah LNG projects. GTA FLNG Phase 2 has a planned capacity of 2.5 million tpa, while the Yakaar–Teranga and BirAllah LNG facilities could have capacity of 10 million tpa. Eni has recently signed deals to boost gas imports from the North African nations of Algeria and Egypt, and then more recently, two more gas supply agreements with two Sub-Saharan African nations, Congo-Brazzaville and Angola. Eni could also sign gas-related deals in Mozambique, Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Libya. Nigeria is in the process of ramping up capacity at the Nigeria LNG project from 22 million to 30 million tpa. ExxonMobil has a 25% stake in Area 4 in Mozambique, with significant potential for further expansion. Mozambique was expected to benefit from the EU’s move to classify gas investments as green, even after an Islamist insurgency in the gas-rich Cabo Delgado province had paralysed planned investments. The current scenario of a potential gas supply crunch could lead to the country accelerating development of its gas resources, said Rystad. ExxonMobil could finally sanction the Rovuma LNG scheme in Mozambique. Shell and Equinor could refocus on the long-stalled Tanzania LNG development.
CGG wins multi-year 4D imaging contract with Equinor
Peter Whiting, EVP, geoscience, CGG.
CGG has won a multi-year contract from Equinor for 4D seismic imaging of multiple towed-streamer and OBC datasets from the
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Gullfaks field area in the Norwegian North Sea. Equinor’s Gullfaks asset team will analyse the resulting 4D seismic images to optimize recovery and value from the field. Starting on 1 May 2022, the 4D imaging contract covers the reimaging of nine vintages of towed-streamer data and eight vintages of OBC data followed by repeat
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imaging of up to three subsequent monitoring surveys. Peter Whiting, EVP, geoscience, CGG, said: ‘This new 4D imaging contract testifies to CGG’s close working partnership with Equinor and builds on our longstanding 4D seismic imaging experience in Norway.’
INDUSTRY NEWS
Shearwater wins carbon capture processing and imaging contract offshore UK
Andy Lane, managing director of the Northern Endurance Partnership.
Shearwater GeoServices has won a contract from bp for geophysical data processing and imaging to advance the East Coast Cluster carbon capture project in the Southern North Sea offshore UK. Multi-sensor geophysical data will be passed through advanced algorithms,
tests and analyses to provide a dataset to characterise subsurface structures with potential for carbon storage. Seismic data processing and imaging activity, which will take place at Shearwater’s UK processing and imaging centre over an eight-month period, will take advantage of Shearwater’s Reveal software and Monsoon digital cloud programme, with extensive collaboration between bp and Shearwater personnel. Bp is part of the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP), also comprising National Grid Ventures, Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies, providing infrastructure to transport CO2 from emitters in the Humber and Teesside. The CO2 will then be sequestered in the Endurance carbon store offshore the North Sea. Andy Lane, managing director of the Northern Endurance Partnership, said: ‘The Southern North Sea has some of the most ideal carbon storage sites anywhere
in the world, and the East Coast Cluster has the capacity to store up to 1 billion tonnes of CO2. We are aiming for first injection from 2026, and by 2038 will be capturing and storing up to 23 million tonnes of CO2 per year from a wide range of industrial and power projects on Teesside and the Humber.’ The East Coast Cluster was named as one of the UK’s first CCUS clusters after a successful bid in Phase 1 of the UK Government’s CCUS cluster sequencing process in October 2021. In March 2022, 25 projects within the East Coast Cluster were shortlisted for evaluation within Phase 2 of the cluster sequencing process. The projects, covering power, industrial carbon capture (ICC) and hydrogen, were adjudged to have met the eligibility criteria. The projects will now be evaluated, with an update on successful bids expected this month.
TGS and PGS launch latest 3D survey offshore Canada TGS and PGS are launching the South Bank 3D phase II multi-client project offshore Canada, extending the South Bank phase I survey acquired in 2020. South Bank 3D Phase II includes the acquisition of 10,000 km2 of 3D data, building on the existing library of extensive 2D data coverage in the region. The vessel Ramform Titan was due to mobilize for the survey in the second half of May, and acquisition is scheduled to complete in the first half of September. Rune Olav Pedersen, president and CEO of PGS, said that the joint venture had secured a good level of prefunding for the project, ‘We experience continued exploration interest offshore Canada and this is the 12th consecutive year of multi-client GeoStreamer data acquisition in the region. The South Bank phase II multi-client survey expands our 3D data
Ramform Titan is acquiring some 10,000 km2 of seismic data.
coverage in southeast Newfoundland and will cover acreage included in the 2022 Call for Bids licensing round.’ Meanwhile, phase 1 of the Sarawak multi-client programme has now been FIRST
completed by a consortium of PGS, TGS and Schlumberger. The consortium is engaging with industry in the planning of phase 2, to provide further seismic data. BREAK
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Searcher wins two 3D reprocessing projects offshore UK Searcher Seismic has won multi-client projects Big Buzz 3D Reprocessing and Big Bird 3D Reprocessing in the North Sea, offshore UK. The Big Buzz 3D consists of 1568 km2 and Big Bird 3D consists of 730 km2 of broadband reprocessed seismic data. The projects, supporting infrastructure-led exploration (ILX) strategies, are located around the giant Buzzard Oil field and within tie-back distances to the Kittiwake and Forties field development platforms. Imaging results are a step change from vintage 3D, said Searcher. The processing flow includes broadband, FWI and pre-Stack Depth Migration, supported by
geological well and field data. Targeted demultiple and amplitude-preserving technologies will enable AVO/AVA to be meaningfully analysed at target level, the company added. ‘Intermediate processing results from Big Buzz and Big Bird are showing features never seen before on this data,’ said VP of operations, Searcher, Alan Hopping. ‘Searcher is growing a UKCS dataset of ILX opportunities using reprocessed vintage 3D data to support the next evolution in ILX energy security exploration and energy transition (CCUS).’ The Big Buzz 3D Reprocessing and Big Bird 3D Reprocessing projects will be available early in Q3 2022.
TGS reports first quarter net profit of $20 million
PGS expects more than $100 million of multi-client sales in Q2 PGS expects to report multi-client late sales revenues in excess of $100 million in Q2 2022. Multi-client pre-funding revenues, according to IFRS 15 measurement, are expected to be between $80 million and $100 million in Q2 2022. ‘We continue to see an improvement of the marine seismic market in 2022,’ said president and CEO of PGS, Rune Olav Pedersen. Significant lates sales, including high transfer fees, is a confirmation that the PGS multi-client library is highly attractive to our customers and that investments in exploration seismic are again increasing.’ The company is in the process of preparing a prospectus for listing of shares from the completed share capital increase and the upcoming subsequent share offering.
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Kristian Johansen, CEO of TGS.
TGS made a first quarter net income of $20 million on operating revenues of $132 million compared to net income of $13 million on operating revenues of $142 million in Q1 2021. Operating profit was $34 million compared to $25 million in Q1 2021. Strong late sales of $70 million in Q1 2022 compared to $22 million in Q1 2021. However, early sales decreased to $58 million in Q1 2022 from $116.5 million in Q1 2022 because ‘fewer projects were completed and delivered to customers during the quarter’. Organic multi-client investments amounted to $44.9 million in Q1 2022. The largest project in terms of investments in the quarter was the Red Sea JULY
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3D project in Egypt, conducted in joint venture with Schlumberger. The second phase is expected to be completed during the summer. Final data for the first phase is expected to be delivered in Q4 2022, while the second phase is expected to be completed in mid-2023. Free cash flow was $31 million in Q1 2022, compared to $86 million in Q1 2021. Cash balance at the end of the quarter was $215 million compared to $254 million a year earlier. Amortization and impairments of the multi-client library amounted to $62 million in Q1 2022 versus $89 million in Q1 2021. The company’s backlog at the end of the quarter was $293 million comparted to $468 million at the end of Q1 2021. ‘We have continued to see improvement in market conditions and customers starting to become more interested in frontier areas,’ said Kristian Johansen, CEO of TGS. ‘I’m particularly pleased with the strong late sales performance, with more than 200% growth from Q1 2021.’
INDUSTRY NEWS
Sercel acquires infrastructure monitoring provider Geocomp Sercel has acquired the US-based Geocomp Corporation specializing in services and products for geotechnical risk management and infrastructure monitoring. The acquisition gives Sercel access to the US infrastructure market and will accelerate deployment of its S-lynks and S-scan infrastructure monitoring solutions. Since its creation more than 40 years ago by Dr Allen Marr, who will continue as CEO, Geocomp has built a reputation for offering a complementary range of geotechnical monitoring, consulting and testing expertise and technology along with delivering solutions to address major safety issues on ageing and risky infrastructures as well as more modern renewable energy construction projects. Geocomp employs 120 engineers, technicians and support staff. Marr said: ‘This strengthens our ability to grow by providing more services to a broader base of clients. Sercel has the right approach to building business
through collaboration and partnering with clients. Its industrial expertise and technological know-how represent a tremendous opportunity for Geocomp to expand its offering of products and monitoring solutions for the global infrastructure market.’ Emmanuelle Dubu, Sercel CEO, said: ‘This acquisition is a major step in our strategy to become a significant global player in the fast-growing infrastructure monitoring industry. We strongly believe that the complementary technologies and skills of Geocomp and Sercel will provide cutting-edge solutions to address the
numerous infrastructure challenges in the US and international market.’ Meanwhile, Sercel has sold a complete marine seismic acquisition system to HJ Shipbuilding and Construction, a South Korean shipbuilder. It will supply a Seal 428 recording system, including Sentinel streamers, a Nautilus streamer positioning system, and G-Source II high-performance impulsive sources. The system will be delivered in the first half of 2023 to equip the R/V TAMHAE3, a 3D/4D seismic research vessel for the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources.
Sercel is better positioned to sell its equipment to the US market.
Chevron explores low carbon projects in Indonesia Chevron and Indonesia’s Pertamina have formed a partnership to explore potential low-carbon business opportunities in Indonesia. Aimed at serving local and potentially regional customers, Chevron and Pertamina will develop geothermal
technologies; carbon offsets through nature-based solutions; carbon capture, utilization, and storage; as well as lower-carbon hydrogen development, production, storage, and transport. The partnership will support the Indonesian government’s net zero emis-
Lahendong geothermal field, North Sulawesi (source: PGE).
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sion target in 2060. Indonesia, as the second-largest country with geothermal installed capacity, has been developing geothermal energy since 1974. In addition, Pertamina is also diversifying geothermal development; a green hydrogen pilot project in the Ulubelu Area will have a production target of 100 kg per day and brinesto-power which is being developed in the Lahendong Area with a potential capacity of 200 MW. The Indonesian government plans to increase renewable energy to 23% of its energy mix by 2051. “We are excited to build upon Chevron’s nearly 100-year history in Indonesia,’ said Jeff Gustavson, President of Chevron New Energies.
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First-ever lease sales offshore California moves forward The US has announced the next steps and welcomed public comment on offshore wind lease sales in two regions on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore California. The Department of Interior’s Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) for the first-ever offshore wind lease sale on America’s west coast includes three proposed lease areas in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area off central California and two proposed lease areas in the Humboldt Wind Energy Area off northern California, totalling approx. 373,268 acres that have the potential to unlock over 4.5 gigawatts of offshore wind energy that would power more than 1.5 million homes. To date, BOEM has held 10 competitive lease sales and has issued 25 active commercial offshore wind leases in the Atlantic Ocean from Massachusetts to North Carolina. The California lease sale will be the first in the Pacific region. On 31 May the Department of the Interior opened a 60-day public comment period on the PSN that provides detailed information about the proposed lease areas, proposed lease provisions and conditions, and auction details. These include a 2.5% bidding credit to bidders who have committed to executing a community benefit agreement
Image: Pixabay.
with a community or ocean users (e.g., commercial fisheries); and a 20% bidding credit to bidders who commit to investing in programmes that will advance US, offshore wind energy workforce training and supply chain development. Prospective bidders, not previously qualified for a California lease sale, are required to submit mandatory qualification materials to BOEM by 1 August, 2022. Meanwhile, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has testified before the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources to confirm that the department will publish the next five-year offshore energy planning process by June 30, 2022.
‘The previous administration stopped work on the new five-year plan in 2018, so there has been a lot to do to catch up. Varying, conflicting litigation has also been a factor. As we take this next step, we will follow the science and the law. This requires a robust and transparent review process that includes input from states, the public and tribes to inform our decision-making,’ said Haaland. The National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Programme, developed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, establishes a five-year schedule for its oil and gas leasing programme as required by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
Energean and PetroTrace to start a reprocessing programme over the Vega Field Energean and PetroTrace have teamed up for a 3D seismic reprocessing programme over the Vega field in the Sicilian Channel, 20 km south of Pozzallo, Italy. The Vega cluster consists of Vega A, the field currently in production, and the yet to be developed Vega B field. Vega A was developed with 24 wells using a platform located in 130 m of water, designed to process 60,000 barrels of oil a day. The 3D seismic reprocessing programme will focus on the legacy data 26
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acquired prior to the year 2000, due to the current environmental restrictions that prevent new seismic acquisition. ‘The data quality is limited from a technical standpoint by the single-cable recording, significant crossline spacing, short offsets, and the Vaporchoc type source,’ said PetroTrace. ‘In addition, from a geological viewpoint, the shallow and tilted Messinian salt/evaporites layer hinders the propagation of the seismic energy into the deeper section.’ 2022
The reprocessing programme uses CRAM (Common Reflection Angle Migration) as a PreSDM migration algorithm, which PetroTrace said offers ‘the ideal and most regular illumination of the subsurface for any given acquisition geometry and involved geology’. PetroTrace recently completed the 2D and 3D Fiume Tellaro (RG) processing programme for Maurel and Prom, onshore Sicily, which it said was the same type of geological play to the Vega field.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Equinor and bp win latest UK offshore carbon capture contracts The UK has awarded two more carbon storage (CS) licences in the Southern North Sea offshore UK to bp and Equinor. The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has awarded the licences with an appraisal term of eight years. The agreed work programmes require the licensees to show progress achieving milestones, such as performing seismic surveys of the four proposed storage sites and drilling wells to acquire data before applying for a storage permit.
The four separate storage sites are located around 70 km off the east coast near Humberside. Combined with the existing licence granted for the Endurance carbon store, they could eventually contribute to the storage of up to 23 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of CO2 around 1400 m beneath the seabed. The UK government’s target for carbon capture, usage and storage is to reach 20-30 MTPA by 2030, and more than 50 MTPA by 2035.
NSTA is now stewarding six CS licences on the UKCS, having awarded five licences since 2018 and agreed a transfer of a sixth. Current project estimates indicate that earliest injection from a CS project could come as soon as 2025 given the progress already seen in the HyNet, Northern Endurance Partnership’s East Coast Cluster and V Net Zero Humber Cluster projects, said the NSTA.
Norway releases minerals study for seafloor massive sulphides Data released by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) and the University of Bergen provides multiphysics information on seafloor minerals offshore Norway. OFG acquired data on three of four of the studies. Since 2018, the NPD has carried out annual research surveys on and around the Mohns and Knipovich ridges to identify and investigate seafloor massive sulphide (SMS) and manganese crust deposits. The NPD data includes: drilling and sampling data; shipboard and AUV multibeam echosounder data, sidescan sonar, synthetic aperture sonar, and sub-bottom profiler data; AUV magnetic data; AUV self-potential data; water sampling/geochemical data including pH, ORP; methane sensors and video and photogrammetry. Meanwhile, OFG, in which PGS owns approximately 43%, has completed the acquisition of NCS SubSea and thereby controls the P-Cable system, which provides ultra-high resolution 3D seismic data. ‘We have seen a significant market interest in P-Cable over the past few months in both traditional oil
NPD is studying seafloor massive sulphides in the Mohns and Knipovich ridges. Image: NPD.
and gas markets for shallow imaging of reservoirs and geohazards, as well as in new energy markets, particularly for offshore wind surveys,’ said Matthew Kowalczyk, CEO of OFG.
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Finally, PGS has completed seismic acquisition of multi-sensor GeoStreamer data on phase 1 of the Sarawak multi-client programme, offshore Malaysia and data processing is underway.
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PGS adds CCS licensing areas to Southern North Sea data package
Ikon launches updated Curate software Ikon Science has launched its latest version of Curate, a cloud-native subsurface knowledge management solution featuring the new Data Explorer application. ‘Curate enables energy companies to leverage and contextualize disparate existing data – regardless of source – to drive faster and more accurate decision making for accelerated exploration, minimized portfolio risk, and optimized production,’ said Ikon Science. Data Explorer supports prospect appraisal, well planning and regulatory reporting and significantly enhances subsurface insights by enabling energy companies to rapidly detect broad data trends and isolate anomalies that require further investigation. Meanwhile, Curate platform enhancements improve usability, bulk download capabilities, geospatial understanding, efficiency, and collaboration.
SNS Vision Nearfield. Image: PGS.
PGS has added recently awarded CCS licensing areas to its SNS Vision project. Total coverage is now more than 12,000 km2 of Southern North Sea post-salt carbon storage potential. The data will be ready in spring 2023. The SNS Vision dataset from PGS is a data rejuvenation project that targets both nearfield opportunities in a mature gas basin and CCS storage sites.
‘PGS is expanding the SNS Vision coverage area, after the award by the North Sea Transition Authority of two additional carbon storage licences to Equinor and bp for the Northern Endurance Partnership. This coverage is also expected to be highly relevant for the UK’s first offshore carbon storage licensing round, details of which are expected on 14 June,’ said Sonia Pereira, VP data sales Europe at PGS.
TDI-Brooks completes geotechnical work in the Gulf of Mexico TDI-Brooks has completed six geotechnical coring programmes in the Gulf of Mexico for numerous operators. All of the programmes included deployment of TDI-Brooks’ cone penetrating test (CPT), piston (PC) and jumbo piston corers (PC) and box corers (BC).
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In some instances the geotechnical coring supplemented AUV operations. Research vessel RV Gyre also carried out surveying in channels off the coast of Galveston, surveying LNG export loading facilities and oil export pipeline routes to name a few.
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One programme included and Environmental Baseline Survey (EBS) including grab samples, CTD, rosette, niskin and plankton trawls. TDI-Brooks provides marine environmental baseline surveys (EBS) for coastal, nearshore and offshore projects for the oil and gas sector, offshore wind farm and other renewables programmes, cables and pipelines. All sediment and water samples were then sent to TDI-Brooks’ geotechnical and chemical laboratories in College Station, Texas for analysis. RV Gyre will steam to Trinidad & Tobago at the end of June for some awarded G&G programmes there.
INDUSTRY NEWS
ION completes Mid-North Sea reprocessing and imaging ION Geophysical Corporation has completed processing and imaging of 10,000 km² of 3D seismic data for its Mid-North Sea High Phase 2 and 2b programmes. The programmes cover one of the few remaining underexplored offshore areas offshore UK, where relatively low development costs close to shore and infrastructure, as well as recent play-opening wells, make it attractive for European energy security investments, said ION. Challenging shallow water geology was imaged utilizing reflection FWI. Eight wells, including the play-opening OssianDarach well, were used for calibration and to improve the overall accuracy of the velocity model. In combination, ION said that the dataset would enable the definition and de-risking of the Zechstein play. Chris Usher, president and CEO of ION Geophysical, said: ‘With UK returns
per barrel being some of the highest globally and a recognition by the UK that domestic energy production needs must be prioritized, this particular acquisition was very timely. Forty percent of the open acreage in the area was acquired in the last licensing round and a new windfarm in the Sofia and Dogger Bank areas will make it more challenging to acquire 3D data in future years. ‘Combined with potential carbon capture opportunities, the Mid North Sea High area becomes very attractive for responsibly ensuring the UK’s long-term energy security.’ ION will also be delivering final depth imaged data for its Mauritania and Picanha Phase 5 3D reprocessing programmes later this summer, bringing the total of new seismic data added to its library this year to 55,000 km2.
BRIEFS Carbon Transition has won a $1.8 million multi-client seismic data licensing contract. The unnamed customer will license data from Carbon Transition’s Utsira multi-client survey in Norway. The company has also announced that late sales from Q4 2021 now total $8.7 million. TotalEnergies has won lease area OCS-A 0545 offshore Carolina, US in the Carolina Long Bay auction for $160 million. Located 37 km from the coast, the lease covers 222 km2 that will generate 1 GW, enough to provide power to more than 300,000 homes. The project is expected to come online by 2030. Bp has submitted bids for two offshore wind leases in the Netherlands with a generating capacity of 1.4GW.The projects are the Hollandse Kust (west) Wind Farm Zone (HKW) sites VI and VII. HKW is 53 km off the country’s west coast and contains two sites, with a total area of 176 km2.
Invictus’ seismic studies show gas find in Zimbabwe
PTTEP is developing Thailand’s first carbon capture and storage project at the Arthit offshore gas field. The company has also initiated CCS feasibility studies in other areas of Thailand.
Invictus Energy’s seismic inversion results show the potential for a big gas find at the Post Dande target at the Cabora Bassa Project (Horizon 200) in Zimbabwe. Further quantitative analysis (QA) studies indicate the presence of potential hydrocarbons in the Mukuyu structure. The results from a seismic inversion/QA study indicate that the section immediately below the Horizon 200 target is likely to comprise multiple stacked hydrocarbon-bearing zones, ranging in thickness from 40 to 80 m. The ASX release highlighted the extensive amplitude anomaly at the Horizon 200 level and the positive correlation of amplitude extent and structural closure – this fit to structure is regarded as a very strong attribute for any prospect and a potential Direct Hydrocarbon Indicator (DHI), said Invictus. The Horizon 200 target is newly identified from the 2021 Cabora Bassa 2D
Sercel has sold a 15,000-channel WiNG system to the French seismic and geophysical survey contractor Smart Seismic Solutions (S3). This sale comes after S3 deployed WiNG in Europe clean energy and mineral projects (helium, geothermal energy and salt). Green Energy Group (Seabird Exploration) has won an OBN source contract in the Western hemisphere at an ‘improved day rate’. The 14-month contract is expected to commence second half of August. seismic survey (CB21 survey) and will be first target tested in the Mukuyu-1 well. ‘While there are no wells present in the basin to enable calibration of the results, the strength of the anomaly and the values calculated are in the range that potentially indicate the presence of light hydrocarbons (most likely gas),’ said the company in a statement. FIRST
EU leaders say they will block most Russian oil imports by the end of 2022. The ban will affect oil that arrives by sea, around two-thirds of imports, but not pipeline oil after opposition from Hungary. Poland and Germany have also pledged to end pipeline imports, meaning 90% of Russian oil will be blocked.
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Interica integrates Amazon Dashboards into OneView software Data management provider Interica has launched Interica OneVie V2022.1.0 which includes Amazon QuickSight Dashboards. Simulations of proposed actions can now be viewed on Amazon QuickSight dashboards to enable interactive decisions based upon the outcomes of the analysis.
Amazon QuickSight Dashboards provide visualizations of data growth from multiple sources, enabling users to automatically trend different storage, archiving, and migration scenarios as well as cost analysis. ‘Managers can quickly identify data patterns, tying projects and multiple application environments together to delineate project histories and com-
pleteness across a range of petrotechnical disciplines from geophysics to geology petrophysics and reservoir engineering,’ said Interica. Further functionality has been added to allow project data and underlying datasets to be archived and restored to and from Amazon S3 storage classes (Standard, Glacier, and Deep Glacier).
TGS wins offshore Liberia reprocessing contract TGS has signed a deal with the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) to reprocess more than 5100 km2 of 3D seismic data over Blocks 8 and 9 in the offshore Liberia basin. The survey will be processed using a Pre-Stack Depth Migration (PSDM)
workflow to enable optimal imaging of the main targets in the Cretaceous reservoirs to reveal the latest insights into the prospectivity of the Liberia Basin. Since June 2021 the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA), in cooperation with NOCAL, has invited direct
exploration licensing negotiations for all offshore blocks over the Harper and Liberia basins. Thirty-three blocks are available with a maximum block size of 3500 km2. Processing was due to start in May and final data is expected in Q2 2023.
Oil and gas round-up Shell has won approval to develop the Jackdaw field in the Central North Sea. The field has the potential to produce 6.5% of Britain’s gas output. A gas condensate field, Jackdaw lies in blocks 30/02a, 30/02d and 30/03a of the UK Continental Shelf in water depth of ~78 m. The field is ~250 km east of Aberdeen and was discovered in 2005. ‘At its peak, Jackdaw is expected to deliver 6.5% of UKCS gas production for less than 1% of UKCS emissions and produce energy equivalent to heating more than 1.4 million UK homes,’ said Shell. The company plans to start production in Q3-Q4 2025. Neptune Energy, operator of production licence PL 153, has concluded drilling on oil and gas discovery 35/9-3 in the North Sea. Before drilling, the discovery was estimated at 0.62-1.12 million Sm3 of recoverable oil equivalent. The objective of the appraisal wells was to
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clarify the reservoir quality and hydrocarbon column in the southern part of the Hamlet structure. Well 35/9-16 S encountered a 58-m gas column and a 34-m oil column in the Agat Formation in sandstone layers totalling 92 m with moderate-to-poor reservoir quality. Well 35/9-16 A encountered a 35-m oil column in the Agat Formation in sandstone layers of 115 m with goodto-poor reservoir quality. The discovery is now estimated between 2.2 and 3.4 million Sm3 of recoverable oil equivalent. Extensive data acquisition and was undertaken. Aker BP has encountered oil in production licence PL 685 in the North Sea. Wildcat well 35/4-3 was drilled about 20 km southeast of the Knarr field and 100 km west of Florø. The objective was to prove petroleum in Early Jurassic rocks in the Cook Formation. The well encountered the Cook Formation, around
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93 m thick, of which 67 m was sandstone with moderate-to-good reservoir quality. Data acquisition has been carried out. This is the first exploration well in the block, which was awarded in APA 2012. The well was drilled 4674 m below sea level. Water depth is 399 m. The Netherlands has given final approval to ONE-Dyas’ N05-A gas field in the North Sea. The N05-A platform is about 20 km north of the islands of Borkum, Rottumerplaat and Schiermonnikoog. PGNiG has won consent for exploration drilling in Block 6608/1 in the Norwegian Sea. Well 6608/1-1 S will test the Copernicus prospect in production licence PL 1017. Water depth is 491 m. ConocoPhillips has won consent for exploration drilling in Block 25/7 in the North Sea. Well 25/7-10 will test the Lamba prospect in production licence PL 782 S.
Special Topic
MODELLING / INTERPRETATION Modelling and interpretation is a rapidly developing area with artificial intelligence and machine learning are leading to rapid advancements in the field. High performance and algorithmic innovations aimed at enhancing the quantity and quality of modelling and interpretation of the most challenging seismic data are presented here. Huw James reviews the geophysical techniques to guarantee more effective sealing of carbon sequestration reservoirs. Drobot, D. et al present an approach designed to overcome challenges related to the rational development of reserves and well interference assessment. Paolo Esestime et al describe an integrated method to assess marine hydrocarbon seepage and de-risk the key elements of a petroleum system at both regional and prospect scale. Norman Mark demonstrates the application of artificial intelligence for automated seismic horizon picking. Cyrille Reiser et al describe a CCS workflow over a proof-of-concept area to assess CCS storage capacity and containment at a candidate saline aquifer site. Oliver Schenk et al present a 2D petroleum system modelling study that provides insights for hydrocarbon exploration and the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of Sri Lanka’s offshore basins. Chris Han et al provide examples of full-stack 3D seismic datasets from the UK Continental Shelf to show how sand injectives can still play a critical role on viability and production performance. Marcellus Gregor Schreilechner et al present seismic studies that build the case for development of deep geothermal energy projects east of Vienna. Nicholas Matthies et al discuss how innovations in subsurface frameworks can improve conventional mapping and modelling workflows, benefiting subsurface evaluation.
Submit an article
Special Topic overview January
Land Seismic
First Break Special Topics are covered by a mix of original articles dealing with case studies and the latest technology. Contributions to a Special Topic in First Break can be sent directly to the editorial office (firstbreak@eage.org). Submissions will be considered for publication by the editor.
February
Digitalization / Machine Learning
March
Reservoir Monitoring
April
Unconventionals and Passive Seismic
May
Global Exploration Hotspots
June
Leading Geosciences in a New Era
It is also possible to submit a Technical Article to First Break. Technical Articles are subject to a peer review process and should be submitted via EAGE’s ScholarOne website: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/fb
July
Modelling / Interpretation
August
Near Surface Geo & Mining
September
Reservoir Engineering & Geoscience
October
Energy Transition
November
Marine Acquisition
December
Data Management and Processing
You can find the First Break author guidelines online at www.firstbreak.org/guidelines.
More Special Topics may be added during the course of the year.
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS 5-7 SEPTEMBER 2022
ECMOR 2022 European Conference on Mathematics of Geological Reservoirs The Hague, Netherlands and Online www.eage.org
August 2022 22‑24 Aug
Third EAGE Marine Acquisition Workshop www.eage.org
Oslo
Norway
23‑24 Aug
EAGE Asia Pacific Workshop on CO2 Geological Storage www.eage.org
Perth
Australia
September 2022 5-7 Sep
ECMOR 2022 European Conference on Mathematics of Geological Reservoirs www.eage.org
The Hague and online
Netherlands
7-8 Sep
Second EAGE Workshop on Advanced Seismic Solutions in the Gulf of Mexico www.eage.org
Ciudad de Mexico and online
Mexico
12-14 Sep
MEDiNA Technical Conference and Exhibition medinace.aapg.org
Tunis
Tunisia
13-15 Sep
EAGE Conference on Digital Innovation for a Sustainable Future www.eage.org
Bangkok
Thailand
14-16 Sep
Fourth HGS/EAGE Conference on Latin America www.eage.org
Cartagena
Colombia
18-22 Sep
Near Surface Geoscience Conference & Exhibition 2022 www.nsg2022.org
Belgrade
Serbia
19-21 Sep
Sixth EAGE High Performance Computing Workshop www.eage.org
Milan
Italy
26-28 Sep
Sixth International Conference on Fault and Top Seals faultandtopseals.org
Vienna
Austria
27-28 Sep
EAGE Workshop on Innovative Reservoir Modeling into Digital Proliferation www.eage.org
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
October 2022 10-12 Oct
Sixth EAGE Eastern Africa Petroleum Geoscience Forum The future of petroleum geoscience in the Eastern African energy mix www.eage.org
Cape Town and online
South Africa
12-14 Oct
First EAGE Western Africa Exploration & Production Workshop Collaboration in frontier and emerging exploration in Western Africa www.eage.org
Cape Town and online
South Africa
12-14 Oct
Second EAGE Workshop on EOR in Latin America www.eage.org
Bogotá
Colombia
EAGE Events
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Non-EAGE Events
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14-16 Oct
Baku 2022 Fourth international conference on Geology of the Caspian Sea and Adjacent Areas www.eage.org
Baku
Azerbaijan
24-27 Oct
5 th Asia Pacific Meeting on Near Surface Geoscience & Engineering www.eage.org
Taipei
Taiwan
26-28 Oct
First EAGE Guyana-Suriname Basin Conference Discoveries and Opportunities to Harness the Potential of a New Oil Patch www.eage.org
Georgetown and online
Guyana
28-31 Oct
Second EAGE Subsurface Intelligence Workshop www.eage.org
Manama
Bahrain
November 2022 3-4 Nov
November Second EAGE Workshop on Near Surface Geoscience & ¡ Mineral Exploration Workshop in Latin America www.eage.org
Bogota
Colombia
7-9 Nov
EAGE GET 2022 3 rd EAGE Global Energy Transition Conference & Exhibition www.eageget.org
The Hague and online
Netherlands
14-15 Nov
Second EAGE Workshop on East Canada Offshore Exploration www.eage.org
St John’s and online
Canada
15-17 Nov
Sixth EAGE Rock Physics Workshop Impacts & Trends of the Digital Transformation www.eage.org
Riyadh
Saudi Arabia
21-22 Nov
First EAGE/SBGf Workshop on Reservoir Monitoring and its Role in the Energy Transition www.eage.org
Rio de Janeiro and online
Brazil
23-25 Nov
Third EAGE Conference on Pre Salt Reservoirs www.eage.org
Rio de Janeiro and online
Brazil
28-29 Nov
Asia Petroleum Geoscience Conference & Exhibition (APGCE) www.eage.org
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
28-30 Nov
Eighth EAGE Arabian Plate Core Workshop: From Play Concepts to Reservoir Heterogeneity www.eage.org
Dhahran
Saudi Arabia
December 2022 1-2 Dec
Fourth EAGE Workshop on Unconventional Resources www.eage.org
Bogota
Colombia
5-7 Dec
2 nd EAGE Workshop on Fiber Optic Sensing for Energy Applications in Asia Pacific www.eage.org
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
6-8 Dec
2 nd EAGE/SEG Workshop on Geophysical Aspects of Smart Cities www.eage.org
Hong Kong
China
6-8 Dec
Second EAGE Conference on Renewable Energy in the Middle East and Africa www.eage.org
Muscat
Oman
February 2023 15-17 Feb
Fifth EAGE Naturally Fractured Reservoirs Workshop www.eage.org
Aix-en-Provence
France
21-23 Feb
2 nd AAPG/EAGE Papua New Guinea Petroleum Conference & Exhibition www.eage.org
Port Moresby
Papua New Guinea
International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC) 2023 2023.iptcnet.org
Bangkok
Thailand
84th EAGE Annual Conference & Exhibition www.eageannual.org
Vienna
Austria
March 2023 1-3 Mar June 2023 5-8 Jun
September 2023 3-7 Sep
Fifth EAGE Conference on Petroleum Geostatistics www.eage.org
Porto
Portugal
10-15 Sep
31st International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry (IMOG 2023) www.imogconference.org
Montpellier
France
EAGE Events
Non-EAGE Events
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