VO L U M E 3 6 I I S S U E 6 I J U N E 2 018
SPECIAL TOPIC
Opportunities presented by the energy transition EAGE NEWS Get ready for Copenhagen 2018 INDUSTRY NEWS BP and Shell outline sustainability plans
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FIRST BREAK® An EAGE Publication
CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD Trude Støren (elna@emgs.com) EDITOR Damian Arnold (editorfb@eage.org) MEMBERS, EDITORIAL BOARD • Paul Binns, consultant (pebinns@btinternet.com) • Patrick Corbett, Heriot-Watt University (patrick_corbett@pet.hw.ac.uk) • Tom Davis, Colorado School of Mines (tdavis@mines.edu) • Anthony Day, PGS (anthony.day@pgs.com) • Peter Dromgoole, Statoil UK (pdrum@statoil.com) • Rutger Gras, Oranje-Nassau Energy (gras@onebv.com) • Hamidreza Hamdi, University of Calgary (hhamdi@ucalgary.ca) • Ed Kragh, Schlumberger Cambridge Research (edkragh@slb.com) • John Reynolds, Reynolds International (jmr@reynolds-international.co.uk) • James Rickett, Schlumberger (jrickett@slb.com) • Dave Stewart, Dave Stewart Geoconsulting Ltd (djstewart.dave@gmail.com) • Femke Vossepoel, Delft University of Technology (f.c.vossepoel@tudelft.nl) MANAGER MEDIA PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT Arjan Kors (aks@eage.org) MEDIA PRODUCTION MANAGER Thomas Beentje (tbe@eage.org)
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Solving exploration problems with machine learning
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Crosstalk
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Industry News
Special Topic: Opportunities presented by the energy transition 43
Quantitative interpretation using conventional and facies-based pre-stack inversion — A thin dolomite reservoir case study in Cabin Creek Field, Williston Basin Paul El Khoury, Ehsan Zabihi Naeini, Thomas L. Davis
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Solving imaging challenges in a deep-water, complex ooze regime: a case study from the Outer Vøring area, Norwegian Sea Sören Naumann, Øystein Korsmo and Grunde Rønholt
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Putting a price on carbon — a North American perspective Philip H. Nelson
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Seismic identification and applications of methane hydrate as a future energy source Karyna Rodriguez, Neil Hodgson and Hannah Kearns
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Solving exploration problems with machine learning Deborah Sacrey and Rocky Roden
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Back is the future: returning samples from Mars for analysis on Earth M.A. Sephton
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Geologically consistent multiphysics imaging of the Darajat geothermal steam field Wolfgang Soyer, Randall Mackie, Stephen Hallinan, Alice Pavesi, Gregg Nordquist, Aquardi Suminar, Rindu Intani and Chris Nelson
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Recent developments in object modelling opens new era for characterization of fluvial reservoirs Markus L. Vevle, Arne Skorstad and Julie Vonnet
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Calendar
ACCOUNT MANAGER ADVERTISING Charles Callaghan (ccn@eage.org) ACCOUNT MANAGER SUBSCRIPTIONS Jack McClean (jmn@eage.org) PRODUCTION Saskia Nota (layout@eage.org) Ivana Geurts (layout@eage.org) EAGE EUROPE OFFICE PO Box 59 3990 DB Houten The Netherlands • +31 88 995 5055 • eage@eage.org • www.eage.org EAGE RUSSIA & CIS OFFICE EAGE Russia & CIS Office EAGE Geomodel LLC Novocheremushkinskaya Str. 65 Build. 1 117418, 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 LATIN AMERICA OFFICE Carrera 14 No 97-63 Piso 5 Bogotá, Colombia • +57 1 4232948 • americas@eage.org • www.eage.org EAGE MEMBERS CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTIFICATION Send to: EAGE Membership Dept at EAGE Office (address above) FIRST BREAK ON THE WEB www.firstbreak.org
cover: The 17th -century Nyhavn waterfront in Copenhagen, Denmark. Copenhagen will host the EAGE Annual 2018 this month (Pealiku/Shutterstock.com).
ISSN 0263-5046 (print) / ISSN 1365-2397 (online) FIRST
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European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
Board 2017-2018 Jean-Jacques Biteau President
Near Surface Geoscience Division Oliver Kuras Chair George Apostolopoulos Vice-Chair Micki Allen Contact Officer EEGS-NA Riyadh Al-Saad O&G Liaison George Apostolopoulos Awards Committee Representative Peter Bergmann Technical Programme Representative Albert Casas Membership Officer Ranajit Ghose Editor in Chief Near Surface Geophysics Heinrich Horstmeyer Education Officer/Conference Liaison Officer Andreas Kathage Liaison Officer First Break Koya Suto Liaison Asia Pacific Endre Törös Awards Committee Representative Jiangha Xia Liaison China
Oil & Gas Geoscience Division
Juan Soldo Vice-President
Michael Poppelreiter Vice-President-Elect
Jorg Herwanger Education Officer
Caroline Lowrey Chair Michael Peter Suess Vice-Chair Øistein Bøe Resource Evaluation Committee liaison Phil Christie Chief Editor Petroleum Geoscience Rick Donselaar Technical Programme Representative (Geology) Xavier Garcia NSGD liaison Sebastian Geiger Resource Evaluation Committee liaison Olivier Gosselin Technical Programme Representative (Reservoir), Resource Evaluation Committee liaison Juliane Heiland Committee member David Halliday Technical Programme Representative (Geophysics), YP liaison Tijmen Jan Moser Editor-in-Chief Geophysical Prospecting Ann Muggeridge IOR Committee liaison Walter Rietveld Technical Programme Officer Michael Welch Technical Programme Representative (Geology), NSGD liaison Martin Widmaier Technical Programme Representative (Geophysics) Paul Worthington Resource Evaluation Committee liaison Michael Zhdanov NSGD liaison
SUBSCRIPTIONS First Break is published monthly. It is free to EAGE members. The membership fee of EAGE is € 50.00 a year (including First Break, EarthDoc (EAGE’s geoscience database), Learning Geoscience (EAGE’s Education website) and online access to a scientific journal. Roald van Borselen Membership and Cooperation Officer
Ingrid Magnus Publications Officer
Everhard Muijzert Secretary-Treasurer
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. 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 © 2018 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.
Walter Rietveld Technical Programme Officer
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Oliver Kuras Chair Near Surface Geoscience Division
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Caroline Jane Lowrey Chair Oil & Gas Geoscience Division
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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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Saint Petersburg 2018 puts on a show to remember
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First near surface event in Indonesia exceeds expectations
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A green challenge awaits students in Copenhagen
A year of transition EAGE president Jean-Jacques Biteau reviews his year in office. It does not seem like a year since I took office as president of your Association. For me it has been an incredible experience to better understand our geoscience community around the world and to find such enthusiasm for our diverse disciplines.
After my three years on the Board, I would like my successors to be inspired by the encounters possible with you the geoscience actors around the world in our large community. My travels tells me that EAGE is a resilient organization able to adapt to changing circumstances because of its large spectrum of geoscience disciplines and specialties, especially in relation to our growing near surface division. I
believe we can look forward to the future with confidence. When we meet at the 2018 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Copenhagen the discussion will focus on transition, in this case moving from the preoccupation with fossil fuels to alternative forms of energy and the implications for geoscience and engineering. Our Association is of course deeply impacted by this coming transition as some three-quarters of our membership remains involved in the exploration and production of hydrocarbons. We continue to see limited oil company spending on exploration, a phenomenon that has persisted for at least three years. We even hear alarmist talk these days that the value of seismic acquisition operations and the data forthcoming no longer enjoy the same status and value in oil company planning departments as was once the case. It does seem clear that the business model for the use of seismic exploration is witnessing a significant shift, thereby exacerbating an already difficult market, particularly for land and marine acquisition if not so much for data processing and interpretation worldwide. My colleagues and I on the Board have been very conscious of these developments. We have responded by continuing to pursue a transition on behalf of the Association in the best interests of FIRST
the members. In a nutshell, the strategy is to live within our means by becoming a leaner, smarter organization; trying to better tailor our event, educational and publishing services to what we can afford without loss of quality; and broadening our range of geoscientific and related topics to attract future generations coming into this evolving scientific community. It has been a challenge to ‘right size’ our organization while providing the level of service that members expect. We have been fortunate to benefit from a legacy and continuity of prudent expenditure. This has allowed us valuable breathing space to adjust to the new reality. One of my three presidency themes was the come back to a more positive budget. We have been moving to a more focused portfolio of events in all our regions. This involves balancing the interests of members with the amount of participation that can be expected. In some case this has led to the postponement or cancellation of events. This is obviously disappointing as I have observed in some countries I have visited but it is necessary. What is very encouraging, however, is that the success of our EAGE Conference & Exhibition in Paris in 2017 will most likely be repeated in Copenhagen. I am personally very pleased to see that we have managed to give over more of the Technical Programme to geology for the BREAK
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last three years. This was a target of my presidential period, already initiated when I was vice president elect. This is in keeping with the more general drive to go beyond our usual geophysics-centric agenda. As part of that initiative the Oil and Gas and Near Surface Committees are taking a closer interest in all the topics proposed for events around the world. Our annual Near Surface event, in Porto this year, following Malmø in 2017, also looks primed to be an excellent event. This is gratifying validation of the decision to combine two or three conferences to maximize attendance and provide members with a wider vision of near surface geoscience and related areas. The evidence suggests that organizations are still supportive of EAGE offerings but are being more selective in where they channel their event/education dollars. We are catering more and more for this understandable approach with online training through E-courses, E-lectures and webinars. These provide a wide audience of members access to leading experts in many fields of geoscience without the expense of travel. Feedback has been very positive. That said, nothing can completely replace the learning value of live interaction provided by lecture tours and short courses. This is something I personally experienced in geoscience lecturers I have presented in different countries during my presidential visits. We must therefore give thanks to our eminent roster of presenters who give their time to visit locations worldwide.
Also, thinking of online tools, let’s not forget EarthDoc, our invaluable reference database with over 65,000 event papers and journal articles which is growing all the time. 4
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When I began my term of office I expressed a desire to see a widening of the spectrum of topics addressed by EAGE. We have definitely made progress here, the most obvious being the two geothermal workshops in Munich (September 2017) with BvG and in Madrid (November 2017). Later this year in November there will another geothermal workshop in Strasbourg which I intend to attend. We also continue to support sustainable initiatives, e.g., the EAGE/SEG Workshop last August in Trondheim and, upcoming in November 2018, the Fifth CO2 Geological Storage Workshop. We will also be proposing a new Minus CO2 Challenge for students in Copenhagen. Mining and mineral exploration is another area we are pursuing. I should also include here some exciting progress in the building of EAGE as the leader in the near surface field with all the benefits that accrue to members. We have recently concluded an agreement to collaborate with EEGS in the organization of its annual SAGEEP events, beginning in Portland, Oregon next March. This gives the Association access to a larger audience and the opportunity to establish a presence in the US. A likely development will be to follow the European Near Surface model by running more than one conference in parallel with the main event. EAGE also had a huge success, in cooperation with the local Indonesian society HAGI, holding the First Asia-Pacific Meeting on Near Surface & Engineering in Yogyakarta. This could well be a building block to further near surface initiatives and a model for other regions to follow. We have made a point of reaching out to other organizations where it makes sense to pool resources in putting on an event. As a result we have around the world worked with the main societies such as SEG, AAPG and of course SPE which, among other things, contributes to our Annual Meeting conference programme. A good strategy has been to develop joint workshops focused on regional or original themes, as we did recently in Abu Dhabi for the ‘Seals in the Middle East’ workshop. This year we also scored the first success for our newly established EU Affairs office. EAGE is joining with 27 partners 2018
from 11 European countries in the Smart Exploration Project to research innovate solutions for the sustainable production of raw materials and exploration technologies focused mainly on mining. As president I took it upon myself to represent EAGE at important geoscience-related meetings around the world, e.g., in the Middle East including Iran, Africa (East and West, including our first workshop in Luanda, Angola), USA, China and South-East Asia. The benefits of such visits are not always tangible, but hopefully help to build EAGE’s international profile as a leading professional geoscience society with European roots. It also provided me the opportunity to meet many members outside Europe (now the majority) and discuss how EAGE can meet their needs. It is also an opportunity to encourage the formation of local chapters or student chapters. Sustaining a geoscience community around the world is what EAGE is all about. The popularity of our special interest groups for women and young professionals since they were established is indicative of a need for geoscientists to be able to meet and discuss issues on equal terms in a communal environment. Likewise we continue to put major emphasis on encouraging students at many of our events as well as their own, with the certainty that this will engender a firm basis for EAGE’s future. In closing, I cannot say enough about the many people I have met and worked with over this last year and before. I have particularly appreciated the support of the Board and the staff at HQ and in the regional offices, always so active and welcoming to me personally. I would also acknowledge the massive contribution made by volunteers in event planning, chairing sessions, editing and reviewing publications, and so much more. As I prepare for retirement in April 2019 from my career job, I look forward to continuing to serve EAGE as a lecturer and being active in the Awards Committee. My term as president would not have been possible without the generous support of my employer Total to whom I am deeply indebted. Lastly I must thank you, the members, for making EAGE a professional society that I have been honoured to serve.
EAGE NEWS
Saint Petersburg 2018 puts on a show to remember
A warm welcome to participants from more than 30 countries at the opening ceremony.
Presentations perfectly fitted the conference slogan.
EAGE has once again brought together company managers, internationally reputed geoscientists, and practitioners from Russia and all over the world to Saint Petersburg, cultural capital of Russia. The occasion was Saint Petersburg 2018 — 8th EAGE International Geological and Geophysical Conference and Exhibition held on 9-12 April with the theme of ‘Innovations in Geosciences – Time for Breakthrough’. Evgeny Petrov, chairman of the international organizing committee, said the attendance demonstrated that the event, supported by Gazprom Neft (main sponsor) and Total, is gaining ever more traction as an international discussion platform for a creative dialogue on key geological and E&P issues. He noted that the conference featured impeccable organization, precise scheduling, high quality of presentations, and a friendly, encouraging, and creative ambience for fruitful discussions.
Exhibition included Russian and international companies.
All participants of the conference, consisting of over 460 geoscientists and engineers involved in industry and academic research from more than 30 countries, acknowledged the value of this highly topical programme which included almost twice as many sessions as the previous event in 2016. The speakers presented 240 oral presentations that perfectly fitted the conference slogan and addressed a wide spectrum of scientific issues from advanced seismic data processing to recent innovative technologies for petroleum exploration and development. At the opening ceremony Evgeny Petrov (Rosnedra), Jean-Jacques Biteau (EAGE), Roman Oshmarin (Gazpromneft STC), and Vladimir Vorobiev (Gazpromneft-Angara) greeted the participants. The plenary session included talks by representatives of such companies as: VNIGNI, Gazpromneft STC, Gazpromneft-Angara, Total, and Rosgeologia. One of the three free lectures offered to all participants on ‘Tight and Unconventional Oil Reserves: Definitions, Calculation and Development Specifics’ by Igor Shpurov, attracted a great deal of interest and lively debate. The presentation by V.A. Cheverda from the Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics (Novosibirsk) on inversion of scattered-wave seismic data to the subtle structure of vuggy reservoirs was rated among the best talks. Several presentations on attribute analysis, elastic inversion, and AVO were also highly praised, especially those by Ksenia Filippova on estimation of uncertainties in geostatistic inversion and by Irina Kubyshta on the influence of available low-frequency data. A talk on continuous core scanning of high information value as a basis for innovative technologies in core studies was rated as one of most innovative. The authors shared the practical experience of the Rosneft company in core scanning to obtain high-quality data at the beginning of studies as an efficient way for optimization and digitalization of the work. The presentations by Yury Ampilov and Vasily Bogoyavlensky were as excellent as FIRST
ever. They have always been the best speakers, masters in choosing relevant issues and provoking vivid interest. The ever-remarkable conference evening took place at the Summer Palace restaurant outside Saint Petersburg. A well attended exhibition was held concurrently over the four days displaying the accomplishments of Russian and international organizations, such as NewTech Services, Technoinfo, TatASU, Geotech Seismic Services, ROGII, Petroleum Learning Centre of Tomsk Polytechnic University, Dynamic Technologies (DTCC), EAGE, Petrosys, and RadExPro Seismic Software.
Conference evening in the Summer Palace.
The event also included a special Student programme supported by the EAGE Student Fund and Aramco Overseas. More than 50 students participated in the programme listening to lectures, taking a tour of the exhibition, and competing in the GeoQuiz, the winners of which were awarded travel grants to participate in the final at the EAGE Annual Meeting in Copenhagen. EAGE thanks the organizing committee of the event, all the sponsors and contributors and looks forward to another exciting edition of the Saint Petersburg Conference and Exhibition in 2020.
Entertainment programme for the delegates.
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METIS SEISMIC ACQUISITION TAKES FLIGHT Come visit us on the Total Booth #1630 Learn more about METIS: Land Seismic Acquisition Session Room B Thursday 14th 10:30 – 12:10
ep.total.com
EAGE NEWS
Workshop plots the future of passive seismic Krakรณw was the host for the seventh instalment of the EAGE Passive Seismic Workshop (March 27-29, 2018). Technical committee co-chairs of the event Stanislaw Lasocki (Institute of Geophysics Polish Academy of Sciences), Ted Urbancic (ESG), and Andreas Wuestefeld (NORSAR) offer this account of the proceedings.
Participants enjoyed tour and dinner 135m below the surface in the chambers of the Wieliczka Salt Mine.
Krakรณw, a centre of excellence in mining induced seismicity for decades, was an ideal location to gather and discuss new insights into passive seismicity. The focus of the meeting was around the concept of outreach and integration, with presentations and discussions centering on passive seismic monitoring from the laboratory to earth scale and from mining to petroleum and geothermal applications and instrumentation. The interactive round-table format supplemented with technical keynote presentations and posters provided the 56 participants from 19 countries an opportunity to discuss the current status quo in the discipline as well as examine new directions for development going forward. Participants left the meeting with key objectives for the future and an understanding of diversity in passive seismic monitoring and the cross-disciplinary benefits of integrated solutions. The workshop ran over three days, each day with a separate focus. The first day revolved around the concept of induced seismicity. With recent large magnitude events occurring in relation to petroleum extraction, wastewater injection and mining, public concern and the potential for environmental risk has been elevated. 8
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Much of the discussion concerned current regulatory requirements in places around the world and what steps need to be taken to enhance our understanding of induced seismicity to allow for the development of better probabilistic models and evaluation approaches for regulators to follow. It was agreed, that the critical nature of this topic needed to be addressed by starting with the installation of instrumentation that allows for the appropriate assessment of the rock conditions leading to these events. Although prediction was not the goal of these monitoring programmes, a sense of understanding rock behaviour and the rocks potential for induced seismic events leading to better predictive models of hazard was tabled as part of the discussions. Risk management was stressed, and the importance of pre-surveys and base line monitoring outlined. It was also suggested that current traffic light systems being used by regulators should be extended to include additional constraints such as use of ground motion parameters and event source characteristics. A question that all agreed needed further clarification was the distinction between induced, triggered, or natural events. It was suggested that these terms are currently a bit nebulous and need better definition as 2018
they are used interchangeably and have significant implications when it comes to assignment of risk and eventually who should bear the costs and responsibility. The second day of the workshop focused on the area of integration of different disciplines and their linkage to establish a better understanding of rock behaviour leading to improved governance of seismicity. Keynote presentations focused on examining linkages between laboratory-scale to earth-scale monitoring, rock properties with passive seismicity and the scaling behaviour associated with these different data streams. A second component of integration centred around the inclusion of these data and their use in the calibration/ validation of geomechanical and fracture models associated with hydraulic fracturing, ultimately in deriving a data-driven, cross-disciplinary and multi-scale approach to risk management. The posters and roundtable discussions provided an opportunity to list examples of successful cross-disciplinary programmes currently in place, the data streams required going forward, an assessment of who would benefit from integration, and the constraints that could limit success of integrated solutions. It was generally agreed that most in the industry consider integration as paramount to understanding rock behavior. This is particularly true in human resource limited operations, but it was also clear that attaining integrated solutions will require additional development to establish quantifiable linkages. But the challenges are not limited to technical solutions. There is also the issue of who benefits from integration: is it for engineers, geoscientists, economic groups, governance bodies? Each has their own perspective that needs to be unified through common goals and language. Participants in the roundtable discussions came away with a sense that cross-disciplinary team building with leadership from the top providing distinct economic goals will set
EAGE NEWS
the foundation for integration to proceed, and that in the current and future economic climate for resource development along with continued advancement in digital technologies and access to data, it is inevitable that results-based integrated solutions will develop over time. The third day of the workshop focused on looking forward to new directions and challenges for the topics covered during the first two days of the workshop. Keynote and poster presentations were quite varied as were the topics but continued the theme from days one and two, considering the challenges of identifying risk and hazard, the scaling of data from the laboratory to earth scale, and the impact of supplementary technologies such as distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) could have with regards to passive seismicity recording and interpretation (particularly for induced seismicity). Questions of data congruency were considered, particularly with regard to understanding the current development of technologies such as DAS and resolution and scaling (temporal) of InSAR as compared to the fractures/structures responsible for induced seismicity. Fundamental questions of seismic versus aseismic were discussed and the value
and need for better established rupture models were identified. Through discussions, the common challenge was related to the incorporation of new technologies from outside the geoscience realm. For integration, the need of better visualization tools (including virtual reality) and so called ‘big data’ management approaches within a machine learning environment were considered tools that will lead to interpretive successes. A very strong message was provided that education at the post-secondary level needs to evolve, as most programmes currently available are offered in silos, rather than in the cross-disciplinary manner needed in industry and academia when it comes to geoscience. Participants all agreed that the workshop format and content were relevant and that overall was successful with positive learnings from the workshop that could be adapted in their day-to-day operations. We would like to thank the organizing committee for their tireless efforts to ensure a successful gathering and the group leaders and scribes who lead the discussions. In particular, the local committee needs to be commended for organizing social activities, including a tour of old Kraków and an evening visit and dinner 135 m below the surface in the chambers of the
Wieliczka Salt Mine, an event that gave all participants the opportunity to get to know each other well as they walked the rather narrow tunnels of the mine. The event could not have happened without EAGE and its organizational team which ensured deadlines were met and that the venue provided the best opportunity for participants to be engaged. We are already looking forward to the 8th Passive Seismic Workshop to be held in 2020. Potential topics for the meeting were discussed revolving around the idea of data sharing and increased participation from youth. It was suggested that the IS-EPOS platform on anthropogenic seismicity (website: https://tcs.ah-epos.eu/login.html) could be used to house a common data set with free access that could form the basis for a session led by academia with student-driven research. Other focuses could include a pre-workshop session on the fundamentals of earthquake seismology, and workshop sessions on rock mechanics, multi-disciplinary studies, rock physics, rock mass characterization, petroleum and mining engineering, and new technologies related to passive seismicity. The next workshop will indeed ensure an opportunity to enhance our understanding and interpretation of passive seismicity.
Carbonates symposium headed for Malaysia Collaboration between EAGE and Malaysian company PETRONAS has resulted in the launch of the ‘First Symposium on Maximizing Carbonate Asset Values through Collaboration and Innovative Solutions’ which will be held on 29-30 October 2018 in Bintulu, Malaysia. Discussion will cover different phases of carbonate oil and gas fields development from exploration to development to brown field optimisation and abandonmen; as well as the unique challenges with carbonates reservoir characterization and modelling, drilling, reservoir management, surveillance and production enhancement. Particular emphasis will be placed on case
studies, where new ideas and technologies are implemented to deliver improvements in exploration success, productivity, performance efficiency and cost saving. The symposium is highly relevant because more than 60% of the world’s oil and 40% of the world’s gas reserves are held in carbonate reservoirs of different ages, and about 40% of this total occurs in Southeast Asia. Each carbonate reservoir is geologically unique and exhibits highly complex porosity system and permeability characteristics, resulting from their depositional history and later diagenesis. Exploration, development and production from carbonate reservoirs
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are similar to sandstone reservoirs, but new modelling and interpretation tools and techniques are required to address specific challenges. Carbonates present us with some of the greatest challenges and opportunities to develop new technologies and processes, or refine existing ones, to maximize their recovery. The technical committee of the planned symposium is inviting presenters with expertise on the subject to contribute to the programme. For more information, please visit www.eage.org or email asiapacific@eage.org should you wish to present.
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First near surface event in Indonesia exceeds expectations Indonesia is known to the world for its rich mix of culture and history including its religions (Hindu, Muslim and Buddhism), its native Indonesian and Dutch heritages, and all the local arts of batik, music, theatre and music. Even within Indonesia, each island and region has a different culture and tradition. Against this background, the vibrant city of Yogyakarta in Central Java was cho-
ference programme itself covered a wide range of topics in near surface and related engineering. Ahead of the event, short course were presented by Dr Valentina Socco, Politecnico di Torino, Italy on ‘Surface-waves’ and Dr Meng Heng Loke, Geotomo, Software Malaysia on ‘Electric Resistivity Tomography’. Also there was a first time seminar covering five geophysical
Strong start for the First Asia Pacific Meeting on Near Surface Geoscience and Engineering organized by EAGE and HAGI. From left: Gerard Wieggerink (EAGE), Prof Michael Poppelreiter (EAGE), Koya Suto (event co-chair), Rusalida Raguwanti (HAGI), Prof Ir Dwikorita Karnawati (BMKG), Ade Anggraini (event chair), Dr Ir Danis H. Sumadilaga (PUPR), Arif Gunawan (HAGI) and Randy Condronegoro (event co-chair).
sen for the 1st EAGE-HAGI Asia Pacific Meeting on Near Surface Geoscience & Engineering. This was the first collaboration between EAGE and EAGE’s Associated Society HAGI (Himpunan Ahli Geofisika Indonesia or the Indonesian Association of Geophysicists The conference held on 9-10 April at the well known Gadjah Mada University was the first of its kind in Asia Pacific, and attracted close to 200 participants from 14 countries. The conference programme consisted of 125 presentations (91 oral and 34 posters) and nine exhibitors, local and international, filled the foyer for a compact exhibition. The opening ceremony was attended by high level representatives of the Ministry of Public Work & Public Housing (PUPR) and the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG). In his address, Prof Michael Poppelreiter representing the EAGE Board emphasized that the near surface geoscience discipline is a major part EAGE’s future. The con10
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methods for environmental and engineering application by specialists on each subject organized in cooperation with the Society of Exploration Geophysicists of Japan (SEGJ). On the second day, 19 competing student teams contested a regional round of the EAGE Geo-Quiz. The two winners from the Institute of Technology Bandung will enjoy a trip to EAGE’s Annual Conference & Exhibition in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The field excursion after the conference was a visit to the active Merapi Volcano. It is situated on the island ark over the plate boundaries. A map of epicentres of recorded earthquakes covers almost the entire country. There are volcanoes as high as 4800 m. Merapi’s present height is 2930 m. The expression ‘present height’ takes into account changes from time to time. Most recently in October 2010, an eruption blew up its peak and reduced the height by 38 m. Ruined houses at the skirt of the mountain as a result of eruptions have been made into a museum Illustrating the impact of intense volcanic heat and falling ash. The excursion also included a visit to Borobudur Temple, the ancient Buddhism place of pilgrimage. Although only 1% or two million of the present population are Buddhists, the religion has a strong history in Indonesia. The monumental building, also a UNESCO World Heritage, is made up of many Buddha statues and carvings and is amazing in every detail. The visit made for a picture-perfect end to a successful conference that was beyond the expectations of both organizers and attendees. The many questions focused on when and where the next Asia Pacific Conference on Near Surface will be held were indicative of the interest in such an event in the region, so this is only a beginning. EAGE and HAGI would like to thank everybody that participated including committee members, reviewers and session chairs, speakers and of course the many enthusiastic students.
Field trip group at the Museum Sisa Hartaku at the Merapi Volcano.
2018
NEWS RELEASE
Calgary, Canada. April 12, 2018. Terrex Seismic purchases additional 8,000 channels of SmartSolo units, targeting high density surveys in Australia.
EAGE NEWS
Annual General Meeting to include opportunity to Meet the Committees If you really want to know about how your Association is organized and what it is trying to achieve, the Annual Conference & Exhibition, this year in Copenhagen, is the ideal time to find out and have your say. The main opportunity is the Annual General Meeting for Members (AGMM), being held on Tuesday 12 June from 14.30 to 15.30 at the Treehouse in the Bella Center venue. This is when the EAGE Board will report on the previous year’s activities and discuss topics of importance to members. For the first time this year the occasion will also allocate time to Meet the Committees. The AGMM itself provides all members the chance to meet and interact with the Board and welcome the new incoming Board members. It also offers an important chance to hear and discuss the Associ-
ation’s goals and strategy and engage with the Board on a range of topics including membership services and volunteering, geographical growth, diversity and funds, and thereby contribute to the future of the association. Meet the Committees Following on directly from the AGMM, between 15.00 and 15.30 at the Treehouse, there will be time set aside to Meet the Committees which play a key role in the voluntary work for the Association. Representatives of the Oil & Gas and the Near Surface Divisions, as well as the Research and Technical Programme Committees, will be available to meet with members, share information about their mission and work and highlight opportunities for future member engagement
To learn more about the AGMM, including minutes from last year’s meeting, which will be presented for approval at the AGMM, please visit https:// eage.org/en/about-eage/introduction/ annual-general-meeting-for-members. To register your attendance at the event, you can contact membership@eage.org.
The 2017 Annual General Meeting for Members.
EAGE Education Calendar 10-15 JUN
EAGE ANNUAL CONFERENCE: MULTIPLE SHORT COURSES PROGRAMME
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
12-27 JUL
EDUCATION DAYS BEIJING: MULTIPLE SHORT COURSES PROGRAMME
BEIJING, CHINA
5-18 JUL
EDUCATION DAYS PERTH: MULTIPLE SHORT COURSES PROGRAMME
PERTH, AUSTRALIA
9-16 JUL
EDUCATION DAYS KUALA LUMPUR: MULTIPLE SHORT COURSES PROGRAMME
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
SHORT COURSE ON SIMULTANEOUS SOURCES: INTRODUCTION TO ACQUISITION AND PROCESSING AND RECENT ADVANCES
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
23 JUL
GEOBAIKAL 2018 CONFERENCE
IRKUTSK, RUSSIA
27-31 AUG
EDUCATION DAYS RIO DE JANEIRO: MULTIPLE SHORT COURSES PROGRAMME
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
28-31 AUG
EDUCATION DAYS ABERDEEN: MULTIPLE SHORT COURSES PROGRAMME
ABERDEEN, UK
EDUCATION DAYS MEXICO CITY: MULTIPLE SHORT COURSES PROGRAMME
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
9-13 SEP
24TH EUROPEAN MEETING OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND ENGINEERING GEOPHYSICS
PORTO, PORTUGAL
9-13 SEP
3RD APPLIED SHALLOW MARINE GEOPHYSICS CONFERENCE
PORTO, PORTUGAL
9-13 SEP
2ND CONFERENCE ON GEOPHYSICS FOR MINERAL EXPLORATION AND MINING
PORTO, PORTUGAL
GEOMODEL 2018
GELENDZHIK, RUSSIA
EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 13
CHINA, INDIA, INDONESIA, JAPAN, MALAYSIA, AUSTRALIA
EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 13
ANAHEIM, USA
13 AUG
3-7 SEP
10 SEP 17 SEP - 3 OCT 14 OCT 22-26 OCT
EDUCATION DAYS STAVANGER: MULTIPLE SHORT COURSES PROGRAMME
STAVANGER, NORWAY
5-9 NOV
EDUCATION DAYS HOUSTON: MULTIPLE SHORT COURSES PROGRAMME
HOUSTON, USA
EDUCATION DAYS MOSCOW: MULTIPLE SHORT COURSES PROGRAMME
MOSCOW, RUSSIA
19-23 NOV
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION PLEASE VISIT WWW.LEARNINGGEOSCIENCE.ORG.
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EAGE NEWS
Big reservoir geoscience event planned for Kuala Lumpur There is something special coming down the pipeline for the Asia Pacific geoscience community in the shape of a conference in Kuala Lumpur which may well attract a worldwide audience. The conference aims to present and discuss results of the most recent multi-disciplinary and integrated studies, analyses, state-of-the-art technological innovations, and case histories related to reservoir geoscience. The focus will be on the collaboration of various reservoir disciplines and analysis, including but
not limited to integration of geoscience with engineering, well works, drilling, operating facilities, project management, and cost and risk analysis. As such, this is an event of potential interest to geoscientists, engineers, researchers and academics, from around the world who are involved in all relevant disciplines of reservoir studies and associated applications, practices and technologies in the exploration, development and production of oil and gas.
Abstracts are currently being invited for the Reservoir Geoscience Conference to be held in Kuala Lumpur on 3-5 December 2018. Those wanting to submit abstracts have until the deadline of 31 July 2018. Companies are also invited to participate in the sponsorship and/ or exhibition to achieve high visibility in a qualitative environment before a regional audience. For more information, please visit www.eage.org or email asiapacific@eage.org.
EAGE and ALNAFT plan Algerian workshop on mature provinces New initiatives for developing a mature hydrocarbons province are expected to be the main topic of discussion at a new geoscience workshop planned for Algeria resulting from a collaboration between EAGE and the Algerian state agency ALNAFT (L’agence nationale pour la valorisation des ressources en hydrocarbures). ALNAFT was created under the provisions of article 12 of the law n° 05-07 of April 28, 2005. Its main activities are hydrocarbon, research and exploration activities, promotion of scientific research and investment opportunities in Algeria. As global demand for energy rises and hydrocarbon basins mature to a point of few or no remaining untested big structures, one of the main challenges facing explorationists and producers is how to continue being creative and innovative in order to successfully push back the limits of hydrocarbon exploration and production. There is an increasing need to identify new exploration ideas for tight formations and to resolve in-field development challenges leveraging new technologies. To address these topics, EAGE and ALNAFT have come together to introduce a geoscience workshop in Algeria from 28-29 January 2019.
Algiers, the capital city of Algeria.
The theme for the workshop ‘Enhanced Oil Recovery in Mature Fields and Tight Reservoir and Deep Reservoir Characterization and Evaluation’ aims to highlight new inroads on how we can ‘move forward by exploring differently’ particularly through sharing relevant learning on best practices in exploration and production (e.g. workflows, techniques, back to basic geology), lessons learned from failure cases (exploration, production, technologies), innovative technology applications (e.g. geophysics, FIRST
remote sensing) and examples of where making use of old data with new processes made a difference (e.g. a new play entry). Exploration geologists, specialist geologists, reservoir engineers, geomaticians, geophysicists, seismic interpreters and the likes are all invited to submit papers and attend the workshop where there will be dedicated time for discussions, debates and brainstorming issues presented during each session. Call for abstracts is open until the deadline of 31 August 2018. BREAK
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EAGE NEWS
EAGE ballot confirms five new board members With the EAGE Board Ballot 2018 closing on 7 May 2018, we can already congratulate the successful candidates who will begin their roles following the 80th EAGE Annual Conference and Exhibition in Copenhagen, at the same time thanking all those who took time to vote. The Board is responsible for developing appropriate policies to achieve the objectives of EAGE in the interests of its members. The new board members will be: Peter Lloyd, Vice-President Elect; Colin Macbeth, Education Officer; Aart-Jan
van Wijngaarden, Technical Programme Officer; and Caroline le Turdu, Membership and Cooperation Officer. George Apostolopoulos will also join the Board as the Chair of the Near Surface Geoscience Division (NSGD), and Alireza Malehmir was successful in his application for the position of Vice-Chair Near Surface Geoscience Division and will commence in the role of Chair NSGD in 2020. The successful candidate biographies were published in the April issue of First Break. Throughout the next two years, First Break will feature interviews with our board
members to explore their mission and goals for the Association in greater depth. At this year’s Annual Meeting in Copenhagen, there will be an opportunity to meet some of the successful board candidates at the AGMM, taking place on Tuesday 12 June from 14:30 to 15:30 at the Treehouse. We also encourage you to attend the meeting to recognize the wonderful services of the outgoing board members and to thank them for their dedication and service to the Association. For further information on the Board and Ballot, please visit eage.org/en/about-eage/ballot.
Two new workshops in KL Kuala Lumpur will host two workshops on rapidly evolving technologies - the first being Simultaneous Sources on 24 July 2018 followed by Marine Multi-component Seismic from 27 – 29 August 2018. Simultaneous Sources acquisition technology is becoming more accepted as a production-worthy solution for improving quality and reducing costs. As more surveys are conducted, new ideas emerge and new creative approaches to field operations and data processing are being developed. Moreover, research continues to expand the concepts and investigate related new ways to acquire and process data. This workshop seeks to examine the latest in both research and practical applications and will generally cover the state of the art of simultaneous source acquisition and processing with emphasis on recent field experiences. Discover innovative results from around the world, with a focus on the Australasian region where many innovations have been introduced from companies such as WesternGeco, PETRONAS, Downunder Geosolutions, CGG, BGP, PGS, Polarcus and more. A one-day short course by Craig Beasley will precede the workshop on the fundamentals of simultaneous sources and thus 14
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offers a unique opportunity to efficiently explore the topic. For the first time in Asia Pacific, EAGE joins with SEG to organize a Marine Multi-component Seismic Workshop with the theme ‘Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’. This method has evolved
broadband multi-component seismic data. This workshop will focus on the evolution of marine multi-component seismic and aims to discuss various technical issues related to the application of the technology. Your are encouraged to join this interactive workshop for presentations and
Kuala Lumpur at night.
rapidly over the last decade. Although the initial application of two component seabed seismic was aimed at acquiring good quality seismic coverage around obstructed fields, the application has advanced significantly to get high quality 2018
discussion opportunities accompanied by social networking. You can register now for these workshops at www.eage.org and keep abreast of the latest in the industry and stay ahead of the curve!
EAGE NEWS
Workshop explores vital role of velocities in model building Alex Cooke, co-chair, reports on the First EAGE/PESGB workshop in velocities which took place in London on 22-23 February 2018. Some 60 delegates from operators, service companies and academia filled the central London venue, ensuring a lively and engaging workshop, the focus of which was on the latest technologies and workflows for velocity estimation in exploration, development and pro-
emerging technology brings, and how, where and when it should be used. The workshop kicked off with the keynote from Olga Zdraveva. She discussed key developments in model building over the years and emphasised the need for anisotropic earth models (not only velocity
The workshop kicking off in a central London venue.
duction workflows, with an emphasis on their practical application to regional challenges. A wide range of expertise and experiences was represented with delegates and presenters attending from across Europe, but also from as far abroad as the USA and South America. The workshop was preceded by a oneday primer on velocity model building presented by Ian Jones. The call for papers covered all aspects of velocities in E&P workflows, and the technical programme included topics as diverse as anisotropy estimation, understanding uncertainty in velocity models, velocities in the drilling domain, the building of regional models and velocity estimation for multicomponent data. While several case studies discussed the challenges of the North Sea, a broad range of geological environments included the Barents Sea, Brazil, Equatorial Guinea and the Gulf of Mexico among others. A significant proportion of the papers submitted reflected the industry-wide interest in full waveform inversion (FWI), and a significant part of the technical programme considered what value this 16
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models) which explained all available data and reminded us that a key part of improving models is not just ‘better technology’, but the integration of ‘more and better data’ (both seismic and non-seismic) to constrain and validate our models – more well logs in the overburden, please! There were three sessions dedicated to FWI, where the technique was demonstrated to be in production use on large-scale projects and adding value by improving the resolution of overburden velocity anomalies in complex settings. Case studies included modelling of shallow channels in the North Sea, faulted overburden in the Barents Sea, imaging below gas offshore Equatorial Guinea and beneath complex ooze bodies in the Norwegian Sea. Case studies from the Gulf of Mexico were also shown. Common elements to several of the presentations included the implementation of cycle-skipping mitigation measures (allowing FWI to start with simpler models or with data without very low frequencies) and the use of reflections in FWI to allow velocity updates below the depth of penetration of diving waves. 2018
The inclusion of ‘Q’ in FWI was also discussed. While it was clear that FWI techniques are changing the way we build models, it was also noted that tomographic techniques still have an important part to play in model building workflows. Two ocean-bottom seismic case studies from the North Sea, where injectites in the overburden disrupted imaging at the reservoir, further demonstrated the need for an integrated approach to model building including FWI, tomography, surface wave inversion and event registration. Converted wave reverse time migration was also seen to significantly improve images in this area. A third paper on converted wave techniques discussed elastic reflection FWI for the simultaneous inversion of pressure and shear wave velocities. A number of papers discussed the generation of very large regional velocity models using velocity data from a variety of sources and the associated challenges of producing valid models from velocity information of different types. Geostatistical methods and the computation of scaling factors for regional consistency were discussed in this context. To complete an interesting and diverse programme, further insightful talks were given on topics including depth uncertainty estimation in the North Sea, the joint inversion of VSP data in the Gulf of Mexico, orthorhombic tomography offshore Cameroon, common reflection stacking for poor quality datasets, the estimation of velocities for drilling hazard mitigation, high resolution velocity attributes for interpretation, and the use of impedance inversion to update layered salt bodies offshore Brazil! The technical committee would like to thank EAGE and PESGB for organizing this successful event, the presenters for sharing their work, the chairs for keeping things running to order and the attendees for their contribution to the discussion during an interactive and informative event. We look forward to the next one!
EAGE NEWS
EAGE brings high performance computing workshop to Latin America High performance computing is one of the pivotal platforms to support decision making in the oil and gas industry, and as such is a topic which EAGE has been promoting over the last few years. This is why a special workshop is being organized for the first time in Latin America, in Santander, Colombia on 21-22 September. The event venue is the Guatiguara Technology Park in Piedecuesta, a place designed to foster cooperation between scientists and entrepreneurs interested in the advancement of technology. The workshop is being held in conjunction with the Latin America Conference on High Performance Computing (CARLA 2018), which should ensure many key specialists in the field will attend to share their knowledge and expertise. The main objectives are to reinforce the best HPC practices, tools, and techniques in computing architecture, system level, algorithm design, application development, and people training; discuss the harder impediments for the adoption and the growth of HPC solutions in the oil and gas industry; and point the trends and opportunities for the near future. The workshop is highly relevant because talented people, data, and com-
putational power are key components in the digital transformation process of oil and gas companies to deliver real value for their business. The cooperation with technical companies and research centres enables innovation, improves safety, increases productivity, mitigates risk and reduces costs. In the last decade, there have been great improvements in traditional HPC for simulation methods like reverse time migration (RTM), full waveform inversion (FWI), electromagnetic modelling (EM), and reservoir simulation. But a huge and increasing gap exists between the demand for computational power and what the current technology can offer. The underlying hardware for simulation is undergoing fast paced changes. Various options such as accelerators (e.g., GPUs), FPGAs and various CPU offerings contribute to a challenging environment for practitioners who need to develop new algorithms and adapt the existing ones. In addition, there has been an explosion in the amount of E&P data collected because sensors are getting cheaper, the sampling rate is increasing, more dimensions and quantities are being measured, model resolutions are getting finer, equations are getting more complex with higher order terms, etc.
All these factors contribute to an exponential growth for computational power. Additionally, recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), especially in machine and deep learning, have made this one of the most computationally intensive applications and part of the core business in tech giant companies. Unlike any time in history, we are witnessing a rush to improve speed of computation for huge amounts of data. Topics of interest for the workshop include (but are not limited to): seismic imaging, modelling, and inversion; reservoir simulation; new algorithms and code modernization; massive parallel programing models, frameworks, languages, and strategies; large dataset visualization; big data and analytics; machine learning and deep learning; heterogenous architectures and accelerators; emerging architectures; high performance storage, file systems, and databases; data centre operation optimization; HPC in the Cloud; and HPC case histories and field studies. The international technical committee is looking forward to original contributions along these themes and, more importantly, for a great event in Santander next September. The deadline for extended abstract submissions is 18 June 2018.
Conference retains focus on Myanmar exploration boom Maintaining momentum from the highly successful third geological conference in February 2017, AAPG together with EAGE and MGS are organizing a fourth conference in Yangon, Myanmar from 13-15 November 2018. Levels of exploration activity in Myanmar have remained high with new exploration and appraisal wells being drilled, discoveries being made and
2D/3D seismic being shot. While in some areas that were licensed in 2014, exploration is still in the pre-drill phase, in other areas activities have progressed beyond first discoveries to an appraisal phase. As data is acquired, the understanding of the petroleum systems, both within industry and within academia, is enhanced and the full oil and gas potential is unleashed.
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The conference is intended to provide the opportunity to understand the significant progress made over the last two years. In addition, there is a diverse investment opportunity that can expand your brand reach to the industry. To register and participate in the conference, visit www.eage.org or contact EAGE Asia Pacific via email at asiapacific@eage.org for enquiries.
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Increased attendance seen at largest petroleum geoscience event in the Middle East A total of 4050 world energy leaders, stakeholders and executives from 53 countries converged in Bahrain for the 13th Middle East Geosciences Conference and Exhibition (GEO 2018) in March for four
GEO 2018 was held under the patronage of the Prime Minister of Bahrain His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, and was officially supported by the Bahrain National Oil and Gas Authority.
Opening ceremony applause.
days of strategic dialogue and business opportunities. Marking a 7% increase in attendance, participants were welcomed by 76 exhibitors from 19 countries at the 6000 m2 world-class exhibition featuring state-ofthe-art equipment, technological advancements and innovative services in the oil and gas exploration sector. The parallel conference programme under the theme ‘Pushing the Technical Limits: Shaping the Energy Landscape’ featured over 420 expert speakers focusing on geological studies, reservoir challenges, the environment, safety, risk management and innovation.
The event was co-hosted by UBM AEM and the world’s three largest professional geoscience associations - AAPG, EAGE and SEG – in cooperation with a committee of national and international oil company representatives. GEO 2018 was officially inaugurated by Bahrain’s Deputy Prime Minister His Highness Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, accompanied by the Minister of Oil His Excellency Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa. The conference opened on 5 March 2018 at the Ritz Carlton hotel with an opening speech by His Excellency Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa,
the Minister of Oil, Kingdom of Bahrain. This was followed by a keynote speech by His Excellency Ali Al-Naimi, former Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia and a current advisor to the Royal Court. Dr Scott W. Tinker, director, Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas, Austin closed the ceremony with a talk entitled ‘Energy, Economy and Climate: Seeking the Radical Middle’. More than 390 technical and e-poster presentations designed to share the knowledge and experience of managing, operating and supplying oil and gas companies took place over the subsequent three days of the conference at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre. The agenda at GEO 2018 also included three panel sessions led by chief executive officers, managers and presidents of national and international oil companies and the service industry. Panel discussion topics included new technologies, unconventional resources, and AI and the Internet of Things (IoT) in E&P. GEO 2018 also played host to a fiveday programme of activities aimed at the next generation of geoscience professionals. A total of 19 regional universities participated in a series of workshops, short courses, competitions and conference close up for students and young professionals.
EAGE Student Calendar 10 JUN
LAURIE DAKE CHALLENGE FINAL
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
11 JUN
LAURIE DAKE ANNOUNCEMENT
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
EAGE ANNUAL 2018: STUDENT PROGRAMME
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
13 JUN
GEO-QUIZ
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
3-8 JUL
ACEG, SEMANA TECNICA DE GEOCIENCIAS DE LA ASOCIACIÓN COLOMBIANA DE ESTUDIANTES DE GEOLOGÍA
MANIZALES, COLOMBIA
20 NOV
STUDENT LECTURE TOUR EU- BRISTOL UK 4 DEC 2018 – STUDENT LECTURE TOUR
LEICESTER, UK
11-14 JUN
5 DEC
STUDENT LECTURE TOUR EU
DERBY, UK
6 DEC
STUDENT LECTURE TOUR EU
MANCHESTER, UK
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION PLEASE CHECK THE STUDENT SECTION AT WWW.EAGE.ORG
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Marine Acquisition
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EAGE NEWS
Geosphere continues to be a big favourite for Polish students There were more participants than ever at the 11th Geosphere event, which took place in Kiczyce, Southern Poland on 5-8 April. This is the report. Geosphere is an increasingly popular annual conference for Polish university students interested in geophysics, geology and other earth sciences from the best polish universities. The workshop programme and activities provide give students with an opportunity to broaden their knowledge, engage with their peers at other universities as well as meet people in the oil and gas industry. The workshops were organized by students from the AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow and attended by more than 120 participants
by specialists in climate change and geophysics concluding with an online inauguration lecture by Prof Szymon Malinowski who spoke about the physics of the greenhouse effect. There followed an introductory lecture on designing, data acquisition and producing documentation from field measurements. Then it was time for the Ice-Breaker which was fun. On the second day, in addition to the workshops and field measurements, students could listen to short lectures about different companies and get to
Participants of the 11th Geosphere event.
(20 more than a year ago) – involving 80 students and over 40 guests from industry companies and universities. The event consisted of four days of workshops, lectures, student posters and paper sessions and field measurement and interpretation of the results. Reflecting the location, the main topic of the workshops (including theoretical sessions and field measurements) was focused on the geophysics of this region. The event was opened by two AGH UST students one of whom is the EAGE student chapter president Dariusz Dziubacki. Three talks were presented 20
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know the working opportunities they offer. We invited representatives of CHEMKOP and GPR24 and Transient Technologies. Students were divided into groups, half of them carrying out the field measurements using different geophysical methods like seismology or electro resistivity methods. Other groups of students were attending workshops, for example, one on ‘From petrophysics to logging and seismicity’ by Kamila Wawrzyniak-Guz, the EAGE faculty advisor. Another workshop on ‘Field data acquisition and technical data management was given by prepared Shell personnel from its 2018
Cracow Office. The other two workshops that day were prepared by Szymon Piecyk on ‘Designing seismic measurements 2D/3D’ and by Norbert Smalera who spoke on how to interpret seismic data from the Polish Lowland. The third day included a time for data processing and interpretation of field measurements for presentation during last day of the conference. There were also more workshops as on the previous day. One exception was the workshop previously led by Dr Wawrzyniak-Guz was presented instead by four EAGE Chapter Students from AGH UST in Cracow – Patryk Rogocz, Bartosz Pudło, Sebastian Waszkiewicz and Michał Wilkosz providing them with experience in leading workshops and delivering the information and knowledge for the benefit of younger students. The day concluded with a Geo-Quiz and other contests. The last day of Geosphere is traditionally dedicated to the Student Session with a jury to judge the oral presentations or posters. Representatives from the Shell Business Operation Center in Cracow reviewed the poster student’s session and the paper student’s session jury consisted of staff from the AGH UST. Both juries admitted that it was very difficult to choose a winner because all the presentation and posters met the highest standards. We are pretty sure that Geosphere 2018 able to inspire young people to broaden their geophysical knowledge – not only by reading the books or attending the lectures at university but also in a practical way through the field measurements and the interpretation of measured data. We know that it was also a great opportunity to exchange creative ideas and further the development of earth sciences in Poland but also in the world. But what’s most important, it wouldn’t be possible without the support from our partners including EAGE.
EAGE NEWS
A green challenge awaits students in Copenhagen The EAGE Green Fund will be launching the Minus CO2 Student Challenge at this year’s 80th Annual Conference & Exhibition. This exciting new challenge invites student members from around the world to participate and enhance their scientific and technical knowledge through collaboration with others on a project with a real-world dataset. As with other EAGE field challenges, this one will focus on a real oilfield dataset bringing practical experience to help students develop successful and environmentally conscious careers in the applied geosciences. The challenge asks teams to use a subsurface hydrocarbon resource but with zero net emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere. Any form of CO2 management may be used in association with the hydrocarbon resource model (e.g. CO2 capture, CO2 storage, CO2 EOR, or renewable energy options). The committee will be composed of geoscientists from different companies: Arjan Kamp (Total), Peter Watterson (Schlumberger), Maren Kleemeijer (Shell, Learning Advisor), Karl Berteussen (former EAGE Publication Officer), Michael Poppelreiter (EAGE Vice-President-Elect) and Philip Ringrose (Statoil). This committee will judge the applicants and the four teams with the highest innovation score will present their findings at the EAGE Annual Conference 2019 in London.
The challenge is being supported by Statoil, Total and the EAGE Green Fund, which was established to strengthen sustainable use of the earth by fund-
knowledge to reduce its environmental impact across the world. The Minus CO2 Challenge is one of the ways in which the Green Fund is aiming to play
ing projects that offer technologies or knowledge to reduce environmental impact across the world. The EAGE Green Fund is also inviting sponsors, both for financial support and the development of datasets for use in the future. The EAGE Green Fund was initialized by the wish of EAGE to become more green and sustainable by funding projects that use technologies or
a more active role in promoting innovation, development and the application of renewable technologies and new energy solutions. The long-term vision of the EAGE Green Fund is to diversify in topics and support any sort of activity in collaboration with a Green Fund Committee, that fulfils the mission. For further information on the EAGE Green Fund and its strategic vision, please send an email to greenfund@eage.org.
The EAGE Student Fund supports activities that help bridge the gap between the university and professional environments for students of geosciences and engineering. Thanks to our Student Fund contributors we can continue supporting students around the globe and through this securing the future of our industry. For more information to become a Student Fund contributor, please visit eagestudentfund.org or contact us at students@eage.org. SUPPORTED BY
SUPPORTED BY
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Energy ingredient of happiness ‘Something is rotten in the state of Denmark’ is one of those memoNorth Sea emerged as an oil and gas province. Denmark may rable lines from Shakespeare’s Hamlet that still has currency today. not have enjoyed a bonanza on the scale of Norway and Britain; Literate folk can on occasion be heard to use it to imply something is nonetheless the country continues to be just one of three members amiss in an organization. No association with Denmark is intended. of the International Energy Agency (IEA) along with Norway and Yet the observation by Marcellus to Horatio in Act 1 Scene IV Canada that is a net exporter of oil. It is also projected to remain could have some contemporary relevance in Denmark. How else a net exporter of natural gas for many years to come. do we explain the vexing fall from grace of this When the possibility of offshore hydroyear’s host nation of the EAGE Annual Meeting carbon riches first arose, the government in ‘Denmark was the in Copenhagen? 1962 took the unusual step of awarding sole In 2016 Denmark was nominated the concession rights to offshore exploration and happiest country in happiest country in the world, it dropped to production for 50 years to AP Møller-Maersk, the world’ second place in 2017, and now languishes the Danish conglomerate focused mainly on third behind Scandinavian rivals Finland and ocean transportation. The decision reflected Norway, all this according to the improbably titled World Happia degree of scepticism about whether anything of value would ness Report 2018, published by the UN Sustainable Development emerge. That was to change to the extent that by the 1980s the Solutions Network. original agreement was revised, and in 1984 the country’s first The six key criteria for determining the rankings are said to licensing round was launched to attract international investment. be: income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust By that time Denmark was living the oil producer’s dream, and generosity. If there is a perfectly innocent explanation for only hampered briefly by the mid-Eighties oil price crisis. From Denmark’s apparent decline in happiness, it probably lies in the the start A.P. Moller-Maersk had established the Danish Undersubjectivity of some of the measurements, e.g., freedom, trust and ground Consortium (DUC) with Shell and Gulf Oil as the original generosity, which are based on polling. More fundamentally, do operator. Soon after, Texaco and Chevron joined the group. Gulf we really know what the state of happiness is and, for that matter, left in 1974 with AP Moller-Maersk subsidiary Maersk Oil taking how long it lasts? over the operator role. Chevron withdrew in 1987 but returned on One of the preoccupations of Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), the merger with Texaco in 2001. The composition changed again the Danish existentialist philosopher, was the definition of happiwhen Nordsøfonden, the state North Sea Fund, was awarded a ness. He considered that ‘people settle for a level of despair they 20% stake in DUC. can tolerate and call it happiness’. By despair he did not mean Last year there was a dramatic turn of events when Total depression as we know it, more like living with and accepting a came into the picture by acquiring all AP Moller-Maersk’s oil and degree of disappointment about what an individual can achieve. gas activities worldwide for $4.95 billion in Total shares (3.75% This characteristically melancholic view is clearly not the vision of the enlarged capital share of Total) plus the assumption of of happiness embraced by the UN study. Its apparent justification $2.5 billion Maersk Oil debt. The oil asset disposal was the first is to provide an evaluation tool for social planners. major step in the break-up of the AP Moller-Maersk conglomerate By any measurable criteria, indigenous hydrocarbons must in order to focus on shipping and logistics. The company’s other still be contributing to Denmark’s happiness quota, even if only energy-related interests in drilling, tankers and supply services because of the impact on the wealth of the nation since the are also on the block.
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and gas was possible but in both cases these were not considered Total as new operator of DUC interests in Denmark offshore, likely to have commercial value. some 80% of the total licensed area, inherits an unheralded oil However, despite its green intentions, the government has and gas success story. How many people today, for example, acknowledged that, in terms of energy security alone, the oil and are aware that the first oilfield discovery in the North Sea was gas show must be allowed to go on. In 2016 oil production was actually offshore Denmark in 1966? This was the Kraka field, reported by the Danish energy authority to have fallen to 9.1 mila satellite of the major Dan field which was found in 1971 in lion cubic metres, the same level as in 1992. Seventeen fields are 42 m water depth and became Denmark’s first producer the producing offshore Denmark. In 2015 most oil was coming from following year. three fields: Halfdan (36.9% of the total), Dan (17.5%) and South By 1985 oil production had increased from 3.2 million barrels Arne (11.3%). to some 21.3 million barrels with the Gorm, Skjold and Tyra Last year the evident decline in hydrocarbon production fields coming on stream. In this period, six new fields, Regnar, brought about a cross-party agreement on the future oil and Rolf, Dagmar, Gert, Elly and Harald, were discovered. Morten gas strategy. It was informed by the official estimation that Hahn-Pedersen, who has charted Denmark’s oil history in his Denmark’s offshore has a geological oil and gas potential of book Maersk Oil: from Danish to international operations (2016) around three billion barrels of oil-equivalent (bboe). Denmark’s attributes the country’s next surge in production in the 1990s to accumulated production so far totals around 3.8 bboe. The the deployment of water injection and horizontal drilling technolstrategy foresees that around half this potential could be produced ogy. Self-sufficiency in oil was achieved in 1991, and by 2002, with current technology. 112 million barrels of oil a year were being produced. Annual gas As part of the new approach, DUC has agreed to finance production in 2002 had reached 7.3 billion m3. In 2016, Denmark’s total energy production, according to the Danish Hydrocarbon Research and Technology Centre at the International Energy Agency (IEA) statistics, was 14.9 Mtoe. Oil Technical University of Denmark. The main purpose of the centre accounted for almost half of it (47.6%) and the rest was made is to identify new technological and conceptual solutions that can up of natural gas (27.1%), biofuels and waste (17.1%), wind boost the otherwise decreasing oil and gas recovery in the Danish (7.4%), and solar (0.7%). Denmark’s total production peaked sector of the North Sea. at 31.3 Mtoe in 2005, after which it decreased by 52% to 2016, However, the crux of the new strategy was the go ahead for owing to a decline in oil and gas production. Oil production an investment by DUC (with various tax inducements) of around fell by 63% from 2005 to 2016 and gas production dropped by $3.35 billion to redevelop the Tyra field, Denmark’s largest gas 57%. During the same period, the country’s renewable energy field and export hub for all DUC gas production. Redevelopment production increased by 29%. As a result, the share of renewables is required because the field’s offshore production facilities have in production increased from 9.3% in 2005 to 25.3% in 2016. sunk into the seabed (chalk reservoir) by around 5 m in the last Today the country is not too worried by reduced oil and gas three decades. The field will be out of commission until 2022. output because it is now pursuing a new route to energy happiness When completed, approximately 60,000 boe/d will be produced via a transition from dependence on the fossil fuel industry. This at peak, two-thirds of which will be gas, enough to cover Danish happily coincides with the theme of this year’s EAGE Annual Meetconsumption for a decade, according to Maersk Oil. ing – ‘Opportunities presented by the energy transition.’ The Danish In April this year, the spotlight fell on the government’s new Government’s plan is to reach independence energy policy document Energi til et Grønt from fossil fuels by 2050 and envisages a 50% Danmark (Energy for a Green Denmark) ‘Spotlight is on reliance on renewable energy by 2030. earmarking around $2 billion in funding to In pursuance of these ‘green’ objectives, the government’s new steer the country towards its fossil-free goal. first promulgated in 2011, the government in Its central proposal is to build a massive energy document’ February announced the end of oil and gas 800 MW offshore wind farm (site to be exploration on Danish land and inland waters, and its intention determined), one of the largest in the world able to supply the to focus on the North Sea to meet the need for oil and gas country’s seven largest cities with climate-friendly electricity production in the transition period. all year round, according to Lars Christian Lilleholt, Energy, The ban affected just one Dutch company, Nail Petroleum, Utilities and Climate Minister. At the same time the government which had its outstanding application to explore on Lolland intends to cut subsidies on the renewable energy industry, which Falster rejected. Popular opposition to this proposed onshore is thought to be more or less economically viable, and promote operation had been running high. The government was no doubt energy efficient buildings. The latest policy also promises also persuaded by a recent study by the Geological Survey of substantial cuts in taxes on electricity. Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). It found only two areas, in Whether this turns out to be a formula for national happiness South Denmark and North Jutland, where any potential for oil remains to be seen.
Views expressed in Crosstalk are solely those of the author, who can be contacted at andrew@andrewmcbarnet.com.
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Abu Dhabi launches first ever bid round
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Helge Lund to take over as chairman of BP
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CGG launches subsurface map of UK
Shell and BP outline energy transition plans
Shell has pledged to invest more in electric car charging businesses.
Shell and BP have both outlined their strategy to adjust to the energy transition in the coming years. Royal Dutch Shell has outlined its strategy to reduce its net carbon footprint 20% by 2035 as its first commitment in the transition to lower-carbon energy. The Shell Energy Transition Report explains how Shell has designed its strategy not only to be a ‘world-class investment case’, but also to manage climate change-related risks and maximize opportunities through the transition. BP has published Advancing the Energy Transition, which details its
framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in its operations, improving its products to help customers reduce their emissions, and creating low carbon businesses. The report also sets out clear nearterm targets for limiting greenhouse gas emissions from BP’s operations, against which its progress can be measured. These targets will be measured over ten years. Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said: ‘Understanding what climate change means for our company is one of the biggest strategic questions on my FIRST
mind today. In answering that question, we are determined to work with society and our customers. We will help and inform and encourage progress towards the aims of the Paris Agreement. And we intend to continue to provide strong returns for shareholders well into the future.’ The report contains Shell’s principal response to the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures and demonstrates the company’s near- and mid-term financial and portfolio resilience, even against its recently-published and most rapid energy transition scenario, known as Sky. It also explains how Shell’s capacity to adapt to the transition should allow it to thrive in the longer term by supplying the types of energy customers will need over the coming decades. ’For Shell, this means that the company will still sell the oil and gas that society needs, while preparing its portfolio to move into lower-carbon energy, when this makes commercial sense,’ it says. As of 31 December 2017, Shell estimates that around 80% of its current proved oil and gas reserves will be produced by 2030, and only 20% after that time. In the medium term Shell will grow its business in areas it expects to be important in the energy transition, while reducing costs and improving its CO2-intensity performance. The company is expanding BREAK
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BP sets out commitment to low carbon future
in the power market as it expects the energy system to increasingly electrify, and it is adjusting its businesses to meet changing demand in different countries. This includes investments in areas such as wind generation in the Netherlands, supplying power to retail customers in the UK and offering hydrogen refuelling and electric-car charging. ‘Longer term there is great uncertainty in how the energy transition will unfold, but Shell believes its strategic flexibility will allow it to adapt in step with society. Shell has previously announced its ambition to reduce the Net Carbon Footprint of the energy products the company sells by around half by the middle of the century. Critically, this plan covers the full energy life cycle of the company’s products, making it unique in the energy industry. It includes not only emissions from the production of energy, but also those from the consumption of Shell’s products by its customers, where around 85% of the emissions associated with the company’s energy products occur. Progress will be reviewed every five years to ensure it is in-step with society’s progress towards the Paris goal of limiting global warming.’ Meanwhile, Royal Dutch Shell has also published its 2017 Sustainability Report outlining the company’s social, safety and environmental performance in 2017. It sets out how Shell is contributing through paying taxes, procuring local goods and services, hiring locally and supporting social investment programmes. This is the 21st edition of the Shell Sustainability Report. Shell has used external review panels to strengthen its sustainability reporting since 2005. Shell has also published details of payments made to governments in 2017 in countries where it has upstream operations. This report details payments in 29 countries.
BP has published a new report setting out its commitment to a low carbon future. ‘The world is growing like never before, creating opportunity for billions of people, said Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive. ‘And all this growth requires energy. But as the world demands more energy it also demands that it be produced and delivered in new ways, with fewer emissions. At BP, we embrace this dual challenge. We have always looked to the future, adapted to change and met challenges like this head on. In this report set out our low carbon ambitions and show how we are helping to advance the energy transition.’ The report, Advancing the Energy Transition, sets out clear near-term targets for limiting greenhouse gas emissions from BP’s operations, against which its progress can be measured. These targets will be measured over ten years. Even as it delivers plans to grow its business over coming years, BP intends to keep net greenhouse gas emissions from its operations at or below 2015 levels out to 2025. It plans to achieve this by generating sustainable reductions in emissions throughout its operations, limiting the intensity of methane emissions from its oil and gas business, and through using carbon offset projects. BP aims to generate sustainable reductions of 3.5 million tonnes of annual CO2 equivalent greenhouse gas emissions throughout its businesses by 2025. As a key part of this, BP will tackle emissions of methane from its operations. BP is targeting limiting the methane emissions from its operations where gas goes to market as a percentage of that gas to 0.2% across its oil and gas operations. ‘Where these actions alone do not keep BP’s net greenhouse gas emissions from its operations at or below 2015 levels, BP intends to further invest in high-quality carbon offsetting projects to ensure the aim is met.’
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BP has also introduced a group-wide accreditation programme, Advancing Low Carbon (ALC), which is designed to encourage every part of BP to pursue lower carbon opportunities and to encourage customers and others outside BP to make lower carbon choices.
BP has outlined the road ahead until 2025.
‘We now know that a race to renewables will not be enough. To deliver significantly lower emissions every type of energy needs to be cleaner and better. That’s why we are making bold changes across our entire business,’ said Bob Dudley. Each activity included in the ALC programme is evaluated, and subjected to independent assurance against defined criteria. Those judged to meet the criteria will be able to carry the ALC logo. The programme has been launched with an initial 33 accredited activities from throughout BP’s businesses. Advancing the Energy Transition was published alongside BP’s Sustainability Report for 2017. Framed around common questions about BP’s policies and performance.
INDUSTRY NEWS
EAGE, 11-14 June 2018, Copenhagen
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Shearwater wins contract to shoot 3D survey offshore Morocco Shearwater GeoServices has won a contract to acquire 3D seismic data for Genel Energy in the Sidi Moussa licence offshore Morocco. Shearwater has also won a five-month contract from an undisclosed client in West Africa. ‘The market outlook is improving, and the two contracts add significantly to Shearwater´s backlog for the 2018 summer and autumn seasons,’ said a company statement. Genel Energy, one of the largest independent oil producers listed on the London Stock Exchange, has been active in Morocco for several years and plans to acquire seismic data offshore Morocco with the expectation to materially derisk the prospectively of the Sidi Moussa licence. The survey will include dual, FlexiSource and multi-azimuth shooting, for appraisal and exploration targets. The volume of data to be acquired is equivalent to more than 3500 km2. The programme is scheduled to start in Q3 2018 and is expected to take 3-4 months. The proprietary contract with the undisclosed new Shearwater client is for two surveys off West Africa this summer. The surveys will commence early in the second quarter and are expected to take five months to complete and cover approximately 10,000 km2 combined. Shearwater will use the vessel Polar Marquis for this contract. One of the sur-
veys will be acquired with FlexiSource, which reduces wide-tow large survey acquisition time by a third compared to conventional dual source seismic acquisition. Shearwater’s fleet has been engaged on acquisition surveys in the Indian Ocean through the winter season. ‘When also adding the award from the undisclosed client — and the recent award from TGS in the North Sea — our backlog has increased significantly and we have expanded our client list. The seismic market shows signs of strengthening, and we expect this to materialize into more awards in the time to come’, said Irene Basili, CEO of Shearwater. Meanwhile, the company has won a contract for a UK North Sea high-resolution 3D project over the Greater Tolmount Area for Premier Oil. The survey is scheduled to start late Q2 2018 and will be executed by the Polar Duchess. The Tolmount Field, off the coast of Yorkshire, is one of the largest recent discoveries made in the Southern Gas Basin. The survey is expected to take about one month and will provide high-resolution imaging of approx. 500 km2 of the Greater Tolmount Area.
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Iraq awards six oil and gas licences Iraq has awarded six new blocks for exploration in border areas with Iran and Kuwait and in offshore Gulf waters. Iraqi-owned Crescent Petroleum has won three exploration blocks while China’s Geo-Jade won two. United Energy Group, also based in China, won one contract and five blocks received no bids.
Fourteen companies expressed interest in winning the new contracts that will establish a link between prevailing oil prices and their remuneration, and introduce a royalty element. Oil companies operating in Iraq currently receive a fee from the government linked to production increases, which include crude and oil by-products such as liquefied petroleum gas.
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Seismic studies suggest geothermal plant caused earthquake in South Korea Two studies have linked a geothermal plant in South Korea with an earthquake in the city of Pohang last November. One team of researchers from several universities in South Korea used data from onsite seismic monitors. The other team of researchers from across Europe used satellite data to make their assessments. Both teams have published their findings in the journal Science. On 15 November, a 5.5-magnitude earthquake struck the South Korean city of Pohang, causing structural damage and numerous injurious to citizens. The area was not sitting on a known fault line. However, the Korean team of researchers had already observed numerous smaller earthquakes in the area that
they suspected were caused by a geothermal plant — the size of the quake, on the other hand, was a major surprise. Because of the smaller quakes, the researchers had installed an array of seismic monitors around the plant. Just five days later, the big quake occurred. Data from the sensors indicated the earthquake was centered directly below the geothermal plant, strongly suggesting its activities were involved. The second team used data from regional seismic monitors and also from satellites to study ground movement. They noted the earlier, smaller earthquakes and the larger one were all centered around the geothermal plant — they also noted that all of the quakes were unusually shallow.
BP forms alliance with Petrobras BP has signed a memorandum of understanding to explore areas of co-operation with Petrobras. Petrobras and BP have committed to exploring potential joint commercial agreements in areas of mutual interest in upstream, downstream, trading and across low carbon initiatives, inside and outside Brazil. The alliance is also expected to include the transfer of technology, as well as joint training and research. BP has been present in Brazil for more than 60 years, supplying fuels and lubricants, exploring for oil and gas, and developing biofuels. BP and Petrobras currently partner in 16 exploration blocks in Brazil and are both members of the Oil & Gas Climate Initiative, a voluntary, CEO-led initiative which aims to lead the oil and gas industry response to climate change. BP employs around 7000 people at its various business sites and has activities in 15 states and in the Federal District.
BP participates in national discussion forums within both the public and private sector. It is a member of the Brazilian Institute of Oil, Gas and Biofuels (IBP), which promotes sustainable, ethical and socially responsible development of the national oil, gas and biofuels sector. Bob Dudley, BP chief executive officer, said: ‘Petrobras is a world-class energy company with which BP has built strong relationships over many years. We are now excited to deepen our partnership and explore even more opportunities together across all our businesses – in the upstream, downstream, trading and low carbon – both in Brazil and beyond.’ Meanwhile, Petrobras has signed a finance agreement of up to $400 million with Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CACIB) with a guarantee from the UK Export Finance (UKEF). The bond will mature in 2029 and the funds will support procurement from UK suppliers on Petrobras projects. FIRST
‘Its proximity to an Enhanced Geothermal Systems site, where high pressure hydraulic injection had been performed during the previous two years, raises the possibility that this earthquake was anthropogenic. According to our analysis it seems plausible that the occurrence of this earthquake was influenced by these industrial activities. Finally, we found that the earthquake transferred static stress to larger nearby faults, potentially increasing the seismic hazard in the area,’ said the researchers’ paper in Science. The magnitude of the main shock in the city of Pohang makes it the largest known induced earthquake at an EGS site.
Seadrill’s creditors accept reorganization plan Seadrill’s creditors have voted in favour for its Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganisation filed with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Of the 530 ballots cast by creditors voting on the plan, 529 or 99.8% of all voting creditors accepted the plan. Shareholders voted approx. 29,000,000 shares in the company, with 24,983,115 or 86% of shares voted to accept the plan. The voting results demonstrate the broad-based support from creditors and shareholders of the company’s reorganization transaction, which provides more than $1.08 billion of new capital, defers all secured credit facilities’ maturities by approximately five years, and provides significant covenant relief.
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Abu Dhabi launches first ever bid round The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has announced, as part of Abu Dhabi’s first ever block licensing strategy, the details of the initial round of six oil and gas blocks open for bidding. UAE is the world’s seventh-largest oil producer, with about 96% of its reserves within the emirate of Abu Dhabi. Located in one of the world’s largest hydrocarbon super-basins, there remains undiscovered and undeveloped potential in the numerous stacked reservoirs. Based on existing data from detailed petroleum system studies, seismic surveys, log files and core samples from hundreds of appraisal wells, estimates suggest these new blocks hold multiple billion barrels of oil and multiple trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Some of the blocks already have discoveries, and within the combined area there are 310 targeted reservoirs from 110 prospects and leads. In addition to the country’s conventional oil and gas accumulations, some of the offered blocks also contain significant unconventional resource potential. The six blocks open for bidding, two of which are offshore and four are onshore, cover an area of between 2500 and 6300 km2, which, by comparison, is up to three quarters of a UK North Sea quadrant, consisting of 30 blocks. In
Abu Dhabi where the six blocks on offer comprise an area of almost 30,000 km2.
total, Abu Dhabi’s six blocks comprise an area of almost 30,000 km2. Bidders will confirm their participation through an expression of interest and will be able to purchase a comprehensive data package on the six blocks. The data package will include full bid-
ding instructions and regional geological information, in addition to well and seismic data, in both raw and interpreted form, on all six blocks. Bids must be placed by October. The first bid round is planned to conclude this year.
BGS carries out geothermal study in Glasgow, Scotland The British Geological Survey is finalizing plans to exploit a reservoir of warm water in disused mines and porous rock layers underneath Glasgow to warm homes in the city. The £9 million ($12.2 mllion) project will involve drilling narrow boreholes filled with instruments to survey temperature, seismic activity, water flow, acidity and other variables to establish the state of the water in the rocks below the city. ‘The rocks below Glasgow are crisscrossed with tunnels that were hewn into the rock by coalminers in the 19th and 20th century,’ said Professor Michael Stephen30
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son, the director of science at the BGS, which is funding the project. ‘Eastern Glasgow was once the location of some of Scotland’s busiest mines. These old, long-abandoned tunnels should now be allowing water to flow freely beneath the city.’ He added: ‘The water in the old mines and in the rock layers under Glasgow is about 12C. That is not red hot, obviously. However, there is a great deal of water down there and by using heat exchangers we can turn that mass of lukewarm water into a moderate supply of very hot water.’ 2018
Because the reservoir of subterranean warm water is now linked by the tunnels, engineers believe they will not have to worry that water will dry up at an individual location when they drill a borehole. Drilling of the first test boreholes at sites yet to be selected is the first part of an initiative by the BGS to create several UK geo-energy observatories. A second site has been proposed for Cheshire, where scientists want to study rock conditions to assess the possibility of using underground vaults as storage for heated water.
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Licensing round-up
Pemex looks for partners in seven onshore areas
Indian oil companies ONGC and Vedanta put in the highest number of bids in the first round of auctions under India’s Open Acreage Licence Policy (OALP). No foreign companies expressed any interest. Vedanta has bid for all the 55 blocks on offer while ONGC has put in 37 bids. Oil India has put in 18 bids while GAIL (India) put in six. IndianOil, Bharat Petroresources, Vedanta, Selan Exploration, Hindustan Oil Exploration and Sun Petrochemicals have also placed bids.
Mexico’s national oil company Pemex will tender for partners in seven onshore areas to form joint venture projects. The country’s National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) said that Pemex will have a 45% stake in the onshore areas scheduled to be tendered on 31 October. It is hoped that the the tenders at 20 sites should generate up to $870 million of investment. Pemex has tempered expectations for the year after failing to find partners on its Ayin-Batsil shallow water development and the Nobilis-Maximino deepwater project, after its planned tender was cancelled in December. By mid-2017, Pemex was considering 160 onshore and offshore areas for development. Now just seven more modest onshore projects are planned for such partnerships in the states of Veracruz, Chiapas and Tabasco.
Egypt will auction 10 or 11 oil and gas exploration blocks in the Mediterranean. Egypt also aims to auction oil and gas drilling in the Red Sea by the end of 2018. Sri Lanka was due to call for fresh bids for an oil exploration block off the island’s northwestern coast where traces of natural gas was discovered in 2011. The country has also agreed to enter into agreements with global oil companies for land and offshore exploration work along the Eastern coastal belt. Bahrain has discovered an estimated 80 billion barrels of tight oil of the west coast and the kingdom has indicated that it will ask foreign oil and gas firms to develop the resources.
Angola’s state-run oil firm Sonangol is inviting bids for stakes in two offshore oil blocks. Sonangol is inviting bids for part of its stakes in Blocks 21/09 and 20/11.
Thailand has set the criteria for the upcoming auctions of the Erawan and Bongkot gas blocks, which will be based on a gas price offered to PTT and benefits shared with the state. Chevron operates the Erawan field and state-owned PTT operates the Bongot field under licences set to expire in 2022 and 2023 respectively. The fields have combined output of 2.2 billion cubic feet a day, about 76% of output from the Gulf of Thailand.
TGS expands Atlantic Margin programme TGS is expanding its Atlantic Margin multi-client programme in the Norwegian Sea.
Polarcus Adira will carry out the 5135 km2 survey in the Norwegian Sea.
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The AM18 3D Extension will comprise 5135 km2 of 3D seismic data and cover a variety of play models with stratigraphic and structural traps in Paleocene and Cretaceous turbidite/ fan deposits. Acquisition will commence in early July and TGS is chartering a Shearwater seismic vessel for this survey. In addition, TGS will continue to acquire the remaining 7500 km2 from the previously committed area. Acquisition will commence at the end of May and will be undertaken with the Polarcus Adira seismic vessel. After completion of this survey, the TGS data library will have more than 45,500 km2 of new modern 3D data in the region. 2018
‘A significant milestone for TGS in 2017, was the commencement of an extensive 3D survey in the central-southern Norwegian Sea called AM17. The project is the single largest 3D survey carried out by any company in Northern Europe and covers mainly open blocks in a relatively under-explored area with limited drilling to date,’ said Kristian Johansen, CEO, TGS. ‘The AM18 Extension falls predominantly within the annual APA licensing round area which is suitable for short-term development. Further offshore licensing and development interest in the area surrounding the producing Ormen Lange gas field is expected through 2018 onwards.’
INDUSTRY NEWS
Helge Lund to take over as chairman of BP
Helge Lund was a director of Schlumberger.
BP has appointed Helge Lund to succeed Carl-Henric Svanberg as chairman. Lund will join the BP Board as chairman designate and a non-executive director on 1 September 2018. He will be appointed chairman on 1 January 2019. Lund, who is also chairman of the healthcare group Novo Nordisk in Denmark, will stand down with immediate effect from his directorship at Schlumberger. BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said: ‘Our industry is changing faster than ever as the world focuses on meeting the dual challenge of more energy with fewer emissions. Helge has a track record of leadership in addressing these issues, characterized by his open-minded and forward-looking approach. Together with his deep industry knowledge and global business experience, he has all the skills necessary to lead the board today and into the future.’ Lund served as chief executive of BG Group from 2015 to 2016 when the company merged with Shell. He joined
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BG Group from Statoil where he served as president and CEO for ten years from 2004. Prior to Statoil, he was president and CEO of Aker Kvaerner, an industrial conglomerate with operations in oil and gas, engineering and construction, pulp and paper and shipbuilding. He has also held executive positions in Aker RGI, a Norwegian industrial holding company, and Hafslund Nycomed, an industrial group with business activities in pharmaceuticals and energy. He has worked as a consultant with McKinsey & Company and has served as a political adviser for the parliamentary group of the Conservative party in Norway. The Norwegian, who is married with two children, has been a non-executive director of the oil service group Schlumberger (2016-18), and Nokia (2011-14). He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group and served as a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Group on Sustainable Energy in 2011-14. He has a degree in business economics from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (NHH) in Bergen and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from INSEAD business school in France.
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Petrobras puts assets up for sale Petrobras is selling its interest in several offshore and onshore fields. The company has initiated the sale of its 50% non-operated working interest in the Tartaruga Verde field (BM-C-36 Concession) and Module III of the Espadarte field, both deep-water offshore exploration and production assets located in the Campos Basin. Petrobras is also selling its total stake in Baúna field (BM-S-40 Concession) in
shallow waters in the Santos Basin. Petrobras is the operator of the Baúna field, with a 100% working interest. The average oil production in January 2018 was about 34,000 barrels a day. All the gas produced is reinjected. The company wants to sell its exploration, development and production rights in the onshore fields, Riacho da Forquilha and Miranga, in Rio Grande do Norte and Bahia states.
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INDUSTRY NEWS
West African basement study pinpoints exploration targets A study of the underlying basement of the Equatorial West African margin has identified new targets for exploration. The Equatorial West Africa Seebase multi-client study and GIS by Frogtech Geoscience proposes an advanced rift migration and crustal model for Sierra Leone to Gabon. The study also has implications for source maturity concepts by challenging ideas about the tectonic evolution of the margin. It concludes that there is at least 10-12 km of sediment accumulation in the Liberia and Deep Ivorian basins,
which is twice the thickness predicted by current global sediment thickness models. The study is an integrated geological and geophysical study of basement and basin evolution in the Gulf of Guinea. It examines the tectonic history of final West Africa break-up with South America. Frogtech CEO, Ryan Murphy, said: ‘Seebase studies are often used to extrapolate known play trends into underexplored deepwater areas. Our interpretation implies an increase in the prospectivity of many sub-basins on the
distal margin because their basement consists of transitional, and not oceanic crust. This is an important concept for explorers to consider when seeking to invest in the region.’ The study provides a regional assessment and basement depth model interpreted at a scale of 1:1,000,000. This interpretation framework accommodates future integration of proprietary client datasets including higher-resolution gravity and magnetic data, well data and seismic interpretation to further customize the model in areas of interest.
PGS completes 3D surveys offshore Brazil
Ramform Tethys.
PGS has completed two new 3D GeoStreamer surveys over Potiguar and Sergipe-Alagoas to add to its coverage for the Brazilian 15th Round.
Final imaging products for Ceara Fortaleza and Potiguar Aquiraz are available now. Fast track data on Potiguar Aracati will be available in Q3 2018. Ramform Tethys deployed a deep-tow acquisition configuration of 16 x 8100 m streamers with 100 m separation. The new projects in the Potiguar and Sergipe-Alagoas basins supplement the extensive data library coverage on Campos basin and the vast Santos Vision broadband package. Santos Vision is a reprocessing project designed to address imaging challenges presented by deep water and structurally complex salt geometries. Santos Vision
delivers depth imaging using algorithms, velocity model building, plus advanced imaging workflows. PGS’ next project, SEAL Pirambu, targets the Cretaceous/Lower Tertiary section in the Sergipe-Alagoas basin with early data expected four months after the final shot. The company claimed that its GeoStreamer dual-sensor data ‘offers access to the full wavefield. Combined with advanced seismic imaging technologies, this provides the most reliable seismic foundation to support exploration decisions on these AVO turbidite reservoirs.’
FairfieldNodal buys Geokinetics’ multi-client library FairfieldNodal has tripled the size of its North American multi-client library with the acquisition of Geokinetics’ US multi-client data library. The purchase raises the American companies’ multi-client library coverage from 9148 km2 in the Permian Basin to 27,091 km2 in other key US basins in the US state of Texas, including Appalachian and Powder River basins.
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FairfieldNodal is expanding its multi-client data library, data-processing services and capabilities, reservoir analytics, and integrated solutions in pursuit of its strategy to become ‘a premium global provider of a wide range of life-of-field seismic services’. ‘The acquisition of the Geokinetics US multi-client libray is highly complementary to FairfieldNodal’s extensive US land
2018
library, will enhance our value proposition and provide the ability to capitalize on the strong synergies with our current data licensing business segment,’ said Charles (Chuck) Davison, Jr, president and CEO of FairfieldNodal. ‘FairfieldNodal will continue to aggressively execute its strategic agenda by strengthening the core business and expanding our market reach through M&A activities.’
INDUSTRY NEWS
HiSeis shoots 3D survey in Western Australia mine HiSeis is carrying out Australia’s biggest 3D seismic survey for minerals exploration. HiSeis, a company spun out of research by Curtin University, has been contracted by the Independence Group (IGO) to undertake a 60 km2 digital map on the Fraser Range, 160 km east of Norseman, Western Australia. The survey using Vibroseis trucks will illuminate the geology around IGO’s new Nova Nickel Mine to a depth of about 5 km.
The survey will help to indentify extensions to the Nova-Bollinger nickel and copper ore body, which was discovered under deep cover by Sirius Resources in 2012. IGO is spending about $9 million of its $50 million exploration budget on its exploration campaign around Nova, which opened last year and is expected to produce about 25,000 tonnes of nickel and 11,000 tonnes of copper a year for a decade.
Managing director Peter Bradford said more than half of that $9 million was being spent on the seismic survey.
New Zealand will no longer grant oil and gas licences New Zealand will not grant any new permits for offshore oil and gas exploration. The 22 existing permits will not be affected by the decision and any discoveries from companies holding these licences could still lead to mining permits of up to 40 years, according to an emailed government statement. ‘This is a responsible step which provides certainty for businesses and communities that rely on fossil fuels,’
said Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s prime minister. ‘We’re striking the right balance for New Zealand — we’re protecting existing industry, and protecting future generations from climate change.’ She added. ‘We could be world leading in becoming carbon neutral.’ Ardern’s centre-left Labour-led government has a support arrangement with the Green Party.
Ardern had campaigned during the election last year to focus on preventing climate change and vowed that her government would move the country towards having no net carbon emissions by 2050. New Zealand usually holds an annual tender for oil and gas exploration permits, largely in the energy-rich northeastern region of Taranaki. Only one permit was granted in 2017 compared with ten in 2013.
Total and Schlumberger to carry out survey offshore Sri Lanka Sri Lanka will sign agreements with Total and a subsidiary of Schlumberger for a seismic study off its east coast to evaluate any prospective oil resources. Vajira Dassanayake, director general of the Petroleum Resources Development Secretariat (PRDS), said a first deal signed with Total in 2016 to conduct a study off the east coast did not take place owing to ‘some issues’. ‘We are hoping to sign a new agreement with Total later this month.’ Total had earlier signed a two-year agreement with PRDS to survey around
50,000 km2 off the east coast from the air, at a cost of $25 million to acquire data on unexplored areas. Dassanayake said Total
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will invest $3-10 million for the seismic study, while Eastern Echo Holding, a subsidiary of Schlumberger, will carry out the survey. ‘There will be more resources allocated this time compared to the previous agreement. They will have the marketing exclusivity for a certain period until they recover their costs,’ Dassanayake said. ‘Actual ownership of the data will be with the government of Sri Lanka. They (Total) have one year to negotiate with us and to give us a favorable contract for production and sharing.’ BREAK
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INDUSTRY NEWS
Northern Territory lifts ban on fracking Australia’s Northern Territory has lifted a two-year moratorium on fracking, raising the possibility of other provinces following suit. The Northern Territory (NT), a 1.4 million km2 expanse of outback extending from the centre of Australia to its northern coastline, banned hydraulic fracturing in September, 2016 amid concerns the drilling method could harm the environment. It commissioned an inquiry into the environmental, social and economic risks of the extraction process and has accepted the inquiry’s conclusion that the risks were manageable.
‘The moratorium on fracking in the Northern Territory will be lifted, with strict new laws to be in place before exploration or production can occur,’ chief minister Michael Gunner said. The announcement reopens shale gas reserves in the Beetaloo and McArthur basins for development. It immediately sent shares in commodity explorers in the region sharply higher, even though production is not expected to begin for about a decade. It also raised industry hopes for pushing Australia, with 88 trillion cubic feet of identified unconventional gas reserves, towards energy self-sufficiency if blocks
Shale gas extraction could be permitted in other areas.
on fracking were lifted elsewhere in the country.
CGG launches subsurface map of UK
MotionMap UK, the image shows national ground stability measurements dating from May 2015 to December 2017.
CGG’s NPA Satellite Mapping group has unveiled its MotionMap UK a national data of high-precision ground stability measurements that reveals millimetre-scale changes in ground and building heights The UK’s geological setting, mining legacy and engineering heritage has led to substantial changes above and below ground. From subsidence and heave across coal fields in the Midlands, to tunnelling-related ground settlement in London, the impact on the landscape is extensive yet relatively unknown and extremely challenging to map, said CGG. Generated using satellite InSAR data processing, MotionMap UK gives geolo-
gists, engineers and surveyors an insight into the location, extent and evolution of ground stability hazards. MotionMap UK draws on vast amounts of imagery collected by the latest satellites. ‘For the first time ever it will be possible to reveal and monitor the evolution of hazards across the UK, resulting in the world’s first ‘live’ source of national ground stability measurements. From desk-based studies and planning, to site permitting, surveying, ground investigations and monitoring, ‘MotionMap UK ensures hazards are understood prior to potentially costly, intrusive and risky fieldwork,’ said CGG.
Oil majors report increased first-quarter profits Statoil has reported first-quarter earnings of $4.4 billion, up from $3.3 billion in the same period in 2017. Adjusted earnings after tax were $1.5 billion in the first quarter, up from $1.1 billion in the same period last year. Higher prices for both oil and gas, coupled with high production, contributed to the increase. Net debt ratio reduced from 29.0% to 25.1%. Royal Dutch Shell has reported a 42% rise in profits in the first quarter of 2018, the highest in more than three years, 36
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boosted by higher oil prices. Net income rose to $5.322 billion from $3.754 billion in the first quarter of 2017. BP has reported a 71% rise in Q1 profits at $2.6 billion, compared with $1.5 billion for the same period in 2017. Oil and gas production was 3.7 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, 6% higher than the first quarter of 2017. ConocoPhillips has reported first-quarter 2018 earnings of $0.9 billion compared with first-quarter 2017 2018
earnings of $0.6 billion. The company’s 2018 capital guidance of $5.5 billion is unchanged. Eni has reported first-quarter operating profit of €2.38 billion ($2.85 million), up by 30% from the fourth quarter of 2018, and Net profit is €0.95 billion ($1.14 billion). The company’s net capex was €1.78 billion ($2.13 billion). Net borrowings are €11.28 billion ($13.5 billion). Estimated capex for 2018 is €7.7 billion ($9.2 billion).
INDUSTRY NEWS
Total buys Cobalt’s assets in the Gulf of Mexico Total has acquired several assets in the Gulf of Mexico as part of Cobalt International Energy’s bankruptcy auction sale. Total bid on several assets for around $300 million and acquired a 20% interest in the North Platte discovery. As a result, Total increases its interest to 60% and becomes operator of this discovery. Total will have Statoil as a partner, who acquired the remaining 40%. It has also bought a 20% interest in the Anchor discovery. As a result, Total increases its interest to 32.5%, after having acquired 12.5% last December. This discovery is operated by Chevron. It has purchased 13 offshore exploration blocks, which will be operated by Total. ‘The sale of Cobalt’s assets gives us the opportunity to further enhance
our portfolio in the Gulf of Mexico under particularly attractive conditions and to be able to apply our expertise as a deep offshore operator. We will now develop the North Platte discovery,’ said Arnaud Breuillac, president exploration and production at Total. Discovered in 2012 by Total and Cobalt in the Wilcox play, North Platte covers four blocks of the Garden Banks area, 275 km off the coast of Louisiana in approx. 1300 m of water. Discovered in 2014, Anchor is also located in the Wilcox play, 225 km off the coast of Louisiana in approx. 1500 m of water. One of the most significant recent discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico, Anchor is operated by Chevron (55%) alongside Total (32.5%), and Venari (12.5%).
3D Oil to carry out seismic survey offshore Australia 3D Oil is planning a 3D seismic survey in late 2018 to cover the central and southern part of T/49P licence area offshore south Australia. The forthcoming 3D seismic survey, named Dorrigo, will target a series of significant leads across the central and southern portion of T/49P with the intention of maturing several of these to prospect status. One of the key leads to be targeted by the Dorigo seismic programme is the Harbinger Lead, supported by a Type III AVO anomaly indicative of gas. Decade old 2D broadly spaced seismic data has estimated that Harbinger contains 790 BCF. 3D Oil intends to combine insight gleaned from the new data with that from existing seismic data, to determine the location of the exploration well planned for 2019-early 2020,
subject to funding and securing a suitable exploration partner. Another potential target for 3D seismic acquisition is the Seal Rocks lead, with estimated resources of more than 4 TCF. Seal Rocks is also constrained by a widely spaced grid of 2D seismic data and requires modern 3D data to asses more accurately. The previous 3D seismic survey confirmed the Flanagan Prospect in the northern part of T/49P with estimated resources of 1.4TCF. 3D Oil holds a 100% interest in the T/49P exploration permit, which covers 4960 km2 in offshore Otway Basin. The permit is located adjacent to the producing Thylacine and Geographe gas fields. The company continues to engage with a number of international oil companies interested in farming in to the project.
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INDUSTRY NEWS
TGS to carry out 3D survey in Oklahoma TGS will begin shooting the Gloss Mountain 3D seismic survey in Oklahoma, US, in the third quarter. Gloss Mountain adds the company’s geoscience data position in
the SCOOP/STACK area of the Anadarko Basin. This project will encompass a minimum of 900 km2 in Major and Woods counties Oklahoma, just north of TGS’ previously announced Canton
The survey will encompass 900 km2 in the Gloss Mountain area.
3D project and the Loyal Complex 3D survey. Preliminary data will be available Q1 2019, with final data in Q2 2019. The data will be processed by TGS to provide clients with high-resolution imaging of the Mississippian Chester, Osage and Meramec intervals in the centre of the prolific SCOOP/STACK play fairway. Gloss Mountain 3D is complemented by TGS’ geologic products database in the SCOOP/STACK, comprising data from more than 100,000 wells and multiple interpretive products, including basin temperature modelling.
Emerson launches Roxar Tempest 8.2 Emerson has launched the Roxar Tempest 8.2 version of its reservoir management software, bringing advanced uncertainty analysis tools and increased support to the Big Loop workflow and risk analysis and reserves estimates across the seismic-to-simulation workflow. Enhancements to the Big Loop workflow within Tempest ENABLE, Emerson’s uncertainty management and history matching module, centre on greater connectivity to other IT ecosystems leading to the closer integration of geology and engineering, simpler workflow set-up and improved risk and uncertainty analysis. To this end, the system now supports the Nexus and CMG simulators, several cluster queueing systems, such as LSF,
PBS and UGE, and it is easier to connect other third party and internal applications into the workflow. Post processing and analysis of the Big Loop ensembles is also now fully integrated. ‘We generate an automated workflow that expands upstream into geological modelling and downstream into production management and economics for a more consistent reservoir understanding and greater project certainty,’ said Kjetil Fagervik, vice-president of product development of Roxar software at Emerson Automation Solutions. ‘With Tempest 8.2, we are one step closer to achieving this — embedding our Big Loop workflow further into our reservoir management suite, expanding MORE’s capabilities, and providing the very best in risk mitigation,
decision support, workflow integration and reserves estimations from geosciences right through to production.’ The Big Loop workflow is the cornerstone of Emerson’s reservoir characterization and modelling process, tightly integrating the static and dynamic domains and propagating uncertainties from seismic characterization through to geological modelling and simulation. Reservoir uncertainties are captured and varied as input parameters, creating an ensemble of realistic reservoir models that all feed into the reservoir simulator. This leads to a better understanding of the reservoir geometry, more robust reserves estimations, and better-informed decisions for future field development scenarios, said Emerson.
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www.geo-5.at software@geo-5.at IN-DEPTH EXPERTISE
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INDUSTRY NEWS
PGS shoots 3D Geostreamer survey in the UK North Sea PGS has started acquisition of three new 3D GeoStreamer surveys covering nearly 7400 km2 of the Moray Firth area of the North Sea, to be completed in October 2018. Fast-track data will be available four months after the final shot. The licence, which contains the Verbier oil discovery and the Cortina prospect, is being prefunded by the licenceholder Jersey Oil and Gas and its partners including operator Statoil. This has enabled the partners to have input into PGS’ survey design and the acquisition and processing parameters. Primary targets in the prolific outer area are the proven Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous plays. The inner area is less explored owing to the combination of shallow water, shallow sub-surface Chalk Group and deep targets. The key imaging challenge of Moray Firth is the masking of deep structures by a combination of shallow water and complex shallow overburden. PGS is using a Complete Wavefield Imaging (CWI) workflow that utilizes
BRIEFS
GeoStreamer dual-sensor technology to process and image all recorded wavefields. ‘Using this technology we generate top-to-bottom datasets by utilizing not only reflections but also refractions (FWI) and multiples (SWIM). The process starts with signal processing and results in accurate velocity models through full integrity imaging,’ said PGS. ‘In addition to providing an excellent basis for exploration decisions, these new Moray Firth datasets can be used as a baseline survey for future 4D studies, making this a cost-effective solution for exploration, evaluation, field development and production monitoring.’
Oil giant ConocoPhillips will shed about 450 UK jobs by 2020. The company has 1300 staff and contractors in the UK; about 700 are in Aberdeen. ExxonMobil is in talks with Qatar over a possible deal in which the country would invest in the company’s US shale gas resources. The deal could take the shape of a joint venture with state-owned Qatar Petroleum to invest in future wells with Exxon’s XTO Energy subsidiary. Polarcus has won a contract for a broadband 3D marine seismic acquisition project in Australia from an undisclosed client. The project duration is approx. two months and will start immediately. Immediately after the Australian project, Polarcus will shoot a XArray 3D marine seismic acquisition project in Asia Pacific that it has won from an undisclosed client.The two-month project will extend Polarcus’ regional campaign well into Q3 2018
PGS will use a CWI workflow.
Schlumberger reports first quarter profit of $525 million Schlumberger has reported a first-quarter net income of $525 million, up from a loss of $-2.25 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017 and a profit of $279 million in Q1 2017. Q1 revenue of $7.83 billion was down from $8.18 billion in Q4 but up from $6.89 billion in Q1 2017. Cash flow from operations was $568 million. Schlumberger chairman and CEO Paal Kibsgaard said: ‘Business units in the Middle East, the North Sea, and Russia were all in line with our first-quarter activity expectations, while activity upsides in Asia were offset by continued weakness in Latin America and Africa. ‘Overall, the first-quarter sequential revenue decline was led by the Cameron Group, which fell 7%, driven by seasonally lower project volumes and reduced
Seabed Geosolutions has won a $25 million contract for an ocean-bottom seismic project in the Middle East. The survey to acquire 3D seismic data is planned to start in the fourth quarter of 2018. Seabed Geosolutions is a joint venture between Fugro and CGG.
product sales. Reservoir Characterization Group revenue decreased 5% sequentially owing to the seasonal reduction in sales of SIS software and WesternGeco multi-client seismic licenses. ‘After three consecutive years of dramatic underinvestment in global E&P spending, the worldwide production base has started to show the anticipated signs of weakness with noticeable year-overyear production declines appearing in several countries such as Angola, Norway, Mexico, Malaysia, China, and Indonesia. It is, therefore, becoming increasingly likely that the industry will face growing supply challenges over the coming year and a significant increase in global E&P investment will be required to minimize the impending deficit, said Kibsgaard.’ FIRST
EMGS has entered into multi-client prefunding and various service agreements. The agreements represent combined revenues approx. $2.2 million. The prefunding revenue is related to 3D CSEM multi-client data surveys in the North Sea using the DeepBlue source. The surveys are expected to be executed in Q2 or Q3 2018. The UK Oil and Gas Authority has received ‘significant support’ from industry to create the United Kingdom’s first oil and gas National Data Repository (NDR), to be launched in early 2019. The OGA’s response to the consultation from licensees, trade associations, service providers and academia shows 28 out of 32 respondents back funding the NDR through a levy.
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multi-client seismic
ARGENTINA
Offshore Argentina New Multi-Client 2D Seismic For Future Licensing Rounds Legend
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Spectrum’s Multi-Client library now includes over 50,000 km of newly-acquired data over the Austral Malvinas and the Argentina Deepwater basins, presenting some of the year’s most promising exploration opportunities. Our modern, premium, long-offset seismic data is processed and ready to give explorers the competitive advantage in unlocking these exciting new areas. Both surveys are being acquired with 12,000 m offsets with continuous recording to enable extended recording lengths and high fold data to support full interpretation from Moho to water bottom. The new data is already assisting the Ministry in block placement and design for 2018/2019 licensing rounds.
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INDUSTRY NEWS
ION starts 2D survey offshore Ghana ION Geophysical has started shooting a 2D multi-client programme offshore Ghana in partnership with Geoex and Ghana Geophysical. ION and its partners will acquire up to 7200 km of data in advance of the licensing round anticipated in late 2018 to help refine understanding of the hydrocarbon potential of the area. West Equatorial AfricaSPAN was custom designed in collaboration with regional experts and clients to answer remaining geological questions with a survey tied to recent discoveries. This data will be the first on offshore Ghana to image 40 km below the seafloor. Acquisition is expected to be completed at the end of May 2018 with fast-track products available in Q3 2018 and final imaging products expected in Q1 2019. Ghana is believed to have up to 5-7 billion barrels of petroleum and up to 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in reserves and has renewed interest
owing to new projects coming online and the resolution of the maritime boundary dispute with Côte d’Ivoire in September 2017. The Ghanaian government is transitioning to its first competitive bid round due to the petroleum legislation passed in August 2016. The country will tender six oilfields. Ghana currently produces 200,000 bar-
rels of oil per day (bpd), led by its Jubilee field which produces about 100,000 bpd. The west African nation, which became a significant oil producer in 2010 when the Jubilee field came online, said global oil majors such as BP, Shell and some independent producers have shown interest in acquiring oil assets in Ghana. Ghana is expected to put up another six offshore blocks for auction next year.
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08/05/18 13:25
Brazil receives strong interest for 4th round of production sharing minimum percentage of oil surplus at 8.32%. The 1285.33 km² Sector SS-AUP2 Block in the Uirapuru Area includes a signature Bonus of $750 million and a minimum percentage of oil surplus at 22.18% In the Campos Basin blocks on offer include the 710,54 km² Sector SC-AP4 Block in the Itaimbezinho Area with a signature bonus of $14 million and a minimum percentage of oil surplus at 7.07% The 1414.26 km² sector SC-AP5 Block in the Two Brothers Area includes a signature bonus of $113.5 million and a minimum percentage of oil surplus of 16.43%.
Lev Vernik is appointed Ikon Science’s scientific adviser Ikon Science has announced that Lev Vernik, author and world-renowned expert in rock physics, is to become its scientific adviser. Vernik pioneered research on seismic rock properties of organic shales at Stanford University in California and has 22 years’ industry experience. He has been working with Ikon Science in recent times to bring a series (17) of unconventional rock-physics-models (RPMs) into its RokDoc software and in 2017 launched a new training course to enable users derive the maximum benefit of these new tools. Vernik said: ‘The theoretical models benefit from empirical calibrations using both log measurements and core data. The RokDoc environment greatly facilitates the utilization of these RPMs (and property prediction functions based on them) in data analysis and estimation of key reservoir qualities such as TOC, porosity, and saturation, as well as key completion quality indicators such as
WAY*
Brazil’s ANP has received a record 16 expressions of interest for the 4th Round of production sharing. Scheduled for 7 June, the 4th Round will offer the areas of Itaimbezinho, Três Marias, Dois Irmãos and Uirapuru, in the pre-salt of the Campos and Santos basins. In the bids under the production sharing regime, the winning companies are those that offer the Brazilian State a minimum percentage and the largest portion of oil and natural gas produced. The signature bonuses are fixed. In the Santos Basin, blocks on offer include the 821.45 km² the Sector SS-AUP1 in the Tres Marias Area with a signature bonus of $28 million and a
HIGH
INDUSTRY NEWS
* GEOCLOUD NOT JUST ANY CLOUD, BUT A PETROTECHNICAL HIGHWAY
stress profiles. Further development of RokDoc’s capabilities will make the software even more powerful in seismic reservoir characterization and geomechanics.’ As a scientific adviser, Vernik will continue to work with Ikon Science to bring more unconventional and conventional models into RokDoc.
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RokDoc software screenshot. CEGAL.COM/EAGE2018
Special Topic
OPPORTUNITIES PRESENTED BY THE ENERGY TRANSITION Oil companies and service companies have made major steps in the past year to take advantage of opportunities presented by the energy transition to a low carbon future. This month we present papers from companies outlining their plans. Paul El Khoury et al apply the conventional simultaneous pre-stack inversion method and the newly developed facies-based inversion technique to the reservoir characterization of a thin deep dolomitic interval, planned to undergo CO2 enhanced oil recovery, in the Cabin Creek Field, Williston Basin. Sören Naumann presents a case study from the Outer Vøring area of the Norwegian Sea where a custom FWI and viscoelastic imaging workflow compensated for imaging artifacts associated with thick siliceous oozes of the Kai and Brygge formations. Philip H. Nelson looks at how cap-and-trade carbon tax systems at a regional level could inform national legislation in the US and Canada. Karyna Rodriguez et al discuss the various applications of seismic BSRs (Bottom Simulating Reflectors) associated with methane hydrate zones, from which methane can be extracted to provide a future source of energy. Deborah Sacrey demonstrate how the use of multi-attribute classification based on sample rate versus wavelet size can solve some of the most difficult problems geoscience interpreters face today. M.A. Sephton demonstrates how the Mars 2020 mission’s search for organic signatures in the rock matrices of the Red Planet could be an important step towards a low carbon future on Earth. Wolfgang Soyer et al present a joint 3D inversion workflow, incorporating the production field model as a structural reference in order to derive mutually consistent subsurface resistivity, density and velocity distributions, as well as relocated MEQ events. Markus L. Vevle et al present different techniques applied to fluvial reservoir characterization and modelling, opening up the possibility of a new era in fluvial reservoir characterization.
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
Reservoir Monitoring
March
Petroleum Geology
April
Passive Seismic
May
Modelling/Interpretation
June
Opportunities presented by the energy transition
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 ia EAGE’s ScholarOne website: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/fb
July
Unconventionals & Carbon Capture and Storage
August
Near Surface Geoscience
September
Reservoir Geoscience and Engineering
October
EM & Potential Methods
November
Marine Seismic
December
Data 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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Technical Contents Special Topic: Opportunities presented by the energy transition uantitative interpretation using conventional and facies-based pre-stack inversion — Q A thin dolomite reservoir case study in Cabin Creek Field, Williston Basin Paul El Khoury, Ehsan Zabihi Naeini, Thomas L. Davis olving imaging challenges in a deep-water, complex ooze regime: S a case study from the Outer Vøring area, Norwegian Sea Sören Naumann, Øystein Korsmo and Grunde Rønholt Putting a price on carbon — a North American perspective Philip H. Nelson eismic identification and applications of methane hydrate as a future energy source S Karyna Rodriguez, Neil Hodgson and Hannah Kearns Solving exploration problems with machine learning Deborah Sacrey and Rocky Roden Back is the future: returning samples from Mars for analysis on Earth M.A. Sephton eologically consistent multiphysics imaging of the Darajat geothermal steam field G Wolfgang Soyer, Randall Mackie, Stephen Hallinan, Alice Pavesi, Gregg Nordquist, Aquardi Suminar, Rindu Intani and Chris Nelson ecent developments in object modelling opens new era for characterization of fluvial reservoirs R Markus L. Vevle, Arne Skorstad and Julie Vonnet Calendar
INTERESTED IN OUR TECHNICAL CONTENT? Our Technical Articles and Special Topics are available to all EAGE Members.
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CALENDAR
CALENDAR OF EVENTS 3-6 SEPT 2018
ECMOR XVI 2018 www.eage.org • Barcelona, Spain
June 2018 11 Jun
Your Career Symposium http://events.eage.org/en/2018/eage-annual-2018/highlights/young-professionals-symposium
Copenhagen
Denmark
11-14 Jun
80th EAGE Conference & Exhibition 2018
Copenhagen
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17-20 Jun
7th International AEM Conference and Exhibition
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18-21 Jun
17th International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar
Rapperswil
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22-24 Aug
Marine Acquisition Workshop 2018 www.eage.org
September 2018 3-6 Sept
ECMOR XVI 2018 www.eage.org
5-7 Sept
Unconventionals in China – The Next 10 Years www.eage.org
EAGE Events
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7 Sept
EAGE/ TNO Workshop on OLYMPUS Field Development Optimization
9-13 Sept
Near Surface Geoscience Conference and Exhibition 2018
10-14 Sept
EAGE Geomodel 2018
17-20 Sept
DMG Gastech 2018
18-20 Sept
First EAGE/IFPEN Conference on Sulfur Risk Management in E&P (SRM 2018)
21-22 Sept
First EAGE Workshop on High Performance Computing for Upstream in Latin America
24-26 Sept
SPE SPE ATCE 2018
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Second EAGE Workshop on Geochemistry in Petroleum Operations and Production
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EAGE Workshop on Continuous Improvement in 4D Seismic
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SEG International Exposition and 88th Annual Meeting
22-24 Oct
The 14Th Tunisian Exploration & Productions Conference
24-26 Oct
EAGE CO2 workshop 2018
Utrecht
Netherlands
29-30 Oct
EAGE Symposium on Maximising Carbonate Asset Values through Collaboration and Innovative Solutions
Bintulu
Malaysia
Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates
Strasbourg
France
Yangon
Myanmar
Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates
www.eage.org
www.eage.org
www.seg.org
www.etap.com.tn/index.php?id=1048
www.eage.org
www.eage.org
November 2018 5-8 Nov
Second EAGE/SPE Geosteering and Well Placement Workshop
8-9 Nov
EAGE/IGA workshop on Geothermal energy
13-15 Nov
2018 EAGE Fourth AAPG/EAGE/MGS Myanmar Oil & Gas Conference
18-20 Nov
EAGE Workshop on 4D Seismic and Reservoir Monitoring
21-23 Nov
Fifth CO2 Geological Storage Workshop
Utrecht
Netherlands
27-29 Nov
EAGE/SBGF Workshop on Least-Squares Migration
Rio de Janeiro
Brazil
EAGE Events
www.eage.org
www.eage.org
www.eage.org
www.eage.org
www.eage.org
www.eage.org
Non-EAGE Events
FIRST
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JUNE
2018
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