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Page 1: May 2006 Explorer - American Association of Petroleum …archives.aapg.org/explorer/2006/05may/05may06.pdf ·  · 2009-10-27MAY 2006 By PETER R. ROSE ... alternative energy operations
Page 2: May 2006 Explorer - American Association of Petroleum …archives.aapg.org/explorer/2006/05may/05may06.pdf ·  · 2009-10-27MAY 2006 By PETER R. ROSE ... alternative energy operations

www.veritasdgc.com

MAY 2006

Vol. 27, No. 5May 2006

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MAY 2006

By PETER R. ROSEThis column follows up on a pivotal

event at the 2006 Annual Conventionin Houston, namely the approval byAAPG’s House of Delegates of Bylawsamendments creating two vicepresidents – one for U.S. Sections,one for International Regions.

The amendments passed by anoverwhelming margin.

By now all Active AAPG membershave been provided, by regular mailand e-mail, with necessary informationand materials allowing them to vote onthe Constitutional amendment thatwould add the additional officer toAAPG’s Executive Committee.

Passage of this amendmentrequires approval by two-thirds of themembers voting.

I urge all Active members toapprove the Constitutional amendmentbecause it will:

� Improve headquarters services toboth U.S. Sections as well asInternational Regions.

� Allow equitable and long-overduerepresentation of Region members onAAPG’s Executive Committee.

� Empower emerging Regiongeological leaders and communities.

� Help implement AAPG’s StrategicPlan.

U.S. members should understandthat AAPG’s expanded globalpresence will increase theirinternational contacts and createadditional prospecting and consultingopportunities for Americangeoscientists.

If Active members approve theconstitutional amendment, AAPG canmove forward now as a bona fideglobal geological organization; if theydo not, other professional associationswill promptly take over AAPG’s globalrole in Petroleum E&P. It is that simple.

I ask all members for their supporton this issue, which is vital to AAPG’sfuture.

* * *

In my March column I left readers inBeijing (Feb. 24-27). On February 28 Iflew to Delhi, where I was welcomedas the first AAPG president to visitIndia in an official capacity.

James Peters, secretary of theAssociation of Petroleum Geologists

(India), and his colleagues introducedme to senior officials of ONGC (theIndian national oil company) andorganized several lectures before APGmembers in Delhi and, later, Mumbai. I

was especiallypleased to meet anumber ofindependents andconsultants whoare now working inIndia.

I sincerely wishthat all AAPGmembers couldhave the privilegeof experiencingthe warm andmanifest respectthat AAPG enjoysamong

international petroleum geologists.

On March 3, I departed Mumbai forAPPEX London 2006, the emergingEuropean exposition whereinternational companies and nationalpetroleum ministries meet to look overprospective deals and discuss currentE&P events (see page 40).

Managed by AAPG, APPEX Londonwas co-sponsored by the UKDepartment of Trade and Industry, theInternational Association of Oil andGas Producers, The Energy Instituteand the Geological Society of London.

Steve Veal (AAPG vice president),John Brooks (European Regionpresident), Mike Lakin (EuropeanRegion VP) and their colleaguesknocked themselves out in organizingAPPEX London 2006, with excellentresults.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge thehelp of IHS (especially Pete Stark) forits Global Forum, the ABN-AMROfinancial institution for their FinancialForum and the International Pavilion inarranging international exhibitors.

We hope APPEX London willbecome the international equivalent ofNAPE.

After APPEX London, John Brooksand I spent a couple of days withAndrew Hurst and his colleagues andstudents at the University ofAberdeen. We were particularly

3

On the cover: A team of Canadian geoscientists, headed by University ofCalgary geology professor Deborah Spratt, is studying fractures “from themicro-scale to the seismic scale to the mountain-building scale,” trying toanswer an important question: Is there a unifying way to predict fractures? Seepage 14. Cover shot showing a research team at work on Alberta’s MooseMountain courtesy of Spratt. Background image of fractured Mississippiancarbonates in the Alberta foothills courtesy of Greg Feltham.

Communications DirectorLarry Natione-mail: [email protected]

Managing EditorVern Stefanice-mail: [email protected]

Editorial AssistantSusie Mooree-mail: [email protected]

CorrespondentsDavid BrownLouise S. DurhamSusan EatonBarry FriedmanKen Milam

Graphics/ProductionRusty Johnsone-mail: [email protected]

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

Geophysical Corner 24

Washington Watch 28

Foundation Update 31

Professional News Briefs 32

Membership and Certification 34

Regions and Sections 35

Readers’ Forum 36

Spotlight on Education 38

In Memory 38

Classified Ads 40

Director’s Corner 41

EMD Column 41

Around the world: AAPG President Pete Rose met 6geoscientists and opened new doors of opportunity during his recent tour of the Pacific Region.

Looking for capital? There’s a new source that’s available via 8London: the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

All shook up: A recent earthquake in the Gulf of Mexico 10didn’t wreak havoc, but it did revive the discussion aboutpossibilities for a tectonically active Gulf.

People are talking about coal gas in Louisiana – and the 12outlook is surprisingly strong. But when you talk about the potential, remember: It’s seam, not bed.

Let’s split: Fractures clearly play a critical role in enhancing 14deliverability of oil and gas to well bores. But is their existence random? Can their presence be predicted?

Everyone knows it’s windy … Oilmen in Texas are adding 18alternative energy operations to their exploration efforts.

One AAPG member says generating energy from 19agricultural waste is a good way to conserve the world’s supplies of hydrocarbons.

A friend in need: Oil companies are making a big 26commitment in helping with the recovery of New Orleans.

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

Rose

See President, next page

Membership to VoteOn Global VP Idea

The AAPG House of Delegatesoverwhelmingly approved a proposedConstitutional change, and nowmembers will decide if the Associationwill have two vice president positions –one for U.S. Sections and one forinternational Regions.

Active AAPG members will soon bereceiving information and a ballot andlegal information concerning theproposal.

Online voting is also being madeavailable. Members will – or alreadyhave – received e-mail informationconcerning the issue.

The proposal calls for changes toArticle V of the Constitution, and willallow for seven members of theExecutive Committee (the HoD Chair

also is a voting member of the EC).The Constitution amendment vote

was passed overwhelmingly on a“stand-up” vote during the HoDmeeting at the annual convention inHouston. A subsequent vote acceptinga working adjustment in the Bylaws,which also must be changed toaccommodate the Constitutionrevision, passed 178 to 5, with oneabstention.

The Executive Committeepreviously had voted unanimously infavor of sending the proposal to themembership.

It will take a two-thirds majority ofmembers to approve the Constitutionalchange, and it must be completed byJune 29. �

Ballots Headed for Members

Vol. 27, No. 5The AAPG EXPLORER (ISSN 0195-2986) is published monthly for members. Published at AAPG headquarters, 1444 S.Boulder Ave., P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, Okla. 74101, (918) 584-2555. e-mail address: [email protected] postage paid at Tulsa, Okla., and at additional mailing offices. Printed in the U.S.A.Note to members: $6 of annual dues pays for one year’s subscription to the EXPLORER. Airmail service for members:$45. Subscription rates for non-members: $63 for 12 issues; add $67 for airmail service. Advertising rates: ContactBrenda Merideth, AAPG headquarters. Subscriptions: Contact Veta McCoy, AAPG headquarters. Unsolicitedmanuscripts, photographs and videos must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope to ensure return.

The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) does not endorse or recommend any products or servicesthat may be cited, used or discussed in AAPG publications or in presentations at events associated with AAPG.

Copyright 2006 by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to AAPG EXPLORER, P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, Okla. 74101.Canada Publication Number 40046336.

Canadian returns to: Station A, P.O. Box 54, Windsor, Ontario N9A 6J5e-mail: [email protected]

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delighted to have a morning meetingwith representatives of the very activecommunity of independents nowoperating in the North Sea, out ofAberdeen.

On March 11, I returned home toAustin after an absence of four weeks –but two weeks later I flew to Bahrain forthe GEO 2006 conference convenedby AAPG, EAGE and ArabianExhibition Management (AEM), underthe patronage of H.H. Shaikh Khalifabin Salman Al Khalifa, prime minister ofthe Kingdom of Bahrain.

More than 1,400 delegates attendedabout 290 technical papers and posterpresentations.

Well-deserved thanks and sincere

recognition to Abdulla Al Naim, SaudiAramco, general chair; Ibrahim Al-Ghambi, technical program chair;Shivaji N. Dasgupta, oral sessions co-chair; Ralph M. Bridle, poster sessionsco-chair; Pinar O. Yilmaz, managementsession co-chair; Robert Ley, shortcourse co-chair; Bob Lindsay, field tripco-chair; Fernando A. Neves, judging

co-chair; and Thereza Ward, guestactivities co-chair.

Conference Liaison Hassan Al-Husseini served with special distinctionand effectiveness in Bahrain. AAPGstaff Sandy Hensley and BrendaCunningham were instrumental inmaking GEO an outstanding success.

* * *

When I began my term as AAPG’s89th president I was determined to“get out among the members.” By thetime June 30 rolls around I will havetraveled more than 120,000 miles onAAPG’s behalf, speaking to 18professional audiences in all six U.S.Sections; 18 professional audiences inthree International Regions; and 21student groups in the United States,Europe, Middle East and Asia-Pacificregions.

I estimate that my AAPG messagesduring FY 2005-06 reached more than4,000 professional geoscientists (atleast 2,000 of them AAPG members)and more than 1,500 geosciencestudents.

Optimism is high among petroleumgeoscientists for a sustained period ofintense global E&P activity. It isgratifying to see smiles on so manyfaces, and excitement manifested inconversations and in meetings. Theworld needs our skills and talents, andskilled geoscientists are in shortsupply.

Reflecting on all this travel, all thesemeetings and conferences, all thesewarm welcomes and new friends, Irealize that AAPG’s high reputationresults from fundamental values thatmake us unique among professionalsocieties:

� We are a professionalorganization, not a trade association,and membership requires the approvalof our peers.

� We are dedicated to practicingand sharing sound, responsible, state-of-the-art geoscience in the search forenergy resources.

� Through the many conferences,exhibitions and publications that wefacilitate, we acknowledge andcelebrate the necessary marriage ofgeoscience with enterprise andcommerce in the global business ofbringing energy to the world.

As president of AAPG, I amenormously proud to represent such anorganization.

* * *

Recommended reading: Two newbooks for Americans trying tounderstand where they came from, whythey’ve been successful and wherethey’re going, and for non-Americanstrying to understand America.

Best read in the order listed here.� The Victory of Reason: How

Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalismand Western Success, Rodney Stark,2005, Random House – The evolutionof capitalism and the political andcultural conventions that nurture andsustain it.

� Who Are We: The Challenges toAmerica’s National Identity, Samuel P.Huntington, 2004, Simon & Schuster –The four tenets constituting thehistorical American identity and theirfate in the 20th century by adistinguished American scholar.

Read them, you’ll like them!

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Aerial satellite photography courtesy of NASA.

MAY 2006

4Presidentfrom previous page

Have you voted?The voting deadline for 2006-07

AAPG officer candidates will arrive onMay 15.

Members can mark and return theballots that were mailed to them earlierthis year, or electronic voting isavailable online at www.aapg.org.

The site contains the seven-personofficer slate and all biographicalinformation, plus the candidates’statements of why they are standing foroffice.

Electronic voting will remainavailable until voting closes and ballotsare counted on May 15. �

Voting Deadline Draws Near

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MAY 2006

5

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MAY 2006

Pacific Region, U.K. Venues Visited

Tour Unveils OpportunitiesWriting the April President’s Column from

a hotel room in Beijing, China, AAPGPresident Peter R. Rose was in the middle ofa nine-city, six-country tour that took himfrom Adelaide (Australia) to Aberdeen(Scotland), speaking to geologists there andin stops in between.

In making his second international tour infour months, the overall theme for the visitsto the AAPG Pacific Region was“sponsorship for AAPG memberships andpossible joint ventures – from meetings topublishing.”

In November, Rose had returned from afour-week, eight-nation AAPG presidentialtour in central and eastern Europe and theMiddle East. The late winter trip to thePacific Rim was book-ended by stops inLondon, which began with a lecture atInternational Petroleum Week, sponsored bythe Energy Institute, and ended at AAPG’sAPPEX London prospect and propertyexhibition.

Talks to students at Aberdeen Universityin Scotland provided a capstone for the tourthat saw Rose making numerouspresentations – sometimes back-to-backlectures – over the course of 26 days.

Other venues included Perth, Australia;Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Beijing, China; andDelhi and Mumbai, India.

Among the groups with whom Rose metwere the Petroleum Exploration Society ofAustralia, the Indian Association ofPetroleum Geology Chinese senior technicalmanagers (PetroChina, Sinopec andCNOOC) and the Kuala Lumpur ExplorationSociety. The Australia visit also includedmeetings with the organizers for theupcoming AAPG International Conference

6

Dr. Jia Chengzao, vice president of PetroChina Co., presents Pete Rose with aChinese watercolor scroll. Right: Pete Rose with Yazid B. Mansor, senior explorationmanager, Carigali, and Robert Wong, senior manager-basin studies, Petronas.

Above: E&P Meeting – Pete Rose withSantos geoscientists in Adelaide,Australia.

Left: Geoscience students at a PeteRose lecture, Malaya University,Department of Geology, Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia.

and Exhibition, to be held in Perth Nov. 5-8.Additionally, Rose gave back-to-back

lectures at two Chinese universities, theUniversity of Malaya and Imperial College,London. At the University of Malaya,Professor Dennis Tan said a large group ofstudents signed up for AAPG membershipand a student chapter will petition forcharter.

Rose also met with and madepresentations to high-level industryexecutives at every stop, including meetingMr. Subir Raha, chairman, and Mr. D.K.Pendes, director (exploration) of ONGC, thestate oil company of India.

“In talking to the companies, there wasfull awareness that globalization is in fullgallop,” Rose said, “and there are abundantopportunities for international participationby companies and consultants.”

After the Pacific Region tour, Rose wasn’tfinished for the month, however. Next on theagenda was a trip to Manama, Bahrain, siteof GEO 2006 for the seventh annual MiddleEast Geoscience Conference andExhibition, organized by AAPG and theEuropean Association of Geoscientists andEngineers (EAGE) and hosted by theDhahran Geological Society, which drewabout 3,000 registrants.

“It’s clear the Middle East is hungry forthe kind of venues we can provide – and wehave good partners, EAGE and AEM(Arabian Exhibition Management),” Rosesaid.

“We (AAPG) must follow through onthese opportunities if we are to create apermanent and substantial overseaspresence.” �

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MAY 2006

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By LOUISE S. DURHAMEXPLORER Correspondent

Have money, looking for oil and gasdeals and young companies positionedto grow.

This statement no doubt would makefor appropriate ad copy given the currenthighly charged state of the oil and gasindustry.

In fact, the money folks are all over thelandscape these days. And they’reoffering a mind-boggling array offinancing vehicles – all of the usual andsome not so well known.

One of the not-so-familiar sources ofcapital for smaller companies is the AIM(Alternative Investment Market) on theLondon Stock Exchange.

If you’ve been depending on privatecapital and project financing to growyour company, AIM may be the publicvehicle to steer you to the money neededfor your company’s future. But bringalong a good business plan, which willfigure prominently in your success withinvestors once you’re listed in themarketplace.

Unlike the U.S. Nasdaq, AIM is a self-regulated market. It offers smallcompanies access to institutionalinvestors and hedge funds that arecomfortable with high-risk ventures suchas exploration plays, recognizing this canlead to high rewards.

“The appetite for companies sub-$100million U.S. is greater here,” said ScottRichardson Brown, associate partner atOriel Securities, a London-basedcorporate and institutional broker. “AIMtakes companies of most any size,usually $10 million and above,” Brownnoted, “and I’ve seen companies assmall as $2 million come to market.”

Trusting the Nomads

Before you decide it’s just toocomplex to go into the public venue,relax. Relatively speaking, the AIMprocess is fairly painless – and it’s fasterand reportedly about half the cost oflisting on the Nasdaq.

Expediting the process is the group offinancial advisers, otherwise known asnominated advisers, or “Nomads.” Theyensure all the rules are followed and,among other services, provide a sort ofhand-holding service – albeit asophisticated hand – for the listingcompany.

“The Nomads provide advice andguidance for the company,” Brown said.“Also, they must do due diligence andregulatory work to ensure the companycan pass the rules and regulations.

“Besides the Nomads, you need abroker to provide research and supportand raise money for you as you need it,”Brown said. “You can come to the marketwith a very small market cap, butafterward you need to build up liquidityand depend on your broker to keepinvestors in the market informed on howyou’re doing.”

Brown emphasized it’s important tojustify why you’re coming to London –particularly if the company is based inHouston, for instance, and maybe drillsonly in the Rockies and can’t get fundingin Houston or New York.

Be prepared to make a number ofconvincing speeches to advisers andNomads.

Once listed, it’s imperative for thecompany to deliver on what it said, andone of the drivers to help ensure this isnot to overprice the issue, Browncautioned. This leaves nothing on the

table for the investors coming in andleaves the company hostage to fortune ifit doesn’t do as well as thought.

Trying Something New

The AIM market has attracted risinginterest from E&P companies worldwidein the last couple of years owing to thedramatic increase in industry activity.

It caught the attention of Houston-based Frontera Resources, which hasbeen around since 1996, doing deals viaprivate equity and project financing.

That’s all changed.Recognizing the opportunity offered

by public equity markets, Fronteralaunched an IPO on the AIM in March2005.

“We raised about $88 million U.S.,”said Steve Nicandros, CEO at Frontera.“It was a good experience, largelybecause we had a good business plan totake to the market, and we had a goodunderwriter in Morgan Stanley, whichalso is our Nomad.

“We went to the market to raise capitalfor our drilling program and found AIM tobe the most efficient way to raise newcapital,” Nicandros said. “When you diginto the AIM market, it’s a huge marketwith a lot of institutional investors looking

for good business plans to invest in thathave a significant amount of upsideassociated with them that maybe is notrealized in the stock price.

“It’s a very visible market for growingcompanies like us to access capital,”Nicandros noted.

There’s been talk that one reason tolist with AIM is to avoid the timeconsuming, costly Sarbanes-Oxley, a2002 corporate governance law.

Not necessarily so.“You can’t avoid this as an American

MAY 2006

8Explorers Tap London Market

AIM Offers Venue for Financing

continued on next page

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company,” Nicandros said, “and thereare some good things in place there thatare a good idea to follow. You’re subjectto certain elements of that requirementeven on AIM.”

Time for Good Ideas

This is not the case with BenchmarkOil & Gas, which operates close toHouston.

“We merged with a Swedish companyin 2001,” said Robert Pledger, president,“so we’re taking a Swedish companypublic. Benchmark Oil & Gas AB is goingto the market, which is our parentcompany.

“Sarbanes-Oxley in the U.S. doesn’tapply to us,” Pledger said, “but eachcountry is beginning to adopt stringent

and difficult reporting requirements. Forinstance, in Sweden where we sign ourannual report, we are saying we havepersonal knowledge of what goes intothat report regarding financials and soforth.

“There is no corporate shield inSweden,” Pledger said. “You arepersonally liable for your disclosures, andyou must know what you’re doing.”

Benchmark is working with abrokerage house to get listed on aSwedish exchange. The brokerage is oneof the founders of the AIM exchange, andBenchmark is considering the possibilityof a dual listing. Pledger noted AIMopens up a much larger population to getexposure. Whether a single or duallisting, they will be located where marketmakers are interested in the company.

Pledger makes a good case forgetting into the public venue.

“Most independents spend 80 percent

of their time looking for money to do whatthey want to do and 20 percent of theirtime doing what they want to do, which isfind oil and gas,” he said. “With acompany in the marketplace withunderwriters and market makers, you cango with secondary offerings, you canfloat bond issues, you can put togetherjoint ventures that give people the abilityto have some collateral if they loanmoney to the company other than owningassets of the corporation.

“This has taken a lot more effort thanoriginally thought,” Pledger emphasized.“But it will accomplish a goal I’ve had,which is to create liquidity and provide usthe financing to do things we want to do.

“I’ve never met an independent whowas idea restrained; they’ve always beencapital restrained,” Pledger said. “Thisgives us an opportunity to change thatposition.”

Servicing the Servers?

Although the AIM market is attractingincreasing numbers of E&P companies,this apparently is not the case with oilservice companies. But this may beabout to change, starting with GlobalGeophysical Services.

For now, Global is engaged in privateequity placement on the domestic front,which reflects the early stage thecompany is in, having becomeoperational early in 2005.

“We’re considering AIM,” said CraigMurrin, vice president, secretary andgeneral counsel at Global. “When wehave more earnings history and get to apoint appropriate to consider ways togive existing shareholders liquidity aswell as raising some more money, we willlook at it very closely.”

Mirren emphasized the important roleof the Nomads for a company like Global.

“For our company where all ourmanagement is strong on the operationalside but little experience talking to themarkets,” Mirren said, “it’s somethingquite valuable.

“Going forward, an AIM listing wouldmake it possible for us to set up anoption plan and recruit people in thefuture with options and not by issuingshares,” Mirren noted. “It will increase ourbusiness opportunities because we’ll bepublishing financial statements andpeople will be able to see our financialcondition and know they’re dealing with asubstantial entity.”

Line Up the Ducks

As with most things in life, a seeminglyunlimited upside has a downsidecounterpart of one kind or another, andAIM is no exception.

“London is not a market that will investin just anything,” Brown cautioned. “Youneed a good story and need to provideassurance you can deliver what you sayyou will.

“Liquidity will be tight when you firstcome to market,” Brown noted, “and yourdirectors will be locked in, unable to sellany shares for 12 months – and theyoften own a large share of the company.”

The savvy players know they mustcome into the market with all their ducksin a row.

For instance, Nicandros noted theywere put through the rigor of a Nasdaqlisting by Morgan Stanley to be able toput themselves into the marketplace.

Because there are no strictrequirements for, say, “x” years ofrevenue and earnings, the occasional“overnight” listing does happen – andpotential investors must do some serioushomework before investing in companieson the AIM.

“There have been a couple of smalltraffic accidents on AIM in the last fewyears,” Nicandros noted. “But thosethings slip through once in a while.” �

MAY 2006

9continued from previous page “I’ve never met an independent who was

idea restrained; they’ve always beencapital restrained.”

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By BARRY FRIEDMANEXPLORER Correspondent

For those of you who missed it –and you weren’t alone if you did –therewas an earthquake in the Gulf ofMexico this past February.

That it may fuel ongoing debates onissues ranging from long-term geo-political concerns to safety of arearesidents to a new understanding ofthe geologic footprint of the entireregion is one story.

That it happened at all is another.What we do know is this: At around

10 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 10, a 5.2

magnitude quake, approximately 160miles south of New Orleans, struck inthe Gulf of Mexico. Its recorded depthwas five kilometers.

What we don’t know is why.The quake, while noted by

academia and those who get paid tonotice such things, was barelymentioned in the mainstream media – itreceived a mere two paragraphs onMSNBC online.

Jack Reed, a retired Texaco

geologist/geophysicist and somethingof a Don Quixote on the issue of activetectonic plates in the Gulf of Mexico,wasn’t surprised by the quake or, forthat matter, the reaction to it.

“It happened 123 miles offshore –who cares?” he said, reflecting themedia and public’s apathy rather thanhis own.

But according to Louisiana StateUniversity geologist Roy Dokka, whoshould care are the people of theregion. Saying it was one of the mostsignificant quakes to hit the region,Dokka told a local New Orleanstelevision reporter that it shouldprovide a warning to erosion officialsthat Louisiana’s coastline is shiftingfault lines throughout the region.

“These faults are moved largelybecause south Louisiana is veryunstable ground,” Dokka said. “It’skind of oozing in the Gulf.”

An Active Topic

Reed, this time reflecting himself,has a more technical explanation.

“Simply stated, the linearCretaceous shelf edge was theseparation point of the Gulf of Mexicoplate from North American plate,” hesaid.

According to Reed, this movementstarted near the end of the EarlyCretaceous and, to date, the plate hasmoved south. The exterior salt basinwas formed in the ever-widening gapbetween these plates by allochthonoussalt pressure forced from under themoving plate into the gap.

The trailing edge of this southmoving plate is undergoing tensionalforces accompanied by outward andupward moving salt into the basin,Reed explained, which createsfractures (faults) along the trailingedge of the plate. These fracture linesare filled with the highly pressurizedsalt.

This movement, in turn, separatesfault blocks from the moving plate,which are then suspended in the ever-expanding exterior basin salt mass.This action, or something very similar,is the source of the earthquakes thatoccur in the northern Gulf, accordingto Reed, who noted how these quakesall cluster along the trailing edge of thesouth moving plate.

“This action, or something verysimilar, is the source of theearthquakes that occur in the northernGulf,” he said.

Moreover, for Reed the quakeproves that “this is a new piece ofevidence for a tectonically active Gulf.

“This MS=5.2 quake alone does notprove the Gulf is active,” he said, “butwhen it is placed in line with otherevidence, it’s a major nail supportingthe active Gulf structure.”

Reed, who is retired and admittedlynot an expert on earthquakes, hastheorized for years there was an activetectonic plate in the region that, amongother things, is the likely origin for theNew Madrid Fault that parallels theAppalachians and connects with theSt. Lawrence seismic center, located inCanada (see October 2002EXPLORER).

Asked whether we will see asignificant quake along New Madrid, hesays, “It’s not a matter of if, but when.”

News Handled Passively

GOM Quake Bolsters Theory

MAY 2006

10

See Earthquake, page 21

“These faults are moved largely becausesouth Louisiana is very unstable ground. It’skind of oozing in the Gulf.”

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MAY 2006

11

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By LOUISE S. DURHAMEXPLORER Correspondent

Given the revved-up drilling activitytargeting tight gas deposits, oil shales,coal bed methane (CBM) and the like,unconventional hydrocarbons areincreasingly becoming conventional.

In some instances, it’s the locale thatmay be considered unconventional.

Consider coalbed methane drilling forexample.

One day in the not-too-distant future,Louisiana may join the ranks of suchnoted CBM producing regions as the SanJuan Basin and the Powder River Basin.

Indeed, there are a lot of believers – oil

and gas folks and others – who thinkLouisiana may soon be a source ofsignificant coalbed methane production.

But watch your language; those in theknow call it coal seam natural gas(CSNG).

“For a lot of people, methane has a

bad connotation,” said Diana Chance,manager of Donner properties and arecognized longtime promoter of CSNGdrilling in Louisiana. “In Louisiana, we’recalling it coal seam natural gas,because that gas truly is like the gasthat comes out of the other Wilcox wells

in North Louisiana.”Coal has been mined at the surface

since 1985 in central northwesternLouisiana in DeSoto Parish where theWilcox Group (Paleocene-Eocene) cropsout, according to Clayton Breland Jr.,assistant research professor at theLouisiana Geology Survey Basin EnergyResearch Section (formerly the BasinResearch Institute). He noted the coalsare generally confined to the lowerTertiary Wilcox Group.

Coal beds in North and CentralLouisiana are widespread, extendingfrom Toledo Bend westward to theMississippi River, according to Jim Welsh,Louisiana Commissioner of Conservation.Breland noted they comprise a portion ofthe Gulf Coast Tertiary Coalbed MethaneBasin, which covers parts of sevensoutheastern states.

Analogous Factors

The first CSNG production inLouisiana occurred in 1989 in CaldwellParish in a well that was plugged andabandoned the same year.

Interest in the potential toeconomically recover gas from the coalbegan heating up in the late 1990s,ultimately kick-starting some drillingactivity, according to Chance. She notedthat Devon, King Drilling and the lateJohn Echols – a noted Wilcox authority atthe former LSU Basin Research Institute –all drilled wells in 2002 to test thecommercial potential of the CSNG.

Interest and activity in the coalescalated to the point that Mark VPetroleum spearheaded an effort toestablish the first production units forCSNG in Louisiana. Fifteen thousandacres have been unitized in the form ofthree units of approximately 5,000 acreseach in Caldwell Parish.

“In this part of the Wilcox from 1,850 to3,200 feet, there are three coal seams,”Welsh said, “and the area has beenunitized as a whole zone.

“The lower zone is called the Reynoldscoal seam, which is bituminous andabout 30 feet thick,” Welsh noted. “Theseam is encased above and below byshale, which is different from the upperseams with sand above and below.

“We think the encapsulating shale willhelp in retarding the salt water frommoving into the perfs.”

It is noteworthy that the Louisianacoals are comparable in age to the rocksproducing coal seam gas in the PowderRiver Basin in Wyoming.

“The testimony at the (unitization)hearing was positive, comparing theLouisiana area with a known successfularea,” Welsh noted. “The numbercrunching looked pretty good.

“There’s quite a lot of coal seam gas inthe Gulf Coast area,” Welsh said. “It’s justa matter of how to produce it.”

When queried as to whether Mark V isin the forefront of the CSNG developmentin the state after successfully pushing forunitization, company president FrankSpooner replied wryly: “We’re spendingmoney.”

In fact, Mark V has three wells onproduction and set pipe on a fourth holein mid-March.

All wells are in the Reynolds coal,which Spooner noted has two to threetimes the gas content of the Powder RiverBasin coal. The wells range between2,400 and 3,000 feet deep and cost$300,000 to drill, complete and frac.

From the ‘Seam’, Not the ‘Bed’

Coal Gas Tapped in Louisiana

MAY 2006

12

See Louisiana, page 21

“There’s quite a lot of coal seam gas inthe Gulf Coast area. It’s just a matter ofhow to produce it.”

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MAY 2006

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MAY 2006

Students Integrate Maps, Data

Fractures: A Deal Maker or BreakerBy SUSAN R. EATON

EXPLORER CorrespondentFractures in subsurface geological

formations play a critical role in thedevelopment of permeability, enhancingdeliverability of oil and gas to well bores.The detection and characterization offractures – including their orientation,density and age of generation –represents not only an art form, but arigorous study in structural geology.

In Alberta’s Western CanadianSedimentary Basin (WCSB), where oil andgas companies have shifted theirexploration focus to tighter reservoirs inthe foothills and the deep basin, thepresence of open fractures can make – orbreak – a commercial well.

Despite the economic importance offractures, most geologists working inCalgary’s downtown oil patch practice“desk-top” geology, creating maps of thesubsurface but rarely visiting the field tomeasure fractures in rocks outcropping atsurface.

During the past two decades, the lossof in-house research and developmentcapabilities in the global oil and gasindustry has left a void in technicalexpertise in structural geology. However, aunique R&D partnership, based uponmutual synergies, is developing betweenthe oil and gas sector and academicinstitutions across Canada.

Oil companies supply proprietary datasets and badly needed research money;in turn, universities procure masters anddoctoral graduate students withprofessorial supervision.

Deborah Spratt is a professor ofgeology at the University of Calgary’sDepartment of Geology and Geophysics,specializing in structural geology andstudying fractures from “the micro-scale tothe seismic scale to the mountain-buildingscale.”

Her academic research is focused, inlarge part, on predicting where openfractures will deliver oil and gas to wellbores from subsurface reservoirs.

“A lot of oil and gas companies havegiven up on fractures,” Spratt said,“because, with fractures, you really needtime, which is what most oil companiesdon’t have.

“Graduate students have time.”

Freedom from Bias

Spratt’s research in fracturecharacterization falls under the umbrella of

the Fold-Fault Research Project (FRP),which she co-founded in late 1994 withQueen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.Since its inception, the FRP hassuccessfully attracted industry fundingand participation – in 2005, theconsortium included 15 international andCalgary-based oil and gas companiesand five industry software companies.

Integrating field mapping withsubsurface seismic and well bore data,Spratt is studying the role that fracturesplay in oil and gas exploration andproduction in the foothills. She’s currentlyinvestigating the Pardonet, Baldonnel andBelloy formations in northeastern BritishColumbia, and in the Turner ValleyFormation in central Alberta.

The academic environment affordsboth professors and graduate studentsthe luxury of examining the big structuralpicture from an unbiased perspective.

Malcolm Lamb, one of Spratt’s doctoralcandidates, is in his third year of research.Lamb, an AAPG member, is a part-timegraduate student – that’s because his“day job” as the geology manager forSchlumberger keeps him very busy.

With one foot planted firmly in eachcamp, Lamb recognizes the value of theacademic research being conducted bythe FRP.

“Industry has been in a holding patternfor a long time,” he said. “It’s created avery competitive playing field between allcompanies – they don’t like to shareinformation.”

14

continued on next page

Photo by Greg Feltham, University of Calgary

Circular scanline and window method for eliminating orientation bias in fracture densityand intensity determinations in the field, illustrated on fractured Mississippiancarbonates in Alberta's foothills.

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MAY 2006

Lamb describes the FRP as “anawesome venue, a really good sharingenvironment,” and institutions like theUniversity of Calgary, he adds, play ahuge role in dissemination of informationto the oil and gas industry.

“There’s a blend of academicsadvancing knowledge while servingindustry needs and providing economicbenefits,” Lamb said of the balance thatresearchers continually strive to achieve.

Wearing his graduate student’s hat,Lamb likes the artistic freedom to lookobjectively at a structural geologyproblem.

“I have absolutely zero stake inwhether it works,” he said. “I can be

completely unbiased.”

Random Investigations

Through joint ventures with industry, theFRP’s researchers have access to all thetools available in the structural geologist’smodern-day tool kit – downhole wirelinelogs, downhole optical sensors orcameras, cores, thin sections, outcropstudies, sophisticated visualizationsoftware, aeromagnetic data and 2-D and3-D seismic data. These diagnostic toolshave been developed by the oil and gasindustry, but they are being used in aslightly different way by universityresearchers.

“We’re not throwing out data,” Sprattsaid. “Even if our data comes from a dry

hole, you can learn something from it … Ifyou only have two wells, you might thinkthat fractures are random.”

Spratt’s investigations have led her tojust the opposite conclusion; she doesn’tbelieve that fractures are randomlydistributed.

“We’re looking for populations oforientations of fractures, and actuallyfinding some that you wouldn’t predict,”she said.

Spratt describes discovering one extraset of fractures in the foothills of Albertaand British Columbia. In some cases, shesays, this newly documented fracture setcan be the dominant one in sedimentarystrata, adding significantly to thepermeability and commerciality of oil andgas-bearing reservoirs.

Related to deep-seated structures thatpre-exist the formation of the RockyMountains, this extra set of fractures is notreadily predicted with seismic data. Butmaps produced from aeromagnetic dataindicate the existence of older, structurallineaments that parallel this extra set offractures discovered by Spratt in theWCSB.

Can You Predict Fractures?

During the summer of 2004, Spratt andLamb conducted field studies on top ofTurtle Mountain, located in the CrowsnestPass of southern Alberta. Infamous forspawning the “Frank slide” in 1903, Turtle

15

See Fractures, next page

Photo, graphics courtesy of Deborah Spratt, University of Calgary

Above: Turtle Mountain Anticline, visible in Turtle Mountain and Hillcrest Mountain.Such steeply dipping to overturned eastern limbs and shallowly dipping westernlimbs are common in anticlines in southwest Alberta. On Turtle Mountain, most of thesteep limb was removed by the “Frank slide.”Right: Example of the Turtle Mountain borehole camera image (left), converted imagelogs and dip vector "tadpole" plot (right). The image shows wide open "major fracture"(light blue) and other fractures (dark blue) imaged in a portion of the Turtle Mountainborehole.

continued from previous page

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Mountain unleashed 82 million tons ofhighly fractured limestone, killing 70people in the coal mining community ofFrank.

In 2003 – exactly 100 years later –modern-day science was brought to bearwhen a chunk of rock fell off the highlyfractured front face of the mountain. Inresponse, the FRP initiated a geologicaland geophysical monitoring projectdesigned to predict future slides.

“I’ve seen fractures on the top of TurtleMountain … ones that you could drop amini-van into,” Spratt said.

To kick off the project, the FRP flew adrilling rig and well-logging equipment,via helicopter, to the top of the TurtleMountain. Drilled with air and foam, thewell was designed to reach a depth of 200

meters – but drilling was stopped at 61.3meters, after encountering lost circulationinto large, open fractures. According toLamb, the researchers feared losing thedrill rig into a void space.

The Turtle Mountain well bore waslogged, using an Advanced LogicTechnology Obi40 digital opticalteleviewer. The tool consisted of adirectional device and an imaging device,providing a 360-degree, continuouspicture of the borehole’s surface withresolution up to 0.5 mm and 720 pixels ofazimuthal resolution.

A multitude of fractures and vugs weredocumented in the well bore, includingseveral large, open fractures.

The subsurface data from the well borewas correlated with seismic data and tiedback to the surface, using field mapping,ground penetrating radar images andaerial photographs.

“It’s unusual to drill holes into surfacestructures that don’t produce (oil andgas),” Spratt said, describing the uniquevalue of the data set collected from theTurtle Mountain project. The formationsexposed at surface at Turtle Mountain –when buried at depth – produce prolificquantities of natural gas elsewhere in thefoothills of southern Alberta.

By looking at the big picture – and bycombining her surface field studies with“real life” well bores and seismic data –Spratt hopes to be able to predict thesweet spots for fractures.

“Rather than thinking of each well as itsown case study,” she said, “is there aunifying way to predict fractures?”

The Mystery Data Sets

Don Lawton, co-founder of the FRPand a professor of geophysics at theUniversity of Calgary, is trying to answerthe same question. Lawton, who holds thechair in Exploration Geophysics, is lookingfor “any diagnostic, robust signatures” inseismic data in the foothills that point tofractures.

“We would like to use Spratt’smeasurements and observations tovalidate what we see in the seismic,” saysLawton, an AAPG member. “We can onlysee big things; she looks at small things.But, we can overlap our scales.”

For example, a seismic wavelength ison the order of 100 meters; in contrast,Spratt measures fractures in zonesranging from less than one meter to 50meters wide. According to Lawton,surface field measurements of fracturesand subsurface measurements in wellbores provide the necessary “groundtruthing” for his seismic investigations.

“We see changes in seismic velocitywith respect to a change in the orientationof fractures,” Lawton said.

Velocity changes, he added, originatefrom changes in the orientation (azimuth)of fractures relative to the source andreceiver layout for seismic data acquisitionin the field. Additionally, Lawton has notedchanges in seismic reflection strengths oramplitudes derived from fractured layersof rock.

He calls this phenomenon “AVAZ” or“Amplitude Variation with Azimuth.”

Lawton and his FRP graduate studentsare testing their AVAZ theories on two“mystery” 3-D seismic data sets, acquiredby the oil and gas industry somewhere inthe foothills of the WCSB. A well-recorded3-D data set, he explains, containsazimuthal information from 0 to 360degrees. By extracting different azimuthalsubsets (0 to 90 degrees versus 45 to 90degrees), Lawton is attempting tocorrelate differences in seismic azimuthsto fracture orientations.

To date, his research has yielded“tantalizing results.”

“It’s just at the beginning of the “S”curve of the AVAZ technology,” Lawtonsaid. “In theory, it should work. It’s just aquestion of the magnitude.” �

MAY 2006

16

A record number of students andcompany sponsors participated in therecent AAPG/SEG Spring Break StudentExpo at the University of Oklahoma.

The March event attracted 146students from 25 states – plus onestudent from Venezuela – representing41 universities. Helping to make theExpo possible were 29 companysponsors – including the AAPGFoundation – and five event sponsors.

The Expo featured formalemployment interviews, postercompetitions and energy industryexhibits, as geoscience students andenergy industry representatives met todiscuss energy career options.

Officials said that “everyone whoattended” got the chance to talk tocompany recruiters during the Expo.

Schlumberger alone interviewed morethan 60 students.

Poster winners, who were honored atthe closing awards ceremony, were:

Geology� First place – John Ceron, University

of South Carolina.� Second place – Nathan Boersma,

University of Idaho.� Third place – Khurrum Ahmed,

University of Buffalo.

Geophysics� First place – Ashwani Dev,

University of Texas at Dallas.� Second place – Ahmed Alahdal,

University of Oklahoma.� Third place – Heidy Correa,

University of Oklahoma. �

Student Expo Sets Records Fracturesfrom previous page

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MAY 2006

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MAY 2006

There is a New Wind Blowing

Oilmen Looking at the AlternativesBy DAVID BROWN

EXPLORER CorrespondentToby Carleton of Midland, Texas, spent

over 50 years in the oil business. Along the way, Carleton held a number

of important industry positions and servedas AAPG president in 1994-95.

Today, he’s a director and part owner ofa company that maintains and repairs largewind-power turbines, machines capable ofproducing a megawatt of electricity everyhour.

Why did Carleton make the move toalternative energy?

“It’s part of the future,” he said simply.President George W. Bush now

apparently wants the United States to slashits dependence on oil imports, calling for asignificant switch to alternative energy use.

Other experts see new energy as anecessary supplement to traditional, fossil-fuel energy sources. Growth in the oil-and-gas energy supply won’t come fast enoughto keep pace with the world’s rapidlyincreasing demand, they say.

If we do live in a world where 15-20percent of future energy use will besupplied by alternative sources, the oilindustry itself may see a majortransformation.

Steven Koonin, chief scientist for BP inLondon, looks for organic-feedstockbiofuels to stretch the vehicle fuel supply.

And not in just a minor way. Koonin said biofuels eventually could

provide up to 30 percent of vehicle fuelconsumption. But he also expects gasoline,diesel and other fossil fuels to be around fora long time to come.

“Liquid fuels are not going to disappear.

The energy density is just too good,”Koonin said.

“One statistic I like to quote is that whenyou fill up your gas tank, you’re wielding 15megawatts of power. That’s a lot,” headded.

There’s also a proven economic path tomarket and an established deliveryinfrastructure for hydrocarbon fuels.

“That value chain has been optimizedfor 150 years,” he noted, “and we’re prettygood at it.”

So Many Options

What Koonin foresees is a developingvalue chain for biofuels, based partly onbetter production methods, and partly onbioengineered plants that will contain more

cellulosic material for processing.He thinks those improvements will put

biofuels within economic reach of fossilfuels.

“If we go to cellulosics and improve theefficiency (of processing), we can get downpretty close. It’s not a crazy thing to bedoing,” he said.

Koonin divided future fuel needs intotwo areas: fuels for transportation, and fuelsfor power generation (see related story,page 19). Alternative energy sources canhave a role in both areas, he observed.

“For power there are really only threethings that matter, if you look at generationand heating. One is nuclear. The second iscarbon sequestration – not quite provenyet, but very plausible,” he said.

“The third, smaller in my opinion, is

wind. And then you run out of these thingsthat are in economic competition,” henoted.

In that picture, wind power has severaladvantages over nuclear. For example:

� It’s readily available.� It’s clean.� It doesn’t require a billion-dollar

reactor. � You don’t have to dispose of the

waste wind. Carleton estimated that 3,000 to 3,500

wind-powered turbines are operating within150 miles of Midland.

It’s a promising development for hiscompany, Global Wind Power Services,which also has worked on wind turbines inCalifornia, Iowa, Illinois, Tennessee,Colorado, Nebraska and Minnesota.

“We’re in the heart of the wind-powerindustry here in Midland, Texas,” Carletonsaid, “but we’ll service them wherever theyare.”

Everyone Knows It’s Wind-y

Carleton got into the service businessthrough a company buyout, when hedecided to inject capital into a debt-riddenfirm but realized he didn’t have enoughcash to make it viable.

However, he found two investingpartners – also oilmen – to join him in theventure.

“We went into the business thinkingthere’s a big future in it,” he said. “All of ushave been in the energy business for morethan 50 years, but that was fossil fuels.”

18

Megawatts of Installed Utility-Scale Wind Power at December 31, 2005

Alaska1

California2150

Colorado229

Iowa836

Minnesota744

New Mexico407

North Dakota

98Oregon338

Penn.129

Texas1995

Wyoming288

Washington390

South Dakota

44

Oklahoma475

Illinois107

Ohio7

Kansas264

Nebraska

Wisconsin53

Michigan3

Hawaii9

WV66

New York186

VT 6

Tennessee29

Total 9,149 MW at 12/31/05. Blank indicates no utility-scale installations or less than 1 MW of installations.

73

MA1

Montana138

Idaho75

NJ8

Utah1

continued on next page

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MAY 2006

The company now has 11 employees,including Junior Yanez, a former wind-farmmanager who serves as Global’s vicepresident for operations.

Yanez said the wind-energy businessbegan to boom with the introduction of larger,more efficient second-generation turbines in1998.

More durable and reliable turbines withmicroprocessor control appeared a few yearslater, making wind power an acceptablegeneration supplement for utilities.

“The more modern turbines came along inthe third generation, which were able toproduce the reliability that the out-takers werelooking for,” Yanez said.

In 2005, the wind energy business grew by35 percent, adding almost 2,500 megawattsof generating capacity and $3 billion worth ofnew equipment in 22 states, according to theAmerican Wind Energy Association(www.awea.org).

AWEA projects 2006 will be even better,with the industry adding up to 3,000megawatts.

“Most of the wind farms going in todayrange from 40 to 120 megawatts with a prettycomprehensive agreement with a utility or out-taker,” Yanez said.

A typical new machine in the Midland areastands almost 290 feet tall and has a blade110 to 130 feet long, Yanez said. Processorscan control the pitch of the blade for winddirection and adjust turbine operation for windconditions.

“What they really are is a big, giant robot,so they can do everything but fix themselves,”he noted.

In the United States, wind power stillreceives tax breaks to improve its competitiveposition.

“One thing that’s made it economic is thatthere’s an investment tax credit of 1.9 centsper kilowatt hour,” Carleton said. “That’s good

19continued from previous page

By KEN MILAMEXPLORER Correspondent

In the search for alternative fuelsources, AAPG member Paul Cometsays he has a low-tech answer.

In the process, the AAPG memberthinks his idea could help ease a fewother small problems.

Such as: global climate change, wastemanagement and the United States’dependence on imported oil.

Comet (pronounced Ko-MAY) likesome others, promotes synfuel generatedfrom waste.

Any organic waste material will do, butComet, who teaches environmentalscience at Houston Community College,says agricultural waste offers the bestand most plentiful source.

Using the Fischer-Tropp method,dissolved organic waste is steam-heatedto become synthetic gas, which in turn ispassed over a cobalt iron catalyst andconverted to diesel.

Comet says it’s a simple twist on anold technology.

Germany used a similar process toconvert coal to diesel during World War II.The German patents have been used inSouth Africa for years.

“It’s extremely profitable, especiallywhen oil is $20 or more a barrel,” Cometsays.

The problem with the original methodis that coal adds to carbon dioxideemissions in the atmosphere.

“If we use waste, which is returned tothe atmosphere anyway, there is no netincrease in emissions,” Comet said.

“There’s less profit, but lessdamage.”

A Workable Idea?

AAPG member David Vanceof Arcadis in Lexington, Ky., oneof several who have reviewedComet’s paper on the subject,says that “it could be aworkable idea.”

“It will kill two birds withone stone – wastemanagement, which in itsown right is an issue, and itdoes yield energy,” Vance said.

Vance says some pilot projects in theeastern United States employ the samebasic technology using poultry waste.That provides a richer, consistentfeedstock, he added.

Both men acknowledge majorobstacles would have to be faced, notthe least of which would be persuadingAmericans to convert to synfuel.

The U.S. petroleum and automobileindustries are pillars on the nation’seconomy, and both tend to beconservative and slow to change, Cometadmits.

But Comet’s vision is global.For starters, he believes cars could be

manufactured to be more energyefficient, while fossil fuels still could beused to manufacture plastics and othermaterials “which would stay on theground instead of going into theatmosphere.”

Should emission credits be used as

an incentive, the United Statescould become proactive inreducing emissions, he said.

Comet is among those whobelieve global warming is areal possibility, and he believesthat geoscientists “should err

on the side of caution.”Importantly, Comet thinks the

oil industry is the best source forthe huge amounts of capital

needed to realize the change.Waste management is not

as glamorous as usinggeology to search for oil and

gas, and the technology is not new andexciting, he said, but “it is a valid path topursue.”

Vance points out, however, thatinfrastructure is a major problem forpetroleum-industry involvement in such avision.

In terms of expertise, thepetrochemical industry may be betterequipped to pursue Comet’s ideas,”Vance said.

But Comet is not dismayed.“We could see something similar to

the past, with gas works in each town,”Comet said. “I have talked to some largewaste disposal companies and theyagree it’s feasible.

“It’s not crazy.” he said, “it’s do-able.”

A ‘Wasteful’ Idea

Simple Twist on Old Tech

See Alternatives, next page

For more informationon this subject, visitthe AAPG Web site.

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for 10 years after it’s granted.”Also, large turbines require winds in the

range of at least 15 miles per hour tooperate. Available wind power isproportional to the cube of wind speed, soproduction falls rapidly as wind speeddeclines.

And while a 50-megawatt wind farm canbe built in less than six months, turbineproduction has not kept up with demand.

“The market is sold out until about 2008,”Yanez said. “That’s all the companies, likeGE, Vestas, Mitsubishi – all the majorcompanies that produce wind turbines.”

Biofuels First Steps

Compared to wind power generation,biofuels production remains in its infancy.

In January, the journal Sciencepublished a review on the future of biofuelsand biomaterials. It reflected the studies ofa research team led by Art Ragauskas, asassistant professor in the School ofChemistry and Biochemistry at the GeorgiaInstitute of Technology.

“If you look at where we are as a society,we take very few crops – mostly corn andsugarcane – and just use a portion of thatfor ethanol,” he said.

A better idea is to biorefine high-potentialcrops for a variety of end products,including biofuels, according to Ragauskas.

“The biorefinery is going to operate likean oil refinery,” he said. “You’re going totake out selected parts for selectedapplications.”

One common response to developmentof alternative energy sources is, “We triedall that in the early 1980s and it didn’t work.”This attitude truly irritates biochemists, whocounter, “We haven’t been sitting on ourhands for 25 years.”

A key idea in biorefining is that scientistscan modify some plants to produce moremass for biofuel conversion. If that’s true,tomorrow’s genetically altered green plantswill be much more useful than today’scrops.

“You should be able to bioengineer theplants to give you more biomass that’samendable for processing into fuel,”Ragauskas said.

“And you’d do this in part by improvingthe efficiency of photosynthesis,” he added,because it’s not an especially efficientprocess.

A 2 percent increase in the efficiency ofphotosynthesis would create an “enormous”addition to plants’ usefulness for biofuels,he noted.

In biorefining, Ragauskas said, the foodcomponent of a plant would be capturedfirst. Then any part of the plant that could beused for value-added chemicals would berecovered.

“Once you have those materials out, therest of this biomass has to be targeted forbiofuels,” he said.

Just as in standard refining, the leftoverbiomass would be fractionated forreduction. That can happen through eitheran enzymatic process or a chemicalprocess, Ragauskas noted.

“In reality, I think the two processes willcomplement each other in the future,” hesaid.

After refining a plant’s biomass, even theirreducible residue can be put back into theenergy-generation system, Ragauskasbelieves.

“That’s the part that you will probablygasify to get a syngas, and then use that forpower generation or further processing forfuel,” he said.

Upward limits for biofuel productionwould be determined by the amount ofbiomass available from the geneticallyaltered plants, and the amount of plant

MAY 2006

20Alternativesfrom previous page

For long time oilman Paul Strunk,wind energy wasn’t much of a stretchfrom hydrocarbons.

“It is energy,” he noted.Strunk, a past AAPG treasurer and

president of American Shoreline Inc. inCorpus Christi, Texas, said the idea ofgetting into wind farming came to himin a gust.

One day he was visiting thecompany’s production facilities nearthe Gulf Coast city with Patrick Nye,American Shoreline’s vice president ofexploration.

“We went over there and the windwas blowing really hard,” Strunkrecalled. “We said, ‘Maybe we shouldlook into wind energy’ as kind of a joke.”

No joke. The pair developed theinitial plan for the proposed PenascalWind Farm, a 400-megawatt generationfacility on a 191,000-acre lease inKenedy County, Texas.

First, Strunk said, they obtainedwind velocity readings to make surethe plan was feasible.

“It’s like wildcatting,” he said. “Weknew the wind blows down here, butwe didn’t know the velocities.”

Then the company began workingwith environmentalists and arranged foran avian-risk assessment, prior to evenapplying for a development permit.

Scottish Power subsidiary PPMEnergy, a major wind-energydeveloper, later joined the project,

which should begin setting up the firstof its 260 generator units next year,according to Strunk.

“I was born and raised down here,”Nye said. “One of the worst thingsgoing is the coal-fired generatingplants,” because of the effects ofpollution on the Gulf.

“We think maybe in our own smallway we’re contributing to cleanerenergy for this area,” he added.

Strunk thinks wind energy willcontinue its rapid growth as analternative energy source.

Would his company consideranother wind project?

“We’re just getting started,” he said.– DAVID BROWN

A Mighty Wind? ‘It Is Energy’

See Wind Power, page 28

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He is the first to admit, though, thathis theory is in stark contrast to others– and still something of a novelty.

“I developed the active tectonictheory – I had to call it something –that is opposite from the passivetheory, and, therefore, have had anuphill battle,” he said. “Very fewpeople like to admit they are wrong. Iknow I wouldn’t.”

Other Theories

This quake may indicate he doesn’thave to.

Other explanations are still beingformulated, a fact of which Reedbecame aware when geologists at theUniversity of Texas were, as he put it,“running around like chickens withtheir heads cut off” trying to come upwith an explanation.

There was a report circulatingimmediately following the quake thatsince the activity occurred near thehuge salt domes where much of the oiland gas is being extracted, Shell Oilhelped cause it with its drilling activityin and around its Brutus Field. Onereport, published in Pure EnergySystem News, attributed the quake tothe unsettling of rock formations as aresult of extraction of massivequantities of oil, gas and brine.

Reed laughs off this suggestion.“I think it is nothing more than a

theory cooked up byenvironmentalists,” he said. “Of all thethousands of wells drilled, bothonshore and offshore, not one hascaused anything like an earthquake.Why should it happen now? A 5.2quake is a significant tremor thatreleases a large amount of energy andthe shift would cover several miles ormore.

“There is no way a small,insignificant drilling platform couldcause the release of this force,” hesaid, “even though the rig is namedBrutus.”

For years, Reed has beenespousing a view that the Gulf’s regionresembled the active areas found inthe Pacific, and when asked if thecurrent quake proved him right, hesaid, “Gee, I hope so!”

The conventional wisdom up to thispoint is that, unlike the Pacific, theAtlantic and the Gulf were passiveregions.

February’s quake may restart thedebate again.

An active Gulf, some maintain,suggests the conditions there areeerily similar to those that broughtabout the earthquake and tsunami inAceh, Indonesia.

Reed dismisses this argument,regardless of which theory isultimately proved true.

“If the passive theory (no tectonics)is correct, then there are no significantlateral or vertical forces to causeearthquakes, he said. “Again, I amtalking about the Gulf of Mexico, notthe Caribbean,” where he does seesome similarities.

Reed says the Aceh quake wascompressional.

“If the active theory (tectonics) iscorrect, the forces acting are mostlytensional and not compressional,” hecontinued. “Tensional forces of thetrailing edge of a moving plate areconsidered much weaker thancompressional forces of the leadingedge.” �

MAY 2006

21

“The future looks good if the wellsperform decently,” Spooner said. “If wecan get them up to 100,000 a day, we’llhave a very economic deal. Withcoalbed, the longer they produce, thebetter the production gets.

“To get the gas to come out of thecoal, you have to de-water it,” Spoonernoted. “The longer you get water offthere, the more you lower the bottom holepressure, and the gas absorbed in thecoal starts coming out of the coal whenyou lower the pressure.”

The lengthy process to reach optimalproduction explains why the early wellsare still considered to be in the testingphase, Chance noted. Even so, they’vealready served a critical role in this

emerging potential new play.“In North Louisiana, the contention

was all the coal was lignite, which wewere mining,” Chance said. “All thought itwas the same coal all across Louisiana,but the early wells tested and proved twosignificant things”:

� It’s a sub-bituminous, biogenic coal.� Significant amounts of gas are in

the coal.There’s also plenty of water to deal

with, but that’s not tempering theenthusiasm.

“What they’re working on now is howto get that gas out of the ground moreeffectively and less costly,” Chance said.“The gas is there, and they’re going tomake it work.

“Companies have leased oroptioned 300,000 to 400,000 acrestotal,” Chance noted, “and I think we’llsee a huge massive new play here in

the near future.”Given the current struggles of the

Bayou State where the budget wasbattered along with the coastal area bythe devastating 2005 hurricanes, a wholenew resource play would be verymeaningful, providing a badly neededeconomic boost in a number of ways.

“To develop coal seam natural gas,the spacing is very dense, so this has thepotential for thousands of wells,” Welshsaid. “This would result in many goodpaying construction jobs in the northernand central portions of our state.

“If the new energy source iseconomically viable over the long haul,permanent production facilities will beconstructed, resulting in new permanenthighly skilled jobs,” Welsh added.“Service companies … for the oil andgas industry will also thrive, expand andprosper.” �

Louisianafrom page 12

Earthquakefrom page 10

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MAY 2006

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MAY 2006

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(The Geophysical Corner is a regularcolumn in the EXPLORER, edited by BobA. Hardage, senior research scientist atthe Bureau of Economic Geology, theUniversity of Texas at Austin. This month’scolumn is titled “Seafloor Observatory WillMonitor Deepwater Gas Hydrate System.”)

By TOM McGEEand BOB A. HARDAGE

A project to design, construct anddeploy a seafloor monitoring stationacross a deepwater hydrate mound inMississippi Canyon Block 118 (MC 118)has been initiated by the Gulf of MexicoHydrates Research Consortium, whichcomprises 15 universities, five federalagencies and several private corporations.

The consortium is managed by theCenter for Marine Research andEnvironmental Technology at theUniversity of Mississippi. The monitoringstation project is funded by the MineralsManagement Service of the Department ofthe Interior, the National EnergyTechnology Laboratory of the Departmentof Energy and the National UnderseaResearch Program of the NationalOceanographic and AtmosphericAdministration of the Department ofCommerce.

The monitoring station will have threetypes of seafloor observation systems:

� Geochemical.� Microbial� Seismic.A representation of the station and its

component systems is shown as figure 1.The data recovery system (“Big M”) shownin the background is an interim option fordownloading data to a ship.

Eventually, the station will beconnected to shore by an optic-fibercable.

Geochemistry Data

Geochemical observations will bemade within seafloor sediments, at the seafloor and in the lower water column.

Geochemical sensors include:� Pore water samplers to measure

salinity and concentrations of hydrocarbongases at various depths below theseafloor.

� Chimney samplers to measure thecomposition and quantity of gas passingthrough the seafloor.

� Arrays to measure conductivity,temperature, density and composition ofdissolved gas at various levels in the lowerwater column.

A mass spectrometer will do chemicalanalyses on the seafloor.

Microbiology Data

The microbial observatory will monitorvarious aspects of:

� Microbial activity includingabundance, diversity, temporal variabilityand dynamics of microbial communities.

� Rates of methane oxidation andsulfate reduction.

� Relationships between microbialproducts and hydrate formation.

Monitoring sensors will includeretrievable, pressurized seafloor test cellsand bioreactors, high-surface-areasampling plates of different materials, low-light digital cameras and devices toretrieve samples under in-situ conditions.

Research goals include:� Documenting the stability and

persistence of gas hydrate outcrops.� Determining whether methane

24

MAY 2006

Hydrate System to be Monitored

Figure 2 – Bathymetric image of Block MC 118. The MMS Reserve Boundary definesthe area reserved by the Minerals Management Service for exclusive use of theseafloor monitoring station and its associated research programs.

Figure 1 – Deepwater hydrate monitoring station and its component systems.

oxidation and sulfate reduction occurwithin hydrates without dissociation.

� Characterizing the structure andfunctions of microbial communities.

� Identifying biochemical controls onand ecological roles of certain bacterialmats.

Fine-grained magnetic sulfides thatoriginate with magnetotactic bacteria andthen accumulate in gas hydrates will bemonitored as possible locators of hydratedeposits.

Seismic Data

Seismic data will be collected with sixlinear sensor arrays; two vertical and fourhorizontal.

One vertical array of hydrophones,inclinometers and compasses will extendfrom the seafloor to a height of 200 metersinto the water column. A second verticalarray of hydrophones and 3-component(3-C) accelerometers will be in a boreholeand extend 150 meters below the seafloor.

Each horizontal array of hydrophonesand 3-C accelerometers will be 400meters long. Four horizontal arrays will bedeployed in an orthogonal cross to createarm lengths equal to water depth (~800meters).

Deployment

The monitoring station is beingdeployed near a hydrate mound in watermore than 800 meters deep in Block MC118 (figure 2). The mound is locatedinside the distorted bathymetry contours inthe lower part of the figure.

The Minerals Management Service hasreserved a large portion of Block MC 118(the area inside the “MMS ReserveBoundary” in figure 2) for exclusive use ofthe monitoring station and associatedresearch.

Pre-installation surveys began inJanuary 2005. The first observingsystems, a pore-fluid sampler and anarray of sub-bottom thermisters wereinstalled in May 2005. Installation iscontinuing in stages until the monitoringstation is complete.

Completion is expected in 2007.

Seismic Monitoring

When fully operational, the observatorywill generate about nine gigabytes of dataper hour. Almost all of this data flow willcome from seismic sensors operating incontinuous acquisition mode.

A conventional image of the mound willbe created by inverting data acquiredusing conventional seismic sources.Monitoring will consist of comparing thisconventional image to subsequent imagesobtained using ambient noise as theenergy source.

A procedure for imaging the moundusing the noise of nearby ships is underdevelopment. This technique will utilize thestation’s hydrophone data and is based onan established technique known asMatched Field Inversion.

Attempts will be made to obtain imagesusing other types of ambient noise,particularly the noise of wind-driven wavesat the sea surface and the backgroundnoise of micro-seismic events.

The mound will be re-imaged withconventional seismic sources from time totime.

(Editor’s note: McGee is with theUniversity of Mississippi.)

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MAY 2006

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MAY 2006

Offices Being Repopulated

Industry Gives Big Boost to NOLABy LOUISE S. DURHAM

EXPLORER CorrespondentFor any companies still on the fence

trying to decide whether to moveoperations back to New Orleans afterfleeing Hurricane Katrina, Frank GlavianoSr., vice-president of the Americas atShell, has some practical advice:

“Until you make a decision, yourenergy is spent on considering the prosand cons and not solving the problems,”Glaviano said. “You have to face up to it,make the decision and act on it.”

It worked for Shell.And Shell’s commitment to New

Orleans is just one example – others arethere, too – of how the oil industry isstepping up to help the city and regionrecover from last year’s disastroushurricanes.

Usually, the efforts are without muchfanfare. The public praise likely will comelater.

“Given the situation, it was obvious ifwe were going to leave (New Orleans)this would be the time,” Glaviano noted.“We made a conscious choice to returnafter discussing the pros and cons. Weannounced we were returning November7, and the first 250 people moved backJanuary 30.”

The exploration unit from New Orleansremained in Houston, which was a pre-Katrina decision. All 1,000 remainingemployees originally based in theCrescent City have returned. They’reonce again ensconced in the toweringShell building downtown, which escapedKatrina’s wrath.

“The building would have

accommodated the relocation beforeJanuary,” Glaviano said. “We wanted togive time to the city to establish basicservices, such as enough hospital beds,911 service, postal service,communications. Today, it’s a busyworkday downtown, although there arestill signs of damage.

“We thought the single best thing wecould do for New Orleans was to bring1,000 high paying jobs back to the city,”Glaviano said. “We ran an ad in the localpaper upon moving back that includedthe statement ‘A community needs acommitment, and New Orleans has ours’– that’s how we summed it up to thepeople and the city.”

Shell employees lived throughout thecity and surrounding areas, so many ofthem lost homes or had severelydamaged dwellings.

The company quickly stepped up tothe plate and spent $32 million topurchase 120 units – single family andapartment complexes – in New Orleansand toward Baton Rouge to lease tohomeless employees at cost. Today, mostall employees are in stable situations,either permanent or temporary.

Building Toward Tomorrow

Unlike Shell, Dominion Exploration &Production is unable to return staff to itsdowntown domicile following a six-monthstay in Houston. The Dominion Towersuffered extensive storm damage, andthe company relocated to a nearbybuilding. The first 60 employees who arescheduled to return arrived early inMarch.

“People are going back on astaggered schedule, based on individualneeds and individual housing needs,”said David Auchter, Dominionspokesman. “The company is assistingwith their need.”

About 200 employees will be back bymid-April. Auchter said the number willrise during the summer to include new-hires because Dominion is activelyrecruiting geologists and geophysicists.

Chevron has relocated 700 employeesback to its downtown New Orleansbuilding, which suffered some floodingand window damage. Although readiedfor occupancy, some repair workcontinues.

To ensure the safety of its people inthe still-struggling city, the company

keeps a paramedic and an ambulanceon site. In fact, the paramedic performsdaily checks of several emergencyrooms within driving distance todetermine who has the most availablebeds and most accommodatingresponse time in the event of anemergency.

Besides providing temporary housingfor some of it still-homeless employees,Chevron is among the companies whohave made significant additionalmonetary contributions to assist thoseimpacted by the storms.

“Up to this time, we have given $5.5million to non-profit and governmentagencies in Louisiana, Mississippi andTexas,” said Matt Carmichael, publicaffairs representative. “In Louisiana, wegave more than $1.2 million to severalgroups.” These included United Way andProject Rebuild Plaquemines Parish.

Prior to Katrina, Chevron made a $1million donation to the Orleans Parishschool system, which has now been re-directed to assist in rebuilding schools.Dominion is also actively involved inrevamping the educational system in thecity. The company is facilitating individualgrants via the Dominion Foundationgrants and is making other grantsdirectly.

Chevron also pre-paid $2.5 million inproperty taxes in hurricane-affectedareas where it operates: Orleans,Plaquemines, Vermilion and Cameronparishes.

“These municipalities ran out of

26

AAPG-Rocky Mountain Section MeetingJune 11-13, 2006Billings, Montana

Pre-registration closes May 19

Meeting Information:(406) 442-4141orwww.montanags.org

Host: Montana Geological Society

UNDAUNTED EXPLORATIONOF THE ROCKIES

“We thought the single best thing wecould do for New Orleans was to bring1,000 high paying jobs back to the city.”

See Recovery, page 30

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By BARRY FRIEDMANEXPLORER Correspondent

It takes faith to explore for oil.Anywhere.

But in Israel, which produces almostno oil and imports nearly all its oilneeds, the premium is put on science –along with a little faith, too.

About 470 wells have been drilled inthe country since the 1940s but theHeletz field, discovered in 1955, is theonly producing field and produces lessthan 100 barrels a day, according to theU.S. Energy Information Agency. Israelhas sizeable deposits of oil shale,perhaps 600 million tons recoverable,with average production of about 9,000barrels a day. Most of Israel’s shale oilresources are located in the RotemBasin region of the northern Negevdesert near the Dead Sea.

So for decades, Israel has had toaugment its supply by importingapproximately 240,000 bbo/day fromRussia via the Black Sea and fromEgypt.

Sensing the situation would onlygrow worse, the Israeli governmentcommissioned a study in 1981 todetermine the potential ofhydrocarbons in the country. AAPGmember Stephen Pierce was theproject geologist at the time for U.S.-based Superior Oil and in charge ofthat study.

“I wrote the report for the Israeligovernment,” Pierce said. “All herneighbors had oil; Israel wanted toknow how much she had.”

Israel’s Petroleum Commission hasestimated that the country couldcontain two billion barrels of oilreserves, most likely locatedunderneath natural gas reserves.Geologically, Israel appears to beconnected to the oil-rich Paleozoicpetroleum system stretching from SaudiArabia through Iraq to Syria.

Specifically, Pierce concluded thatan area around Kibbutz Ma’anit had amajor “gravity high” that could prove tobe a regional paleo high, indicating itmight be a potential energy bonanza tothe country.

In 1994, Eliezer Kashai – current vicepresident of exploration for Zion Oil &Gas but then with Sdot Neft Ltd. –independently came to the sameconclusion and actually did somedrilling on this gravity high at Ma’anit.The well got to 2,335 meters, butbecause of volcanics-causedcomplications and other operationaldelays, the company ran out of moneybefore it could drill any deeper.

Dallas-based Zion Oil and Gas thenpicked up concession and resumeddrilling. The Zion concession – is to thewest of Jerusalem, specifically south ofHaifa and northeast of Tel Aviv.

According to Pierce, who now hasbeen hired as the project geologist forZion, “We have successfully tested that(gravity high) hypothesis.”

Further, he added, the company nowhas a well that can test two importantareas:

� The Um-Al-Fahm anticline (thegravity high underlying KibbutzMa’anit).

� Test fracture plays in the Triassic.“The well is important for another

reason,” Pierce added, “as the majorgravity paleo high allows the possibilityof testing deeper Permian targets, arelatively new play in this part of theMiddle East. If this opens up, it couldpositively affect the exploration

direction in the region.“If successful,” he said, “the Ma’anit

area play can significantly upgradetheir national reserves.”

Divine Inspiration

How long would a project like thistake to develop and implement?

And now Pierce sounds more like apolitician than a scientist: “As long as itwould take – but there is another facetto this.”

Perhaps it’s best at this point to letthe company’s Web site explain:

From its inception, the calling ofZion’s Web site is filled with biblicalverses and prophecies, has set up twocharitable trusts totaling 6 percent ofroyalties to support “projects for therestoration of the people and land ofIsrael.

According to Pierce, while thecompany’s founder is a born-againChristian who dreams of finding oil forthe state of Israel, he, Pierce,approaches the endeavor purelyscientifically.

“His (company founder andchairman John Brown) is based on the

Bible; my rationale is strictly technical.”Actually Pierce is understating the

contrast. Brown has been quoted assaying, “God sent me for one purpose:to help Israel with oil. I believe Godtalked to me.”

“We’re engineers, geologists,” Piercesaid, reiterating his motivational drive,even if his owner gets his inspirationelsewhere. �

MAY 2006

27Concession to be Tested

Israel Continues Reserves Search

For more informationon this subject, visitthe AAPG Web site.

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MAY 2006

By DON JUCKETTBy all accounts, Congressional Visits

Day (CVD) was a success – not only in theoverall number of participants in the events,but in the responses from the many visitsthat AAPG representatives made to theoffices of the Congressmen and Senators.

AAPG President-Elect Lee Billingsley,DPA President-Elect Richard Green andAAPG-AGI liaison G. Warfield “Skip” Hobbstrekked back and forth across Capitol Hillto visit with Congressional staff and electedrepresentatives as well as with the SenateEnergy and Natural Resources Committeestaff and the House Energy and HouseResource Committee Staff.

The theme for this year’s CVD was“Science, Engineering & Technology:Fueling America’s Innovation,” and theAAPG delegation took full advantage ofthat theme to promote the Association’scontributions to sustaining science andinnovation in the geosciences.

The delegation also reinforced theoverarching theme for CVD with theirstatements of support for federally fundedresearch in the petroleum geosciences.

Under the auspices of AAPG (for thefirst time), AGI, GSA and AGU, more than70 geoscientists participated in CVD. Thisbrought the geoscience associationsponsorship for CVD to more than 10percent of the non-corporate sponsorship.This presence has and will continue toheighten the awareness and appreciationamong policy makers of the contributionthat the geosciences and particularlypetroleum geosciences make in globaleconomics, education, science andtechnology.

* * *

During their day on Capitol Hill, theAAPG participants visited the offices ofapproximately a dozen members of theHouse and Senate and met with the staff ofboth the House and Senate committeeswith natural resource and energyjurisdiction.

In each office, they spoke to the themeof the CVD activities and stated their casefor federal funding for the sciences and

geosciences. In every office, they left apacket of material that included a one-page flier explaining the activities andfunctions of the AAPG – and extended anoffer to provide additional information, data-related material for the use of the Housemember or Senator.

In several instances, those offers werewelcomed with an immediate request foradditional statistics, written material orfurther briefings.

And what did our members learn? From my observations and discussions

with the AAPG delegation as we made ourvisits on Capitol Hill I extracted thefollowing sentiments about the process:

✓ Their understanding of the process ofpolicy making and formulation of law is farmore complex than they understood it to bebefore they participated in CVD.

✓ Policymakers need access to good,scientific-based information – but in and ofitself good, scientific-based information isinsufficient to guarantee that good policywill emerge from the process simplybecause policy makers have access togood science.

✓ Much of the important analysis in anypolicy debate is brought together byindividual office staff and committee staffand often, the Senate or House membersmay not even see the actual informationthat establishes their position on a givenissue.

✓ To ensure that good geoscienceinformation and data finds its necessaryplace in the formulation of sound andfavorable energy policy – that policy whichwill impact the very future of the petroleumindustry not only in the United States, butglobally – some fraction of the petroleumgeoscience community will have to conveythat information and data into the office oftheir policy makers.

What is more, those who choose toparticipate also will have to take theadditional steps of explaining anddefending the quality and integrity of thescience.

* * *

28

continued on next page

AAPG Joins InCongress Visit Day

material that can be harvested.“How much biomass do we have to

leave on the land to protect theproductivity of the soil? I think mostpeople agree that we can’t just strip theland,” Ragauskas said.

Looking at the future development ofbiorefining, he sees “a multifaceted timeframe. What we’re living now is the firstgeneration of biorefineries.”

In five to 10 years, he expects to see avariety of bioengineered plants muchmore amenable for processing intobiofuels.

For instance, plants could be modifiedto produce the enzymes useful inbiorefining, he said.

Like wind-generated electricity, currentproduction of biofuel benefits fromgovernment subsidies. Eventually,Ragauskas expects biorefining tobecome economic without subsidies.

“I think in the end it has to be,” he said.“If you take a longer view, we only have a

fixed amount of fuel and our usagecontinues to go up ... Biofuels willsupplement the wedge between the two.”

Koonin sees a future where privatevehicles are fuel-electric hybrids, withbiofuels a significant contributor to power.

“Hybrid biofuels are where we’re goingto end up, I think, probably plug-inhybrids,” he projected.

In that vision, the hybrid owner wouldrecharge the vehicle’s batteries overnightfor an electric-power range of 30 miles orso.

If the daily commute is less than 30miles, no fuel would be used, Kooninsaid. Overall vehicle fuel efficiency couldtop 100 miles per gallon.

Looking ahead 20 years, can theUnited States really reduce its need forimported oil by two-thirds? Can Swedenstop using oil completely?

Development of alternative powersources faces many challenges, makingsome goals appear out of reach.

Ragauskas had a thought along thoselines.

“If you asked 10 years ago, ‘Can youhave a remote-controlled rover on Mars?’”he noted, “people would have said, ‘It’simpossible.’” ❏

Wind Powerfrom page 20

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The AAPG members also learned thattwo increasingly important issues in theAssociation’s policy position portfolio arefront and center in energy discussions inthis Second Session of the 109thCongress. Those issues are:

� Opening a larger portion of theOCS for exploration and development.

� Work force training and education. They also learned that their input in

Washington and in their home districtscan influence the outcome of theseissues in Washington.

These are my impressions and shouldnot be seen as other than that. However,the next time you have occasion to talkto Lee, Richard or Skip, ask them whatthey thought. I hope they will convey thesame interest and commitment that Isensed as we worked through CVD2006.

I also hope that their impressions andexcitement will be enough to encouragemore of you to participate next year andin subsequent years. As Associationmembers, your participation will make adifference!

(Editor’s note: Don Juckett, head ofAAPG’s Geoscience and Energy Officein Washington, D.C., can be contacted [email protected], (703) 575-8293.)

888 OIL DATA

www.ihs.com/energy

©2006 IHS Inc. All Rights Reserved.

For every unconventional play, there’s a growingrecord of conventionalwisdom. We’ve got it.What frac treatments work best in each shale? We publish more

completions and re-completions with full treatment details than anyone else.

Where is coal-bed methane expanding? IHS tags every CBM well

for fast queries at the field, basin, or regional level.

Where has tight gas been overlooked in a basin? We provide the

pressure data, shows, tops and logs you need to look for missed plays

across a formation.

Every unconventional play has its pioneers. Our data is optimized to help you study

their paths—from tracking play margins and players, to spotting techniques that

optimize production. So you can blaze your own trail with confidence.

See for yourself. Visit ihs.com/energy/bestdatafor a map showing hot U.S. shale plays.

See further. See opportunity. See clearly.

MAY 2006

29Director TakesNew StrategicAnalyst PostBrenda Cunningham has changed

positions to become AAPG seniorstrategic analyst, a new position.

Joining the Association’sheadquarters staff in 2003,Cunningham previously served asglobal development director,responsible for overall conventiondepartment activities as well asinvolvement in several new globalprojects, such as GEO 2006, held inDoha, Bahrain, in March.

“Evolution within the Associationhas led to changes in the directoratewhereby Brenda and I agreed that hertalents were better used in this newposition,” said Executive Director RickFritz. “This is a change that Brendarequested, and that we both believe ispositive for her and the Association.”

In the new post, Cunningham will beresponsible for in-depth evaluation ofmany of AAPG’s functions and willreport to the executive director.

A search for a meetings director hasbeen initiated.

continued from previous page

THE GEOLOGYOF CUBA

BY GEORGES PARDO

A summary of the stratigraphy andstructure of Cuba. Much previouslyunpublished data including a discussionof the geological nomenclature of Cuba,the island’s importance for understand-ing of the Caribbean geologic history,and its petroleum indications.

Send check or money order to: Georges Pardo,1733 Gulfstar Drive S. #302, Naples, FL 34112

$30.00

CD-ROM with Adobe Acrobat (PDF) files.482 pages, 154 plates.

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Results of the 2006 DEG officercandidate election have beenannounced.

Those elected were:� President-Elect – Charles G.

(Chip) Groat, University of Texas,Austin, Texas.

� Vice President – Michael A.Jacobs, Pioneer Natural Resources,Midland, Texas.

� Editor – Gerald (Jerry) R. Baum,Maryland Geological Survey, Baltimore,Md.

The new officers will join the DEGExecutive Committee July 1 that will bechaired by President Jane McColloch,West Virginia Geological & EconomicSurvey, Morgantown, W.Va. Also on thecommittee is Nancy S. Dorsey, EPA R6,Dallas, secretary-treasurer.

DEG Picks Groat as President-Elect

Back to School with AAPG Education! Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphic Response of Paralic Deposits to Changes in Accommodation: Predicting Reservoir Architecture, Book Cliffs, Utah Leaders: Keith W. Shanley, Consultant, Denver, CO; J. Michael Boyles, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WYDate: September 21-28, 2006Location: Begins and ends in Grand Junction, ColoradoTuition: $2,100 (increases to $2300 after 8/10/06), includes groundtransportation, lunches, and guidebookLimit: 20Content: 5.6 CEU Who Should AttendGeologists, geophysicists and reservoir engineers working inexploration and production settings.

Ancient Clastics: Book Cliffs and Canyonlands, Utah Leader: John K. Balsley, Consulting Geologist,Indian Hills, CO Dates: September 11-19, 2006Location: Begins and ends in Moab, UtahTuition: $2,100 (increases to $2,200 after 4/17/06),includes 4-wheel-drive transportation and course notes on CDLimit: 15Content: 6.0 CEU Who Should AttendExploration and production geologists, geophysicists, log analysts,engineers, and exploration and development managers who want a thorough working knowledge of clastic depositional systems directlyassociated with energy resources.

Field Seminars!!Deep-Water SiliciclasticReservoirs, California Leaders: Stephan Graham and Donald R. Lowe, Stanford University, Stanford, California Dates: September 17 (Sunday at 5:00pm) – 22 (Friday – mid-afternoon)Location: Begins and ends at the airport inSan Francisco, CaliforniaTuition: $2,675 (increases to $2,775 after8/17/06), includes lodging, transportation during the seminar, lunches, guidebook and group dinner (1 night)Limit: 20Content: 5.5 CEU Who Should AttendGeologists, geophysicists, reservoir engineers, managers and anyone working with deep-water reservoir systems.

Be among the first!

Short Course!!

For further information, please contact the AAPG Education DepartmentPhone: 918-560-2650; Fax: 918-560-2678; e-mail: [email protected]

Or log on to www.aapg.org/education/index.cfm

Modern DeltasLeaders: Harry H.Roberts, Gregory Stone and Samuel Bentley,Coastal Studies Institute, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA Date: September 11-15, 2006Location: Begins in Baton Rouge and ends in New Orleans, Louisiana Tuition: $2,500 (increases to $2600 after8/14/06), includes 5 nights lodging, bus and boat transportation, field lunches, andguidebook Limit: 25Content: 4.0 CEU Who Should Attend Geoscientists who need to understand thesedimentary architecture of deltas, internalcharacteristics of constituent sediment bodies, and sequence/seismic stratigraphicrelationships with surrounding facies.

Sign up early—this one fills up fast!

New!!ReturningFavorite!

Fractures, Folds, and Faults in Thrusted Terrains: Sawtooth Range,MontanaLeaders: Steven E. Boyer, Consultant,Tacoma, WA; William Hansen, Jireh Consulting Services, Great Falls, MT; Charles F. Kluth, Kluth & Associates, Littleton, CO;James Sears, University of Montana, Missoula, MTDate: September 11-16, 2006Location: Begins and ends in Great Falls,Montana Tuition: $2,600 (increases to $2700 after8/14/06), includes lunches, transportation,guidebooks, admission to Glacier NationalPark, and some additional meals.Limit: 20Content: 4.2 CEU Who Should Attend Geologists, geophysicists, log analysts,engineers and exploration managers who want a thorough understanding of the geology and complexity of exploring in thrust belts.

New Date!!

Practical Mapping of Surfaces, Properties, and Volumes for Reservoir Characterization: Principles, Methods, Case Studies,and Workflows Date: September 30 – October 1, 2006Location: New Orleans, Louisiana (with SEG Annual Meeting) Tuition: $590, AAPG members; $690, non-members (goes up to $690/$790 after 9/1/06), includes course notes and refreshmentsContent: 1.5 CEU Instructor: Jeffrey Yarus, Quantitative Geosciences, Houston, TX Who Should Attend

The course is intended for geologists, geophysicists, and engineers considering or engaged in reservoir modeling projects who wish to understand more about the geostatistical methodology.

MAY 2006

30

ENDORSERS

6-9 MARCH 20066-9 MARCH 2006

AAPG extends our sincere appreciation to the following companies for their financial

and technical support of APPEX London

SPONSORS

IHS Energy • ABN AMRO • Petris

EXHIBITORS

Bridge North Sea LimitedConcessions InternationalDeer Lake Oil & Gas Inc.

EnCanaenergy INSTITUTE

Envoi LimitedETAP Tunisia

Fugro-Robertson-ReapFusion Petroleum Technologies Inc.

GEO ExProHardman Resources Ltd.

Hungarian Horizon EnergyIHS Inc.

International Pavilion LLCJSI Services Ltd.

Liberty Petroleum Corporation

Marex, Inc.National Hydrocarbons Agency

Neuralog Inc.Northern Petroleum PLC

NPA GroupPERUPETRO S.A.

PetroSA, South AfricaPetroSantander Inc.

PGLPlatte River Associates, Inc.

Regal PetroleumState Oil Suriname

Tethys OilTGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company

UK Department of Trade and IndustryVeritas DGC Ltd.

money after the storm,” Carmichael said.“On January 1, there was money in thebank they could immediately start tospend.”

Recognizing that less tangible culturalissues also play a key role in restoringlife to the city, Dominion is continuing itslongtime support of such organizationsas the Audubon Nature Institute and theLouisiana Endowment for theHumanities, among others. This supportwill assist in the recovery andrehabilitation of the arts in SouthLouisiana.

The myriad fans of the acclaimedNew Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festivalwill be happy to hear the festival willcelebrate its thirty-seventh season thisspring, thanks to Shell, which came onboard as the first-ever presentingsponsor when the event’s fate was indoubt for this year. The festival generates$250 million worth of economic activityfor the area, which will significantly pumpup the near-empty city coffers.

It’s not just the big folks who arestepping up to help out in the aftermathof the disastrous hurricanes. Many

smaller, independent companies aremaking a difference through theLouisiana Independent Oil & GasAssociation (LIOGA).

The organization established twoseparate funds to assist victims ofHurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Some of the money has been used toenable a number of families tosuccessively occupy a fully furnishedapartment in Lafayette provided byLIOGA. Funds also have been providedfor displaced children from New Orleans,in addition to numerous other LIOGAefforts.

The LIOGA Katrina Industry ReliefFund has a balance of approximately$600,000 and is the larger of the twofunds. The Community Foundation ofAcadiana oversees the fund, which willhave a sizeable impact on thecommunity where the funds areultimately directed.

Midst the continuing hardship in thispart of the world, the occasional lightnote is essential to help lift spirits andkeep the morale intact.

With that in mind, Auchter noted atpress time Dominion was planning acelebration in April, welcoming all itsemployees back with – you guessed it –a crawfish boil, the gustatory affairsynonymous with south Louisiana. �

Recoveryfrom page 26

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AAPG memberDavid C. Worthingtonhas endowed a newGrant-in-Aid for agraduate student who isstudying paleontology.

The DavidWorthington FamilyGrant will be awardedannually through theAAPG FoundationGrants-in-Aid Program.

In other Foundationmatters, Michael W.Strickler, of Katy, Texas,has joined theFoundation TrusteeAssociates.

Foundation (General)Harry T. AasmyrCharles Woodrow AchauerVictor F. Agbe-DaviesJohn Patrick AlbaneseGregg Steven AlletagEdith C. AllisonJohn J. Amoruso

In memory of E.F. “Bud”Reid

Allen Karl AndersenRobert Matthews AndersonDonald Irvin AndrewsKunio AraiM. (Mo) E. ArnoldGeorge B. AsquithLeonard McCaskie Atkins Jr.Richard Arthur BaileChester Earl Baker Jr.

In memory of DonaldFulkerson

Kandiah BalachandranJohn Schuyler BaldwinThomas Ashley BaldwinFrancis James BarkerMichael William BarrattWilliam J. BarrettDouglas Patrick BattinDmitry A. BazykinRichard L. BeasleyDon Wendell Beauchamp

In memory of Robert F.Walters

Michael Alan BelowichW. Owen BementMichael William BennettKevin T. Biddle

In memory of MiquelUliana

Kenneth John BirdAdam Rayl BishopGerry BlackshearRichard Andrew BlajszczakDavid C. BlanchardRobert Lawrence BlantonFred B. BodholtGeorge Robert Bole

In memory of Fred A. Dix Jr.

Linda M. BonnellJames Douglas Borden

In memory of RichardBloomer

Erhard Ted BornemannBrian Keith BoslaughDouglas Leland BostwickWesley Darrell BowenDave E. BramanRichard Randall BramlettMario Gil Pereira BrandaoAly Margriet BrandenburgDonald Lee BrehmJanet Sue BristerRaul F. BritoG.W. BrockJames Mark BrooksDavid Lynn BrumbaughBrent E. BurgessBrian Dean BurgessWilliam A. BurgettRay Albert BurkeWilliam Charles BurkettBarry Wayne BurkhardtStephen Wilbur BurnieJoseph Denton ButtsRobert W. BybeeLeon Geddis Byerley Jr.Alvin Ward ByrdSusan Kiefner CageWarren Jackson Cage Jr.Thomas Ross Cambridge

In honor of Robey ClarkRodney Jason CampMarvin Paul CarlsonDwight Eugene CassellMartin Macdermott CassidyJohn Ernest ChatfieldDon J. ChristensenWilliam Atlee ClementW. Kevin ColemanJ. Spencer Collins

In memory of GeorgeEdmond Kelley

Michael ConnollyHarry Douglas CowanRobert D. Cowdery

In memory of Gwinn Lewis

Maurice G. CoxRonald Thomas CramerMatthew J. CrossHubert Yates CrouseLeland Bowen CulliganPaul S. CunninghamM.A. CusterWilton R. DaleJames Robert DanielsEdward Charles Dapples

In memory of William C.Krumbein

William James DaviesThomas E. Davis

In memory of L.J. SerightLewis Decker DawsonAlberto De AndaMichiel C. De GrootDavid Allen De GruyterRikus Rikus De MoojJeremy Edward DenmanDouglas B. DickeyMax Rudolph DolencTimothy Joseph DoreKim Andrew DoudRobert D. DoughertyWaldemar M. DresselKenneth J. DrummondRalph Charles DuchinGalen Lamar EadsChristine Ehlig EconomidesCharles Devries EdwardsWilliam R. Edwards

In memory of Kempner R.Scott

Jim ElkinIn memory of James E.Vause

William S. Elliott Jr.Steven Mark EllsworthBrooks B. EllwoodWilliam H. Elson Jr.E.R. ErwinCharles T. FeazelDavid R. Feineman

In memory of Parke DickeyJohn Frederick FeitshansBruce Willard FieldsNicholas Hugh FinucaneRandall Jordan FlemingMcLain Jay FormanRichard M. FosheeHelen Laura FosterJohn Paul FriessAllan Douglas FrizzellJames J. FrugoniGilbert GainesMorgan E. GallagherJohn Anderson GambillPaul Winslow Garrett Jr.Donald S. GarvinLarry R. GastonDaryl R. GaumerDaniel J. GerhardtNorman R. GiedtHoward Bruce GlassmanMichael Charles GloverStephen M. GolasDuncan GoldthwaiteJohn Pipes GoodsonArchie GordonChris Gene GossFrank L. Gouin

In memory of Frank GouinHoward Ross GouldJonathan Lee GrannisPeter Gordon GrayRobert C. GrayWayland Eugene GrayCarolyn Ann GreenMark Endacott GreggRichard Hughes

Groshong Jr.Hugh Edward HanaganJames Martin Hancock Jr.Andrew Lloyd HanerTed Shane Hannon

In memory of Vernon J.Hines

David Edward HarkerJ. Richard HarrisJohn Dow HarrisDouglas Darling HastingsRonald Glenn HeckWilliam A. HeckWilliam Arthur Heintz Jr.Carl Helms Jr.Donald Ray HembreDavid Lloyd HendersonDonald Alan HerronHenry Allan HillMelvin James HillFred J. HiltermanWilliam Myrl Hoag

In memory of William RossDavidson

Jerry Frnka HolditchRichard A. HollandDwight Mitchell HollonWeber Ralph HollowayGary John HooseBrent Frederick HopkinsKevin Seely HopsonDick Spease HortonDaniel Edward Hudson Jr.Kenneth Jay Huffman

In memory of James RolfWilson HumphreyLisa L. HuntRobert Lee HuntNeil Francis HurleySyed M. Hussain

Matthew Glover HydeToshinori IwasakiLinda Heatwole JacobsRhonda JacobsRichard Elliot JacobsAlfred James IIIPeter M. JanakGerhard Cyril J. JansenJames C. JanssenCarlos Alberto JaramilloRobert Mims Jemison Jr.Larry W. JenkinsRalph Donald JohnsonRobert Kern JohnsonJames Allen JohnstonGeorge R. JonesJon Rex JonesThomas L. Jones Jr.David Paul JordanEdward Harry JudsonKeith W. KataharaJordan Leigh KearWalter Paul Kessinger Jr.Deane Earle KilbourneFiona Elizabeth KilbrideHoward George KinzeyHideki KitagawaThomas C. KlekampPete John KlentosLarry Michael KnoxKimberly Ann KoepkeAnthony Joseph KolodziejSidney Winnard KothmannRalph B. KraetschWilliam Charles KruegerEddy KruijsGeorge William KrummeKunio KuboByron R. Kulander

In memory of GeneMoores

Robert H. LanderMichael Edwin LangridgeStanley J. LasterFred Hubert LatimerShannon Elise LemkeRobert Louis LentHenry Morris LiebermanWalter Scott Light Jr.Floyd Alan LindbergEdwin Clive LookabaughJames Warren LovekinLaurence O. LuebkeRobert Lincoln Maby Jr.Donald Joseph MaloneRobin Carl MannRonald Eugene ManzEdward MarksTimothy H. MarshallEdgar Keith MartinAllan V. MartiniJohn William MasonPeter Hotchkiss MassonHoward C. MathisonDavid J. MayTeri J. McGuiganTimothy Reed McHargueMichael Kelly McInerney

In memory of Scott ButlerBenjamin Joe McKenzieCameron Robert McLainWilbur Earl McMurtryDavid McPhersonAlan Wayne Meeks

In memory of JohnKershner

Laurence S. MelzerEric L. MichaelsonKenneth A. MillerMarcus Eugene MillingDean Beardsley MillmanJeff David MiltonRobert John MinckKimberlee Miskell-GerhardtSteven D. MitchellJuan MitterhoferEva P. Moldovanyi

In honor of Susan Sorenyi-Sander

Virginia Phipps MonaghanClyde Herbert Moore Jr.Sidney Stuart MoranKerry Marie MorelandMarvin Anthony MunchrathWilliam Alan MurphreeEdward Gilpin MurphyPatricia O’Brien MurphyRobert Gerard MurphyDonald J. MurrayJohn David MuselmannLarry Nation

Monte Lynn NaylorJack Lewis NelsonAlan B. NicolRichard C. Nolen-HoeksemaRoger Kessel NunleyWilliam J. O’LearyMaurizio OrlandoRobert Thomas OwenJohn T. PalmerKerry D. ParhamDouglas ParkerJames Michael PartyJanyth Tolson PashinJames Durwood PateBen M. Patterson Jr.James C. PattersonJames Lancaster PayneRobert Bates Peacock

In memory of Robert R.Lamb

Eugene Murrell Peeples IIIIn memory of RobertAlexander

William S. PeirceSamuel Hibner PeppiattErwin Frank PesekJames Algert PetersonMichael L. PierceRobert Starl PittmanBrian P. PittsKay L. PittsMichael H. PortigalDouglas H. PottorffBrian H. PreggerHarry Ptasynski

In memory of CharlesChapman

Norman D. RamanElizabeth A. Ramsey

In memory of RichardBloomerand George Fraser

Donald L. RasmussenGene Austin Ratcliff

In memory of Dean McGeeand Hunter Yarbrough

Tom W. RedinBill K. ReedKevin Wayne ReimerRobert R. RemyFritz W. ReuterJohn T. RiddellWade Clark RidleyPeter G. RigsbyJeffrey Wayne RitchieRick O. RittenbergBrad E. RobinsonJohn James William RogersJohn Sawyer RossDayna Jean SalterAmos SalvadorNestor John SanderCharles Lane SartorCarl David SavelyJack W. SchanckMax W. SchleyRonald Alan SchlichtemierBradford Roger SchmalfussWilliam J. SchneiderWilliam David SchneiderRobert Guy Scholl

In memory of Guy J. SchollRobert Alan SchreiberStephen Richard SchutterJohn David SealeHiroyuki SekiAlastair David L. SharpAaron M. SheafferMicheal S. ShearnF. Carlton SheffieldDiane P. ShellenbaumEugene A. ShinnVinton Hubbard ShollKurt Eugene SicklesGeorge M. SimmonsHoward Muncie SimpsonWilliam Alton Skees

In memory of RoyceLawson

Damir Stjepan SkerlChristopher E. SlagleRobert Gerard Slyker Jr.Major SmithThomas Ray SmithJ. William SodermanStephen A. Sonnenberg

In honor of Robert WeimerDennis M. SponableBill St. JohnJohn Charles StanfieldEric R. Stearns

Raymond W. Stephens Jr.Jack C. StevensonRoger David StewardRobert Graham StewartMeredith Russell StippMark Kenneth StoverSpencer Boyd Street IIIMichael William StricklerMichael L. StultsArum Triantini SuryantiSonia SwartzThomas William Swinbank

In honor of Lane E.Horstmann Sr.

Paul Joseph SzatkowskiKneelon Edward TeagueNikos D. Thomaidis

In memory of James R.Price

Paul Andrew ThompsonWayne Dewitt ThorntonJack C. ThreetC.N. “Tom” Tinker

In memory of Robertand Ramona Sneider

Harry W. ToddRaymond Charles ToddJames F. TrickettBill Curtis TuckerAndrei TudoranJohn D. TuohyM.O. TurnerNeil Lee TurnerWayne TurnerWillis Woodbury Tyrrell Jr.Scott D. UrbanJohn H. Van AmringeCharles W. Van Eaton IIIJohannes T. Van GorselLawrence B. Van IngenJan Franklin Van SantMartin Allan VaughanMerlin James VerretHarry Arthur VestHarold J. VinegarPhillip Gene Von TungelnMichael Anthony WackerCyril Wagner Jr.James Franklin WalkerJohn Winters Walker Jr.Mario WannierDouglas Raymond WatermanPaul V. WatonCalvin Ernest WatsonFrank Earl WeagantRobert J. WeimerRaymond J. Welder Jr.Rolf WestgardDelmar G. WestoverJ. Phelps White IVAdam Bennett Whitman Jr.Bruce Henry WileyRichard Paul Wilkerson

In memory of Sue WilletsJack J. WilliamsJoel Steven WilliamsAnn O. WillisGary Wayne WilsonWilliam T. WilsonAlvin Raymond WinzelerMichael R. Wisda

In memory of RobertSneider

William G. WombleLeonard Alton WoodJenna Brasch WoodberrySarah A. WoodberrySeth Michael WoodberryJames Charles WoodsonAmelia Mary WrightCarole WrightDominic K.F. YapWalter Lewellyn YoungquistJoseph Benjamin Zullo III

Awards FundA.I. Levorsen

Memorial AwardScott Glassell Comegys

Best Student Paper and Poster Award

Richard Graham Stanley

Jules Braunstein Memorial Award

Bradford Eugene Prather

Grover E. Murray MemorialDistinguished Educator Award

Robert B. MixonIn memory of GroverMurray

Public Service AwardDaniel J. Piazzola

Teacher of the Year AwardPatrick Lee Higgs

Continuing Education FundNaofumi SakuyamaRobert Frank Talley

Daniel A. Busch Library Fund

William S. PeirceFrancis X Schloeder III

Digital Products FundBoyd Ray BrownJames Michael HarmountJohn Curtis Killinger

University of Houston AlumniRobert James Hand

Distinguished Lecture FundHugh DresserBarbara L. Faulkner

In memory of RobertGoldhammer

Jon P. HerberJeffrey Tyler JonesJohn Curtis KillingerRobert Clarkson Millspaugh

In honor of Barbara DavisRonald Alan NelsonAnthony ResoCecil R. Rives

In memory of Robert S.Moehlman

Billy Walter RobertsHerbert Mark Stanley Jr.

In memory of Anna MarieStanley

John W. Wilson

Grants-in-Aid FundCharles Samuel Bartlett Jr.

In memory of RobertPlanalp

Nedra Keller HansenIn memory of KennethKeller

Mark Ming-Jung JiangAndre Charles KleinJames E. PowersRobert L. ReadTheresa F.F. Schwarzer

In memory of Rudy R.Schwarzer

Pragnyadipta SenJohn David Sistrunk Jr.

In memory of Ronald RaySistrunk

Robert Ryland SmithWilliam Arthur Van WieCatherine Elaine Webster

Gustavus E. Archie Memorial Grant

John Thomas EggertClarence and Jeanette

HottmanIn memory of Robertand Ramona Sneider

William Gregory PriceIn memory of Robertand Ramona Sneider

Richard W. Beardsley Named Grant

James McDonald

Classen Family Named Grant

Willard John Classen Jr.

Herbert G. Davis and Shirley A. Davis Named Grant

Paul H. Dudley Jr.In memory of Hugh Looneyand Marie Hill

Fred A. and Jean C. DixNamed Grant

James E. BriggsIn memory of Fred A. Dix Jr.

Robert K. GoldhammerMemorial Grant

Lee Hamlin FairchildIn memory of Robert K.Goldhammer

Bruce Kevin ReitzIn memory of Robert K.Goldhammer

John Arthur Weissenberger

Michel T. Halbouty Memorial Grant

Charles Alan SternbachIn memory of Michel T.Halbouty

Bernold M. “Bruno” HansonMemorial Grant

Kevin Seely Hopson

John E. Kilkenny Memorial Grant

Joseph Andrew Dunwoody

Frank E. Kottlowski Memorial Grant

Christopher Arthur Rautman

Arthur A. Meyerhoff Memorial Grant

Charles Bernard Stanley

James W. Milliken Memorial Grant

Samuel Cole GuyIn memory of James W.Milliken

Ohio Geological SocietyNamed Grant

Chester Milton Bonar Jr.Amy Lee LangJames McDonald

Sherman A. WengerdMemorial Grant

Patrick John F. GrattonIn memory of ShermanWengerd

Sara Marie GrattonIn memory of ShermanWengerd

Connie Mack Krivanek

David Worthington Family Grant

Vanguard CharitableEndowment Program

Donor advised from DavidWorthington

K-12 FundCraig F. AndersonFrank J. BanarWilliam F. Bandy Jr.Clifford Abbott BarkellJoan Roberts Barminski

In memory of E.F. “Bud”Reid

John McGregor Barnes Jr.Dean Charles BarnumDavid Scott BirsaDavid Warren BurgeDavid G. Campbell

In memory of Gwinn LewisMagell P. CandelariaPhillip Stephen CiaramellaWilliam E. Gipson

In memory of J.R. JacksonHoward Russell GreenDavid Carl Groves

In memory of DonWambaugh

Phillip M. HallGerald Edmund HarringtonRonald Murray Hedberg

In memory of Hollis D.Hedberg

John C. HilburnSumner (Dave) HixonJulius Homer JohnsonRagner E. Johnson Jr.Glenn Douglass JollySteven Ray KingL. Michael KozimkoLawrence Mark LarsenCharles Douglas Le MasterRobert Clifton MasonSandra MeyerWilliam E. NellistMitchell Frederic NielsenPeter H. NorthropWilliam D. O’BrienDonald A. O’Nesky

In memory of Gwinn Lewisand Richard R. Bloomer

Charles Folger Oudin IIIJames E. PowersDuane Carl RadtkeMichael David RoceretaRobert R. SartainJohn Edwin Scherer

In honor of RobertCowdery

William E. SemmelbeckRobert Russell SmartD. Craig SmithJohn Charles SmithStephen J. SzydlikJack C. ThreetWilliam R. ThurstonGlen Edward Vague Jr.Nancy Susan VaughanMaryBeth WegnerFrances Plants Whitehurst

Katrina Emergency Relief Effort

Mark Alun Jones

E.F. Reid ScoutingEndowment Fund

Ronald L. HartBryan Haws

31

MAY 2006

Foundation DonorsThe names that appear here are of those who have made donations

to the AAPG Foundation in the past month – predominately throughadding some additional monies on their annual dues statement.

To these people, and to those who have generously made donationsin the past, we sincerely thank you.

The AAPG Foundation will continue its stewardship for thebetterment of the science and the profession of petroleum geology,thanks to you.

The AAPG Foundation Trustees

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MAY 2006

Ann Anderson, to associate geologist,Chesapeake Energy, Oklahoma City.Previously graduate student, Texas A&MUniversity, Corpus Christi, Texas.

Jeffrey Atteberry, to associategeologist, Chesapeake Energy, OklahomaCity. Previously graduate student,Clemson University, Clemson, S.C.

Pratt Barndollar, to president, NapaEnergy, Calgary, Canada. Previouslyexploration portfolio manager, DevonEnergy, Houston.

Matthew Boyd, to geologist,Southwestern Energy, Houston. Previouslygeologist, Marathon Oil, Houston.

Michael Buckner, to associategeologist, Chesapeake Energy, OklahomaCity. Previously graduate student, EastCarolina University, Greenville, N.C.

John Chadwick, to senior geologist-East Texas district, Chesapeake Energy,Oklahoma City. Previously seniorgeologist-North Louisiana, MatadorResources, Dallas.

Steve Charbonneau, to vice president-exploration, Vital Energy, Calgary,Canada. Previously senior staff geologist,Apache Canada, Calgary, Canada.

John Day, to associate geologist,Chesapeake Energy, Oklahoma City.Previously hydrogeologist, OklahomaWater Resources Board, Oklahoma City.

Chris J. Donofrio, to senior geologicaladviser, Occidental Permian Services,Houston. Previously senior explorationgeologist, ExxonMobil, Houston.

Quentin C. Enns, to vice president-exploration, Sahara Energy, Calgary,Canada. Previously with Canadian NaturalResources, Calgary, Canada.

Sherman Formhals, to senior geologist,Chesapeake Energy, Oklahoma City.Previously geologist, Energas Resources,Oklahoma City.

Gregory Gromadzki, to associategeologist, Chesapeake Energy, OklahomaCity. Previously graduate student,Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Okla.

Brent Huntsman, to explorationgeologist, Manti Resources, Tulsa.Previously geological manager-Louisianadistrict, Chesapeake Energy, OklahomaCity.

Rhodri Johns, to general manager,Santos International Operations, Bishkek,Kyrgyzstan. Previously manager-exploration portfolio development, Santos,Adelaide, Australia.

Doug Johnson, to geological manager-Permian South district, ChesapeakeEnergy, Oklahoma City. Previously seniorgeologist, Chesapeake Energy, OklahomaCity.

John Kapchinske, to vice president-geoscience (southern division),Chesapeake Energy, Oklahoma City.Previously vice president-geoscience(northern division), Chesapeake Energy,Oklahoma City.

Michael Lentini, to head of newventures, OMV Exploration & Production,Vienna, Austria. Previously senior staffgeologist, Shell, Houston.

Bob LoPiccolo, to vice president-exploration, Circle Oil, Houston. Previouslypresident, eSeis, Houston.

Alex Maftei, to exploration geologist,Chevron, Perth, Australia. Previouslysenior field development adviser,Department of Industry and Resources,Western Australia.

C. Daniel Mancini has formed FaldeosConsulting, San Martin de los Andes,Neuquen, Argentina. Previously managingdirector, Addax Petroleum, Lagos, Nigeria.

Joe Peterson, to senior geologist,Chesapeake Energy, Oklahoma City.Previously staff geologist, Chevron,Lafayette, La.

Scott Sachs, vice president-geoscience (northern division),Chesapeake Energy, Oklahoma City.Previously worldwide exploitationmanager, Marathon Oil, Houston.

Yoscel Suarez, to associategeophysicist, Chesapeake Energy,Oklahoma City. Previously geophysicsintern, Schlumberger, College Station,Texas.

Nicholas Terech, to associategeologist, Chesapeake Energy, OklahomaCity. Previously graduate student,University of Buffalo, Buffalo, N.Y.

Debbie Vader, to geologist,Chesapeake Energy, Oklahoma City.Previously geologist, Newfield Exploration,Tulsa.

Marco Vignali, to associategeophysicist, Chesapeake Energy,

Oklahoma City. Previously geophysicist,PDVSA, Maracaibo, Venezuela.

Michael B. Walen, to senior vicepresident and chief operating officer,Cabot Oil & Gas, Houston. Previouslysenior vice president-exploration andproduction, Cabot Oil & Gas, Houston.

Robert J. Weimer has been named the2006 Legendary Geoscience Awardrecipient by the American GeologicalInstitute, presented to honor his longhistory of scientific achievement andexceptional service to the geoscienceprofession. Weimer, an AAPG pastpresident, is professor emeritus at theColorado School of Mines, Golden, Colo.

James G. Work, to general manager,IPR Transoil, IPR Energy Red Sea and IPREnergy Suez, Cairo, Egypt. Previouslygeneral manager, Western DesertOperating Petroleum, Alexandria, Egypt.

Rob Yorke, to new chief executiveofficer, 3DGeo Development, Houston.Previously president-U.S. operations,Paradigm Geophysical, Houston.

(Editor’s note: “Professional NewsBriefs” includes items about members’career moves and the honors theyreceive. To be included, please sendinformation in the above format toProfessional News Briefs, c/o AAPGEXPLORER, P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, Okla.74101; or fax, 918-560-2636; or e-mail,[email protected]; or submit directly fromthe AAPG Web site, www.aapg.org/explorer/pnb_forms.cfm.)

32

e l e v a t e o p p o r t u n i t y

Elevate Your Career

ConocoPhillips seeks experienced geoscientists for challenging careers in domestic and international

exploration and development. These positions are based in Houston, Texas, and Anchorage, Alaska.

Desired qualifications are MS or PhD degree in Geology or Geophysics, three years or more of

professional experience, and current employment in the oil and gas industry. Visit “Open Positions” on

www.ConocoPhillips.com/careers for details on specific opportunities and to submit your application.

Attractive salary and full-scale benefits program. Agency need not apply.An equal opportunity employer.

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You use only 10% of the brain’s potential.So there’s plenty of scope for exploration.

PETROLEUM / WELL / PROCESS / PROJECT / DISCIPLINE / PRODUCTION ENGINEERS & PETRO/GEOPHYSICISTS

At Shell, continuous learning is central to our culture and the opportunities we offer. Whatever your level of experience,you’ll get all the development options you need to fulfill your potential. We’re committed to helping people find the careerpath that’s right for them. Which is one more reason why we attract top technical talent worldwide. And one more way inwhich we make a difference. Visit our website now for a career that will expand your mind.

Shell is an Equal Opportunity Employer

www.shell.com/careers/technical

Global Technical Careers

MAY 2006

33

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The following candidates havesubmitted applications for membership inthe Association and, below, certificationby the Division of Professional Affairs.This does not constitute election, butplaces the names before the membershipat large. Any information bearing on thequalifications of these candidates shouldbe sent promptly to the ExecutiveCommittee, P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, Okla.74101. (Names of sponsors are placed inparentheses. Reinstatements indicateddo not require sponsors.)

Membership applications are availableat www.aapg.org, or by contactingheadquarters in Tulsa.

For Active Membership

AlaskaPitcher, Jason L., Halliburton Energy

Services, Anchorage (P.J. Perfetta, J.G.Beck, G.F. Carpenter)

ColoradoEgenhoff, Sven Olaf, Colorado StateUniversity, Fort Collins (E.A. Erslev, F.G.Ethridge, B.R. Pratt); Harris, CharlesWilliam, Gustavson Associates, Denver(R.J. Wallis, K.W. Grove, R.C.McCullough); Roesink, John Garner,Noble Energy, Denver (P. Weimer, M.J.Pranter, W.A. Bond)

MinnesotaPoppendeck, Mark Charles, NorthwoodsConsulting, Plymouth (reinstate)

North CarolinaHill, John A., self-employed, Raleigh(reinstate)

TexasAuberty, Frederic, Toreador Resources,Dallas (H.L. Brewer, M.J. Fitzgerald, E.Ramirez); Ballentine, Dorothy E.,Burlington Resources, Houston (L.P.Scott IV, J.D. McCullough, E.B.McWilliams); Dischinger, Joseph Dennis,ExxonMobil Upstream Research,Houston (D.G. Campbell, R.G Charles,J.M. Forgotson Jr); Duan, Ling,Schlumberger, Houston (N.E. Biles, K.S.Glaser, J. Dai); Guo, Mengdong,Landmark Graphics, Houston (S. Zhang,J.K. Ellis, H.E. Darnell Jr.); Jones, JessyLamar, Chevron, Houston (W.C. Dawson,W.R. Almon, A.R. Thomas); Kerscher,Ilsa Mae, ExxonMobil, Houston (A.V.Anderson, D.A.Yurewicz, J.F. Hopkins);Olumuji, Oladipo Ezekiel, NigeriaPetroleum Development, Houston (S.S.Boettcher, D.L. Erlandson, R. Dyer);

Rice, Wendell Ralph, Quintana Minerals,Houston (E.A. Hoover, J.M. Watkins, L.G.Knudtson); Richard, Rene’, Samson,Houston (M.S. Coffield, S.A. Sandberg,G. Sowell); Thomas, Joy Griffin,Marathon Oil, Houston (G.E. Guthrie,W.E. Galloway, M. Titus); Warren, Leslie,Schlumberger, Houston (D.R. Paddock,M.A. Bagge, K.D. Hemsley); Whitaker,Amy E., Chevron, Houston (T.M.Laroche, G. Kristiansen, W. Narr);Whitehead, Richard E., AnadarkoPetroleum, The Woodlands (G.E. DrakeJr., R.P. Sorenson, J. DeJarnett)

AustraliaHeugh, John Phillip, Central Petroleum,Perth (reinstate)

CanadaKlatt, Tyler Sean, EnCana, Calgary (M.J.Monea, M.C. Baker, A. Gaze);Thorkelson, Michelle E., TasmanExploration, Calgary (C. Williams, R.C.M.Gunn)

FranceSassi, William, Institut Francais DuPetrole, Rueil-Malmaison (F.M. Roure, B.Colletta, P.M. Lloyd)

IndiaPaul, Piyal, ONGC (India), Bharuch(D.D. Gaikwad, D. Das, S.K. Prasad)

KuwaitIqbal, Afzal, LMK Resources Dubai(U.A.E), Kuwait (M.R. Feit, J.R. Weston,D.W. Ware)

OmanIdiagbor, Cletus Harry, PetroleumDevelopment (Oman), Muscat (R.V.D.Pal, B.I. Jev, O.A. Fatoke)

Saudi ArabiaAl-Shehab, Ahmad A., Saudi Aramco,Dhahran (M.O. Al-Amoudi, I.A. Al-Ghamdi, A.Q. Hameda)

ScotlandLawrence, Mark John Frederick, BakerAtlas Geoscience, Aberdeen (A.K.Sapru, D.J. Prosser, C.P. North)

ThailandRittipat, Aree, Chevron Thailand E&P,Chatuchak, Bangkok (C.A. Oglesby, J.W.Turner, N.F. Hurley)

United Arab EmiratesLokier, Stephen William, The PetroleumInstitute, Abu Dhabi (D.M. Bliefnick, R.D.Winn Jr., G. Edwards)

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*2003. Cancer Patients Living Longer Then Statistics Indicate. Cleveland Clinic.org.47147

MAY 2006

34

CertificationThe following are candidates for

certification by the Division ofProfessional Affairs.

Petroleum Geologist

LouisianaApplegate, James K., ApplegateExploration, Lafayette (Society ofIndependent Professional EarthScientists)

MarylandBaum, Gerald R., State of Maryland,Baltimore (D. Sacrey, M. Milling, W.Harrison)

TexasMason, Eric Herbert, Houston PipeLine, Houston (R.S. Coook, R.W.Crockett, J.R. Handley)

West VirginiaEdmonds, Craig A., Dominion E&P,Jane Lew (R.E. Goings, D.M. Reif, T.Carpenter)

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(Editor’s note: Regions and Sections is aregular column in the EXPLORER offeringnews for and about AAPG’s six internationalRegions and six domestic Sections.

News items, press releases and otherinformation should be submitted to theEXPLORER/Regions and Sections, P.O.Box 979, Tulsa, Okla. 74101.

Contacts: For Regions, Dana PattersonFree, at 1-918-560-2616, or e-mail [email protected]; for Sections, DonnaRiggs, at 1-918-560-2612, or e-mail [email protected].

This month’s column was provided byHerman Darman, president of AAPG’s AsiaPacific Region.)

AAPG’s Asia Pacific Region,geographically the Association’s largest,covers 16 countries, including the world’sfirst, second and fifth most populatedcountries (China, India and Indonesia).

The region extends from Pakistan in thewest to Japan in the north and NewZealand in the southeast. The world’shighest peak (Mount Everest) and deepestsea (Mariana Trench) also are located inthis region.

Considering the oil industry activitiesand members’ enthusiasm, it’s apparentthis region has a large potential of growthfor AAPG.

All geoscience departments inIndonesia have established their AAPGstudent chapters, which continually reportexcellent quality activities, includingseminars, courses and field trips. (Thanksto the Student Chapter OversightCommittee in Jakarta, which helps studentsin organizing the activities.)

Malaysian and Indian geosciencedepartments are starting to establishand/or reactivate their student chapters aswell, and the committee plans to continueits involvement in establishing studentchapters throughout the rest of the Region.

The Visiting Geoscience Program alsocontributes significantly to the success ofstudent chapter activities in the Region.Last year there were about 20 VGP talks atuniversities.

* * *

In other Region news and activities:✓ Communications and networking

among members are very important in thisRegion – and electronic communicationshave become the key to bridging whatwould otherwise be a huge challenge; it isa quick, reliable and low-cost tool. TheRegion will continue to utilize this approachto facilitate members’ needs.

✓ The Region’s Web site has beenupdated to cover the recent activities andnews for members, thanks to volunteerswho work together with AAPGheadquarters to maintain the site.

✓ AAPG President Pete Rose recentlyvisited the region (see page 6) – in lateFebruary he visited China, India, Malaysiaand Australia. The AAPG members in thesecountries got the opportunity to listen to histalk and discuss a range of issuesregarding the geoscience communities.

✓ This year the Asia Pacific Region willhost this year’s AAPG InternationalConference and Exhibition in Perth,Australia, Nov. 5-8. Most countries in theRegion are contributing to the sessions ofthis conference. The core committees inAustralia are working hard to organize one

of the most important geoscience events inthe world.

✓ One of the roles of the Asia Pacificcommittee is to represent the Region inAAPG forums. In February, RegionPresident Herman Darman attended theAAPG Leadership Conference inGalveston, where he attended a number ofrelated committee meetings. Also, twoeditors from the Region helped on theBULLETIN editorial board.

The Asia Pacific Region ExecutiveCommittee is still looking for newvolunteers, including younger members tobecome active participants – such ashelping on the Membership Committee topromote AAPG and recruit new members.

There is nothing complicated if we canwork together. ❏

MAY 2006

35

The final announcement for this year’sAAPG International Conference andExhibition in Perth has been completedand will be mailed to members and beavailable online in late May.

“Reunite Gondwana – Realize thePotential” is the theme for this year’smeeting, which will be held Nov. 5-8 atthe Perth Convention Exhibition Centre. It

will be the first AAPG internationalconference in Australia since the 1992session in Sydney.

Included in the announcement will beinformation about the entire technicalprogram, exhibitors, related meetingactivities and registration details (atiered-deadline structure will offermoney-saving potential).

Perth Program Will Be Available in May

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AAPG at the CrossroadsRegarding the March President’

Column (AAPG at the Crossroads, PartII): I want to compliment the president’seffort and foresight at trying to integrateproperly the international Regions into thescheme of things and give themadequate representation at the decision-

making level. It’s a good step in the rightdirection.

Just as the executive director (RickFritz) has said, this program truly hassomething for everyone. It is indeed agreat educational opportunity …However, we from the Regions hope thatAmerica will be flexible in the issuance ofvisas for such international programs, toenable us (to) attend and network withour counterparts in diaspora. I hope theAAPG executives note this.

Andrew Derrick Idenyi Lagos, Nigeria

I support this move to encourageincreased involvement of internationalexperts in the AAPG.

In the modern world of globalization,international joint ventures and stake

holdings, the need of a broader scope forAAPG is essential. Those who fear alosing of focus on the energy industry inAmerica should think about the globalscope for business and knowledgethrough this initiation.

I fully support this brave move.Manoj Vallikkat Thachaparambil

Doha, Qatar

Workstations and GeologyI applaud your article about Cindy

Yeilding and workstation use affecting thepractice of geology (FebruaryEXPLORER). When I started in the “oilpatch” as a petrophysicist, the geologistswith whom I worked all had draftingtables in their offices, for map makingand sliding logs (when they weren’t hungon the wall). With the advent of

computers, the drafting tables went awayand geologists began to squint at thesame data on small screens.

For several years now I haveenvisioned the return of drafting tables,but in the form of very large touchscreens, on which the geologists coulddo their work with a keyboard, mouse orstylus. As with the drafting table, the largescreen could be positioned at any angleand height.

Your article is correct about the lack ofessential interpretive tools in currentsoftware. As with petrophysical software,the vast majority of geological softwaredevelopment companies seem to focuson adding more and more increasinglyesoteric functionality, which is used byfewer and fewer people. This is doneeven when current users are frustrated byinefficient interfaces that limit theinterpretive process and discourage newusers from proficiency in a reasonablelength of time.

Perhaps it is time for software usersand purchasers to demand more of thevendors so that the necessary tasks thatwe perform will make our jobs easier andmore successful.

Daniel KrygowskiSpring, Texas

RecognitionIn the February EXPLORER Jean-

Marie Masset, chairman of last year’sAAPG International Conference andExhibition in Paris, the ConferenceChairman, praised the AAPGadministration and the organizingcommittee for the conference’s success,especially for the quality of the technicaland management programs. Technicalexcellence is, of course, the aim of theAAPG conferences.

AAPG President Peter Rose, in one ofhis EXPLORER columns, recognized theimportance of sponsorship – and,moreover, the logos of our 40+ generoussponsors were displayed on two fullpages of the December EXPLORER.

In fact, more than $400,000+ insponsorship was raised, whichcontributed for more than 25 percent ofthe conference budget. The othercontributions are the exhibition andregistration fees.

As the Paris sponsor chair, I know howdifficult it is to raise money. One of thethings I shared with AAPG and the Perth(conference) committee was theimportance of attending conferenceswhere direct contacts with people can bevery useful. I attended Dallas, Mexico(Cancun) and Calgary AAPGconferences; SEAPEX in Singapore; andAPPEX in London. I also attendedconferences organized by Global Pacific& Partners.

All executives and most geoscientistsknow of these very interestingconferences. They are more focused onNOC and IOC strategy than on technicalmatters, but they mostly combine a goodmix and an excellent opportunity fornetworking.

I was in Cape Town, Singapore,London, Rio de Janeiro, Dakar, TheHague – invited by GP&P, either as amoderator, a speaker or a participant. Myestimation is that, thanks to theirinvitations, I managed to raise about$50,000.

This is late recognition – but “betterlate than never.”

André CoajouBoulogne-Billancourt, France

Weeks: For the RecordI enjoyed very much the tribute to

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MAY 2006

36

Editor’s note: Letters to the editorshould include your name andaddress and should be mailed toReaders’ Forum, c/o AAPGEXPLORER, P.O. Box 979, Tulsa,Okla. 74101, or fax (918) 560-2636;or e-mail to [email protected]. Lettersmay be edited or held due to spacerestrictions.

continued on next page

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Lewis Weeks in the February EXPLORER.Lewis Weeks was a close friend of my latefather, L.T. Barrow, who was a closeassociate through the former Standard Oilof New Jersey.

There are, however, a couple of minorcorrections you might wish to make.

Esso Standard Oil Australia in 1964was only a downstream marketingcompany and had no personnel whocould have negotiated with BHP. The dealwas made in New York by theheadquarters staff of the Standard Oil Co.of New Jersey.

Subsequent to this, they formed a newcompany, Esso Exploration, whoseassignment was to explore in areas of theworld outside of the areas of responsibilityof then-producing affiliates. Australia fellin this category.

I was privileged to be namedexecutive vice president of this newcompany and was transferred from NewOrleans to New York. Since I was the onlyexecutive with any offshore explorationexperience, I had to make therecommendation as to which geophysicalprospect should be drilled first.

My initial recommendation metconsiderable opposition within thecompany’s upper management, becauseof the cost of building a platform for thatdepth of water. It would have to be built inCalifornia and towed across the PacificOcean to the south coast of Australia.

Fortunately, I was very familiar with theGlobal Marine Drilling Co. from myexperience in offshore southern Californiain the early 1950’s. By bringing across afloating vessel we were able to drill fasterand cheaper.

But some of Lewis Weeks’ visions havenot been so well recognized as his role inthe development of the Bass Strait.Several years prior to his retirement fromthe Standard Oil of New Jersey herecognized the potential of the British andDutch North Sea offshore. Following anagreement with Shell, it was decided toconduct geophysical surveys off thecoasts of both countries.

Recognizing the need for secrecy, hearranged that a special task force beassembled in Humble’s research facility inHouston. To hide its purpose, it wasalways dubbed “The Playboy Club,” andit took a special pass to gain admission.When I was named executive VP of EssoExploration, I received such a pass andbecame familiar with the data.

Shell and Esso disagreed strongly onsome of the prospects. However, when Isuggested that Shell allow Esso to take100 percent of the play and drill it with100 percent operating ownership, Shellquickly relented and joined Esso in drillingthe first major English gas field.

Lewis Weeks also made a significantcontribution to Esso Exploration

successes in pointing out the importanceof looking carefully at major rivers aroundthe world. As a result of this advice, EssoExploration recognized the possibility ofan offshore basin extending from thenorth end of the Gulf of Thailand to thenorth coast of Borneo.

A water well in Bangkok, Thailand, hadsedimentary rocks outcrop on Borneo.Many of these have strong deltaicfeatures.

I spent the fall of 1964 shuttling backand forth from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok.I was successful in obtaining a largeconcession off the east coast of Malaysia,where several significant large oil fieldshave been found – but the Thai acreagewas awarded to Union of California, whichalready had a small onshore concessionin the northeast portion of Thailand.

Lewis Weeks was a true visionary!Thomas D. Barrow

Houston

MAY 2006

37continued from previous page

Details & registration:www.cosseygeo.com

or email: [email protected] call +1 (970) 385 4800

2006 COURSES• Deepwater Reservoirs:An Integrated Course andField Seminar• October 9 - 13, 2006• Tabernas and Sorbas Basins,Spain• $2,400.00 per person• Includes tuition, groundtransport, guidebook, lunches

• Deepwater Clastics• August 2-4, 2006• Durango, Colorado• $1,100.00 per person• Includes course notes, CDand lunches

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MAY 2006

Several new education opportunitieshave been added to the AAPG calendar –for both the classroom and beautifuloutdoor settings – and now is the time toadd them to your schedule in the next fewmonths.

❐ First up is our new course on“Application of Structural Geology inProspecting in Thrusted and ExtendedTerrains,” taught by Charles Kluth andRonald Nelson.

The spectacular outcrops in andaround Jackson Hole, Wyo., provide thebackdrop for this exciting new course,being held July 31-Aug. 4. One full day willbe spent in the field to illustrate the variousstructure patterns discussed in class.

Full course details can be found atwww.aapg.org/education/shortcourse/details.cfm.

❐ Following the great success of ourWinter Education Conference, we’veadded a Fall Education Conference, withcourses centered around the theme of“Deepwater Exploration.” This five-dayconference will take place in Houston onSept. 11-15, and includes six courses tochoose from, including:

✓ Interpretation of 3-D Seismic Data.✓ Risk Analysis of Deep-Water

Exploration Prospects.✓ Deepwater Salt Tectonics.For the complete list of courses,

descriptions and registration details, go towww.aapg.org/education/fec.cfm.

❐ Another new field seminar alsoscheduled for September is on“Deepwater Siliciclastic Reservoirs.”

This seminar will be led by StephanGraham and Don Lowe, from StanfordUniversity, and is based on a trip originallyheld as an AAPG Hedberg FieldConference.

The dates for this trip are Sept. 17-22,and you can find out all the other specificson our Web site at www.aapg.org/education/fieldseminars/details.cfm.

❐ Several online courses remainavailable during the coming holidayseason. Details on the IOL modules andour other online courses can be found atwww.aapg.org/education/online/.

(And check out the list of all theSeptember courses and field seminarsavailable in our Education ad in this issue.)

❐ If some of your support staff need toknow a little more about geology beforediving into those fall projects with you, theycan take advantage of the Aug. 29-31offering in Houston of Norman Hyne’spopular course on “Basic PetroleumGeology for Non-Geologists,” co-sponsored by AAPG and the University ofTulsa’s Continuing Engineering andScience Education (CESE) Department.

Get more information at www.aapg.org/education/shortcourse/details.cfm.

So, enjoy the summer – but rememberthat AAPG has plenty of educationopportunities when you return! Call us at 1-888-338-3387 (toll-free, U.S. only) or 1-918-560-2650; or send an e-mail [email protected] if you have questionsabout these or any of our other educationofferings. ❏

38

(Editor’s note: The following is astatement regarding AAPG’s stance onthe ability to publish certain materialssubmitted for editorial consideration.)

AAPG is an international professionaland scientific organization, and many ofour members live internationally and workon some of the most interesting geologyspanning every continent.

AAPG also is a U.S. corporation, andas such must comply with U.S.regulations on all matters of businesssuch as tax, personnel law and evenpublications. This recently came to lightover several manuscripts that weresubmitted for the BULLETIN.

A number of U.S. laws have beenpassed and regulations issued since2004 that deal with this issue, and in factdo allow for the publication of scholarlyworks published by Iranians and on thesubject of Iran. AAPG has consulted withexperts in this area of the law as well asthe U.S. Treasury department whoadministers the process to gainguidance.

However, one of those regulations,

which was issued in December 2004,provides a caveat that “parties to thetransaction” cannot include thegovernment of Iran or any of its branches.

It is obviously up to AAPG and its legaladvisers to make the best interpretationsand decisions on this, and up to now wehave had to reject two publications – noton technical merit nor on politicalgrounds, but based on our interpretationof U.S. laws and regulations, and ourintention to comply with them.

As Iran is a major petroleum province– and an understanding of its geologyhas much to offer to the science ofpetroleum geology – we feel it importantto continue to pursue clarification of whatAAPG may and may not publish in thisregard. Additionally, U.S. laws andregulations also place restrictions on ourability to publish in connection with otherinternational regions.

As of this writing we are attempting tomeet with U.S. governmentrepresentatives in Washington, D.C., onthis very issue. As we gain additionalinformation we will pass it along. ❏

Laws Can Sometimes CreateHurdles for Editorial Material

Robert Harwood Alexander, 77Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 26, 2006

Louis George Arrington (EM ’51)Houston

Joseph M. Battle Jr., 53Sunset, La., March 2006

Thomas Wayne Campbell (EM ’54)New Orleans

George Corning Fraser III, 83Abilene, Texas, Feb. 8, 2006

Robert Reid Lamb (EM ’49)Plano, Texas

James Edwin Vause, 77The Woodlands, TexasFeb. 27, 2006

(Editor’s note: “In Memory” listings arebased on information received from theAAPG membership department. Age attime of death, when known, is listed.When the member’s date of death isunavailable, the person’s membershipclassification and anniversary date arelisted.)

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companies submitted most of thenominations, and a majority of the Coloradonominations were for testing in situtechnologies.

A team consisting of personnel from theDepartment of Energy, appropriateagencies of the three states and the BLMranked the 20 nominations by their merits.The results were forwarded for finalapproval by the Department of the Interior(DOI). The DOI will announce the results thisspring after completing a comprehensiveEnvironmental Impact Statement.

* * *

Relatively small oil shale industries areoperating in Europe, South America andAsia.

The largest is in Estonia, where high-grade marine oil shale (kukersite) ofOrdovician age has been mined for manyyears (figure 2, page 41). About 12 millionmetric tons of oil shale is mined yearly inseveral underground and open pit mines.About 85 percent is burned as fuel inseveral large electric power plants innortheastern Estonia and the remainder isretorted for shale oil, which is used in themanufacture of fuels and petrochemicals.

Although the Estonian oil shale industryhas been a major source of airborne andwater pollution in the past, burning the shalein new circulating bed combustors that arebeing installed in two electric power plantshas significantly reduced air pollutants.

In Brazil, oil shale in the marine PermianIratí Formation, mined by open pit near thetown of Sáo Mateus do Sul in the state ofParaná, is retorted for shale oil, liquefiedpetroleum gas, sulfur and fuel gas.

Shale oil is produced from Tertiary shaleof lacustrine origin at Fushun in the provinceof Liaoning, China. Until 2005, Australia wasproducing shale oil from the Stuart oil shale,a lacustrine deposit of Tertiary age, ineastern Queensland. The shale wasretorted in an Alberta Tacuik Processor, ahorizontal retort. Over a million barrels of lowsulfur shale oil have been produced andmarketed.

The operation is currently closed foreconomic evaluation.

Although these oil shale operationsrepresent only a small fraction of the worldfossil energy market, potential resources ofoil shale are huge. In 2003, an inventory ofthe world’s resources by the U.S. GeologicalSurvey (included 39 countries) wasestimated to be about 3.3 trillion in-placebarrels of shale oil, but the ultimate resourceis undoubtedly much larger.

An estimated l.7 trillion barrels are in theGreen River deposits in Colorado, Utah andWyoming, of which one trillion barrels are inColorado. How much of the Green Riverresource is recoverable using today’smining and retorting technologies has yet tobe determined, but likely it will exceedseveral hundred billion barrels.

Another potential resource of shale oil inthe United States is the Devonian-Mississippian marine black shales ofKentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Alabama andTennessee. The best of these shalescontains an estimated 189 billion barrels innear-surface beds amenable to open-pitmining.

* * *

The world is thus well endowed with oilshale resources. The question is: Can shaleoil be recovered economically to competewith petroleum?

Estimates of the lead-time to construct a

50,000 barrel-per-day oil shale plant are inthe range of 10 to 20 years. If worldpetroleum production peaks within thecoming decade, it would be advantageousfor the government and industry to movesoon on a plan of action. The Department ofEnergy and some major oil companies havetaken steps in planning for an oil shaleindustry, and the BLM has started leasingresearch and development sites in thewestern states.

Historically, energy sources have moved

from wood to coal to oil and gas. Possiblyshale oil will become the bridge betweenthe impending shortage of petroleum incoming years and a transition to hydrogenand renewable energy sources.

(Dyni and Johnson are both with the U.S.Geological Survey, Denver. All trade,product and firm names are used fordescriptive purposes only and does notimply U.S. government endorsement.) ❏

MAY 2006

39EMDfrom page 41

EMD AnnouncesElection Results

The Energy Minerals Division hasannounced election results for 2006-07officers.

New officers are: Douglas G.Patchen, West Virginia Geological andEconomic Survey, Morgantown, W.Va,president-elect; Jack C. Pashin,Geological Survey of Alabama,Tuscaloosa, Ala., vice president; andElizabeth B. “Betsy” Campen, CampenConsultants, Billings, Mont., secretary.

Councilors are: Charles M. Boyer II,Bridgeville, Pa. (Eastern); M. EdRatchford, Little Rock, Ark. (Mid-Continent); James G. Clough,Fairbanks, Alaska (Pacific); and LauraL. Wray, Denver (Rocky Mountain).

They join on the EMD ExecutiveCommittee William A. Ambrose, Bureauof Economic Geology, Austin, Texas,president; and Kerry David Newell,Kansas Geological Survey, Lawrence,Kan., treasurer.

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MAY 2006

40

POSITION AVAILABLE

Stratigrapher/Sedimentologist – StratigraphicResearch Section - Kansas Geological Survey-TheUniversity of Kansas, Lawrence. Full-time positionat faculty-equiv. rank of assistant or associatescientist, depending on qualifications, forstratigrapher/sedimentologist with research emphasisin industrial minerals. Requires Ph.D. in geology orgeoengineering, research/publications instratigraphy, sedimentology, and diagenesis ofsedimentary rocks, and scientific leadershippotential. Background in industrial minerals researchis desirable. Individual expected to develop researchprogram of national stature and relevance to Kansas.The Stratigraphic Research Section has sixprofessionals with additional support personnel.Focus is on fundamental and applied stratigraphicand sedimentologic research that has directapplication to industrial minerals, water, and energyissues. Sabbatical-eligible position. Completeannouncement and application instructions atwww.kgs.ku.edu/General/jobs.html.. Priority deadline:Aug. 15, 2006. For further information contact EvanFranseen at [email protected]. Application questionscan be addressed to [email protected] or 785-864-2152. KU is an EO/AA employer. Paid for by KU.

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Pennsylvania General Energy Company, L.L.C.(PGE), a highly successful Warren, PA based oil andnatural gas exploration and production company,seeks to hire a motivated and qualified petroleumgeologist to join existing staff.

Preferred candidate shall have a master’s degreein geology or a minimum of a bachelor’s degree ingeology plus five (5) years of petroleum geologyexperience.

PGE offers a competitive salary, excellentbenefits - including 401k plan - and an exceptionalwork environment.

Qualified candidates may apply by sending aresume or vita to:

Robert Kuntz, Executive Vice PresidentPennsylvania General Energy Co. L.L.C. 208 Liberty StreetWarren, PA 16365

PGE is an equal opportunity employer and bases allhiring decisions solely on candidate’s qualificationswithout regard to race, ethnic origin, religion, genderor age.

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Consulting Company seeking for:Seismic Data Interpreters15+ years experienceProspect Mapping in VenezuelaFor more information, Send Resume to:

e-mail: [email protected]: +58-414-129-1463

FOR SALE

ESTABLISHED BUSINESS FOR SALE

International Sample Library @ Midland – formerly Midland Sample Library. Established in1947. Have 164,000 wells with 1,183,000,000 wellsamples and cores stored in 17 buildings from 26states, Mexico, Canada and offshore Australia. Wealso have a geological supply inventory.

Phone: (817) 461-0408 Fax: (817) 453-1390

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Mudlogging units with easy to learn software.Very reliable, full featured, portable units. ContactAutomated Mudlogging Systems (303) 794-7470 www.mudlogger.com

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BOOKS. Rare and out-of-print books andperiodicals on geology and related sciences. Largestock on all phases of the oil industry, domestic andforeign covering geology, history, engineering,logging, geophysics, etc. Catalogs available. TheHannum Company. Box 1505-B, Ardmore, OK73402. [email protected]

BUSINESS SERVICE

FPC GeoLogic LabState-of-the-art-Thin Sections

Vacuum Impregnatio…………..Probe PolishCarbonate and Feldspar Staining….Standard & 2x3Blue/Fluorescent Dye……….. Fastest Rush Service

Foram…………………….. Nannos

Frank Cook-Owner/Operator972-681-4684 Lab972-896-1793 Cell

WANTED

Want to purchase minerals and other oil/gasinterests. Send details to: P.O. Box 13557, Denver,CO 80201.

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PROSPECTS WANTED

Wanted – oil and gas prospects. We pay geologistsplus ORR Will buy or lease prospects less than 7000feet. Prefer Rockies. Confidentiality assured.Bestoso Oil, 2823 N.E. 24th Place, Ft. Lauderdale,Florida 33305 or [email protected].

In the ongoing high price environmentthere are some major, loomingchallenges, an APPEX London gatheringof about 300 was told in March.

APPEX London, which ran over threedays in March, is operated by AAPG withendorsement from the Geological Societyof London, the Energy Institute and theInternational Association of Oil and GasProducers. It included an internationalprospect expo that drew 33 exhibitorsand information forums.

IHS coordinated the APPEX GlobalPerspectives Forum, with ABN-AMROsponsoring the Finance Forum.

Challenges cited by speakers include:✓ Heightened political uncertainties,

as free market politics give way to leftist“populist” governments with increasingstate control of resources.

✓ A more competitive landscape, asnational oil companies begin competingoutside the country boundaries and witheach other.

✓ E&P costs are rising at a double-

digit pace while the discovery size isshrinking.

All this while a manpower crisis islooming as companies look to replacehalf of its work force that will retire inseven-10 years from a populace which,according to an October 2005 Harris Poll,ranks the petroleum industry reputation atless than that of the tobacco industry.

Despite these obstacles, however,there are opportunities, including:

✓ Expanded capacity expansionplans.

✓ Growing investment.✓ More drilling in mature areas.✓ New technology.✓ New frontiers becoming available.The program also looked at the

opportunities in specific geographicareas. A Latvia official at the meeting toldUpstream magazine that a secondoffshore licensing round wasforthcoming. Upstream also included areport on a talk on reservoir evaluation byPresident Pete Rose. ❏

Challenges, OpportunitiesExplored at APPEX London

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By RICK FRITZSpring skiing in the Wasatch Mountains

of Utah is one of my favorite recreations. Iusually take my family each spring breakand join Tom Chidsey (convention chair forour 2003 annual meeting in Salt Lake City)and his family for a little R&R.

In past years, Tom and I would have tostop and wait for our kids to catch up. Nowif we stop to take a rest our kids fly past usand head for the bottom of the hill.

This year, late on the first day, a stormcame in and we had some roughconditions. My son, Ian, fell in front of me,and while I was watching him I fell prettyhard and it knocked the air out of me. It wasthe first time I had the experience of lookingup to see several concerned talking-headsasking me if I was “OK?!” (Most already hadtheir cell phones out.)

I couldn’t speak so all I could do wasgroan and wave. Tom skied down and toldeveryone not to worry – I think he said that Iwas from Oklahoma, and that explainedeverything.

* * *

The experience made me think aboutrisk and how we sometime find ourselvessuddenly in complicated conditions. AAPGis experiencing a set of complicatedbusiness conditions and we are constantlyevaluating the risk of operations.

When considering risk it is important tounderstand that the difference between theWinter Olympics and the Summer Olympicsis that one is “slippery.” In other words,usually you can be assured that an Olympicswimmer will come close to their best timeonce they hit the water; in the WinterOlympics, even the best Olympian can slip

and fall at the end.U.S. snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis

found that out the hard way in the recentwinter games when she had the gold medalassured, but decided to take the risk andadd one extra flip at the end of her run. Nowshe wears silver; not that there’s anythingwrong with that!

In the past century, surrounding basicbusiness conditions for our Associationwere sound and “not so slippery.” Now, dueto dynamic world events and litigious trendswe see major changes – especially in areasof insurance, safety, security, legality andworld politics. All of these are intertwinedand increasingly complicated.

For example, AAPG is one of the worldleaders in developing and promoting fieldtrips. In the past we had a blanketinsurance policy that covered all of our fieldtrips. No problem – we talked to ourinsurance agent once a year and that wasthat.

Now we are required to present eachfield trip to the underwriter for evaluationand coverage. The result is several newlayers of bureaucracy with requiredprocedures.

Safety is another important issue onwhich we spend an increasing amount oftime, especially for field trips. Thanks toExxonMobil, which donated their field safetymanual, we now have available to thegeoscience community a comprehensive

field trip safety guide, portions of whichultimately will be applied to our fieldseminars. AAPG has published the guide inhardbound, and we are distributing it to allAAPG Regions and Sections and making itavailable for all affiliated societies andstudent chapters.

Certainly, safety and attention toinsurance procedures are good forparticipants, but it does increase the cost ofdoing business. I assure you that we aredoing everything possible to make our fieldtrips safe and secure with not overlycomplicated legal procedures. AAPG isdedicated to being a leader in providinggood field trips worldwide.

* * *

Security is another area of increasingattention by AAPG staff and consultants. Allpossible scenarios must be considered forany major event. Since 9/11, security costshave doubled at most events.

Also, each year there are a multitude oflegal considerations. I am often asked whywe cannot take some action and, in manycases, it is because, as a U.S. 501(c)(6)non-profit corporation, we have strict U.S.laws and tax guidelines that we must follow.

Sarbanes-Oxley procedures will berequired for most U.S. non-profitcorporations in the near future, and wealready are preparing for that event – one

more layer of complexity.As we grow internationally there are a

multitude of new legal obligations. As wede-centralize and open offices around theworld there are tax implications and localrules and procedures that we mustunderstand and follow.

Finally, legal issues and world politicsoften clash. As a scientific society we oftensay that “geology has no borders.”Recently, however, we were restricted frompublishing articles from a U.S. sanctionedcountry, because much of the data in thearticle came from the national oil companyof that government (see page 38).

Why am I writing about thesecomplexities? I’m not complaining (well,maybe a little). As a member, I find it’salways good to let other members knowhow we spend some of their dues and“why” there is overhead. We also want toassure you that we are doing everythingpossible to take care of business.

* * *

When Tom and I stopped to catch ourbreath on the mountain, we laughed andsaid the good news is that we are the oldestguys on the mountain (at 250 pounds, I alsocan be one of the fastest guys down themountain).

The good news for AAPG in this newbusiness climate is that we are vibrant andstill have great opportunities for growth anddevelopment worldwide.

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MAY 2006

Legalities Can Bring Complications

Energy Minerals Division

Will Oil Shale Be a Major Player?By JOHN R. DYNI

and RONALD C. JOHNSONThe recent increases in petroleum

prices have spurred renewed interest inthe development of oil shale resourcesworldwide, including the vast deposits ofthe Green River Formation in Colorado,Utah and Wyoming.

Oil shale has been a difficult commodityto exploit economically. Since the early1900s, many attempts have been made towrest shale oil from the Green Riverdeposits, but with little success. The highercosts of mining oil shale, the lack of aviable technology to economically recoveroil from the shale and the cost ofenvironmentally acceptable disposal ofwaste rock have been limiting factors indeveloping an oil shale industry.

Shell Oil Co., for one, hopes to resolvethese constraints with its in situ retortingtechnology being field tested in thePiceance Creek Basin in northwesternColorado. This process involves placing anelectrical heating element in a heater hole,which is surrounded by a number ofclosely spaced production wells (figure 1).

The shale must then be heated forseveral years to reach a temperature atwhich the organic matter decomposes intohydrocarbons for recovery by theproduction wells.

One major advantage of this method isthat the inert mineral fraction, whichamounts to 75-85 percent by weight of theraw oil shale, remains in place. The in situprocess may not require mine workings orlarge surface plant facilities to crush and

retort the shale, and it avoids the necessityof removing overburden and waste shaleto dumps with its consequentenvironmental problems.

However, factors that need to bedetermined prior to in situ commercialproduction are:

✓ The cost of the energy required toheat the oil shale.

✓ The amount of surface area that willbe disturbed.

✓ The disposal of produced water.✓ The potential for groundwater

pollution.In addition, protection or recovery of

potentially valuable sodium carbonateminerals commingled with oil shale –including nahcolite (NaHCO3) anddawsonite [NaAlCO3(OH)2] – in thedeeper part of the Piceance Creek Basinmust be considered.

* * *

The U.S. government has tasked theBureau of Land Management (BLM) withaugmenting a research and developmentprogram for the Green River oil shaledeposits on federal lands in Colorado,Utah and Wyoming.

Twenty nominations for 160-acre RD&D(Research, Development andDemonstration) tracts on federal oil shalelands were initially received by the BLM in2005. Ten were in Colorado, nine in Utahand one in Wyoming. Major energy

See EMD, page 39

Photo taken in 2005 courtesy of Heikki Bauert, Tallinn, Estonia

Figure 2 – Panoramic view of a room-and-pillar oil shale mine in northeastern Estonia.The thickness of the mined oil shale (kukersite) is about 2.5 meters. Oil shale is alsomined by open pit at several nearby localities.

Photo courtesy of Shell Oil

Figure 1 – Array of heater wells and producer wells with pumping jacks at the Shell OilMahogany Project site in the Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado.

As a U.S. 501(c)(6) non-profitcorporation, we have strict U.S. laws andtax guidelines that we must follow.

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Q-Marine

Taking exploration to another level

The unique features of Q-Marine enable over/under acquisition, with sets of cables towed directly one above the other.

Utilizing Q-Marine in over/under mode now allows imaging of complexsubsalt structures. The over/under configuration has many benefits, including:

Excellent high and low frequency data for accurate imaging and inversion

Improved multiple attenuation through decomposed wavefields

Perturbation correction for minimizing noise behind the signal and retaining high frequencies

Streamer depths can be chosen for quiet noise regimes and minimal currents, without compromising on bandwidth.

For more information visit www.westerngeco.com/over-under

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