The History of Petroleum Geology Committee will again hold its annual forum in a special session where we are commemorating the centennial of the AAPG with a series of high quality papers that run the gamut from the scientific foundations of petroleum geology before the founding of the AAPG, through the development of technologies and discoveries in our first century, with biographical sketches of key founding members, and the status and future of key scientific disciplines.

First in our planned agenda, Ray Sorenson will set the stage by outlining the exploration potential of North America in the middle of the century leading up to the founding of the AAPG. Then Jim McDonald will discuss the practical tools and beginnings of professional practice as the AAPG was formed. Next Bob Merrill will highlight the discovery of giant fields through the AAPG century.

Continuing, Dana Jurick will showcase the amazing professional career of AAPG co-founder Wallace Pratt, and Rasoul Sorkhabi will discuss Lewis G. Weeks and the “Oil Habitat” paradigm in petroleum geology. Also on a biographical note, Robbie Gries will honor three early AAPG women pioneers and how they contributed breakthroughs in the early 1920’s.

Returning to a focus on science and technology, Steve Tedesco will discuss the role of seeps in exploration since the start of the petroleum age, and finally Malcolm Ross will present his views on plate tectonics and paleoclimate modeling in exploration in the past, present, and into the future. It should be a great session, with time for questions and discussion!

Two “Discovery Thinking” Forums will be the seventeenth and eighteenth presentations of the AAPG 100th Anniversary Committee’s program recognizing “100 Who Made a Difference.” These Forums, co-sponsored by AAPG’s Division of Professional Affairs (DPA), will feature invited speakers who will describe major and significant discoveries.

A special tribute “Lessons in Exploration Creativity from a Decade of Discovery Thinking Forums” will start the morning program. Scattered throughout the morning and afternoon Forums, we will feature a few brief look back vignettes of representative landmark discoveries featured in Discovery Thinking Forums over the past decade. As a tribute to the accomplishments of more than 100 extraordinary men and women who have participated in these Forums, we will celebrate their successes and recall key lessons relevant to explorers today and in the future.

Each speaker and their colleagues overcame significant business, technical, and professional challenges. Topics to be discussed will include philosophy of exploration, stories from remarkable careers, professional insights, colorful anecdotes, and lessons learned on the path to success. As technology advances and young geoscientists enter our profession, the organizers see continued interest in forums such as these. These forums provide a venue for explorers to discuss the personal side of success and what has been called the “art of exploration.” As always, the audience is fortunate to hear the speakers share abundant technical data and insights derived from costly and hard won experience.

AAPG offers many technical sessions. “Discovery Thinking” forums fill an important gap in how technical and professional skills combine to turn prospects into discoveries. Speakers are encouraged to share personal stories about discoveries they know well, to bring forward appropriate technical data, and to address questions from the audience. As a resource to fellow explorers, many previous Discovery Thinking presentations can be found on the AAPG Search and Discovery website, under the Special Collection tab. http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/specialcollections/discoverythinking.html

This year, AAPG is pleased to present two Discovery Thinking Forums. The morning forum will celebrate New Discoveries in the Western Hemisphere and Gulf of Mexico. The afternoon forum will feature Significant Global Discoveries (outside of the Western Hemisphere). As a headquarters of many global exploration companies, Houston is a great venue to celebrate significant game changing discoveries in the western hemisphere and around the world.

Discovery Thinking Forum, Houston ACE April 3, 2017 (#17)
Chairs: Charles Sternbach and Paul Weimer

New Discoveries in the Western Hemisphere and Gulf of Mexico

• “Lessons in Exploration Creativity from a Decade of Discovery Thinking Forums”, Charles Sternbach, President-elect AAPG
• “Discovery of a Bolivian Foothills Giant Gas Field: Incahuasi”, Philippe Mallard, Total, SA.
• “Redtail Field, A Thermal Anomaly on the Eastern Extension of the Colorado Mineral Belt, Denver Basin, Colorado, John Forster, Exploration Advisor, Whiting (and Mark Sonnenfeld, Mark Williams)
• “Discovery of the Utica Shale—Update on an evolving giant”, Bill Zagorski, Chief Geologist, and Taylor McClain, Senior Geologist, Range Resources
• “A Fresh Look to Exploration and Discoveries in Mississippi Canyon, Northern Gulf of Mexico”, Eric Zimmermann, Vice President – Geology, LLOG

Discovery Thinking Forum, Houston ACE April (#18)
Chairs: Charles Sternbach and Paul Weimer

Significant Global Discoveries

• “The Future of Exploration- The Next Decade” Bob Fryklund IHS, Chief Strategist- Upstream and Pete Stark
• “The Petroleum System of the Mauritania- Senegal Basin”, Dorie McGuinness, Exploration VP- Geology, Kosmos
• “Opening New Oil Basins: A Pattern of Discoveries”, Angus McCoss, Exploration Director, Tullow
• “The Greater Gorgon Area, Northwest Australia: Exploration to Production” Mike McLerie, Geophysical Advisor, Chevron Eurasia Business Unit

The Preservation of Geoscience Data Committee (PGDC) was formed to facilitate discussion about preserving geoscience data accumulated through oil and gas exploration and production. Companies spend millions of dollars commissioning, purchasing and accumulating data during the exploration and production cycle, but for various reasons then commonly have trouble spending a small fraction of that cost preserving and maintaining this data. In difficult times companies seeking to reduce costs will look to their data repositories where the cores, cuttings, paper, film and digital archives are stored and try to reduce costs. Paper and film can be scanned, digital data re-mastered onto higher capacity storage media, but there is little that can be done to reduce the space required for cores, cuttings and other physical samples. Gifts of these collections to universities, geological surveys and societies, and federal repositories, merely shift the burden of storage and management to organisations already under intense financial pressure and limited space.

To highlight the benefits and challenges of storing and maintaining data and to help celebrate AAPG’s 100th Anniversary, the PGDC has organised a display at this year’s AAPG ACE Convention to demonstrate a range of core material and data/media taken from the last 100 years of oil and gas exploration.

Cores

The PGDC core display organised by committee member Beverly Blakeney DeJarnett, has been arranged specifically to demonstrate cores representing the many and varied reservoir types (including continental and marine sandstones, carbonates, tar sands, and oil “shales”) represent some of the major oil and gas discoveries over the last 70 years. Such a historically impressive and educational array of samples would not be possible without the dedication and commitment of organisations that preserve and maintain these collections for posterity. Only by being able to study and learn from these analogues from the past can we hope to understand and predict where the reservoirs of the future will be.

Data/Media

Over the last 100 years the way in which data has been collected, displayed and stored has changed dramatically. Early hand-written lithology logs and strip logs have given way to an ever-increasing variety of tools and techniques for measuring and visualising the rocks in the subsurface. Analog methods of recording wireline, seismic and other remote sensing tools gave way to digital and the resulting explosion in data volumes. This, in turn, has led to a demand for greater storage capacity media as more sophisticated techniques led to MBs, GBs, TBs and even PBs of data being generated for a single seismic survey. Today we are familiar with memory sticks holding GBs of data but only 30 years ago the launch of the CD-ROM holding a mere 650Mbs astonished the world where floppy disks and cumbersome magnetic tapes and cartridges were all there were. The bewildering array of innovative solutions resulted in an entire industry bent of transferring data from one media to another to reduce space but also to keep abreast of changing technology. Who amongst us still has a 9-track tape drive which was once as common in the workplace as a DVD drive is today.

The display the PGDC presents demonstrates to a new and unfamiliar generation how things used to be and what limitations geoscientists faced

Resource Exploration on Mars—Applying the Lessons from Earth

The Michel T. Halbouty lecture series — funded by the AAPG Foundation — is an ongoing special event at the AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition. Lecture topics are designed to focus either on wildcat exploration in any part of the world where major discoveries might contribute significantly to petroleum reserves, or space exploration where astrogeological knowledge would further mankind’s ability to develop resources on Earth and in the Solar System.

As we look ahead to the adventure of sending humans to Mars, we are faced with the question of how to sustain them. A key aspect of this is the exploration for, and definition of, strategic in situ resources, and developing the systems that would be required to take advantage of them. Critical lessons learned in the petroleum and mining industries here on Earth will need to be brought to bear.

David Beaty has been the Chief Scientist of the Mars Exploration Directorate at JPL in Pasadena, California for the past decade. His professional background is in geology, with a B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1975 and a PhD from Caltech in 1980. He spent the first half of his career in the resource industry here on our home planet, Earth. After leaving Caltech, he joined Noranda Exploration in the minerals industry and worked as an exploration geologist in the Rocky Mountain area, primarily searching for base and precious metals. In 1988, he joined Chevron at their research lab in La Habra, California, where he worked in support of diverse exploration and production projects throughout the world, including in the Permian Basin, the San Joaquin Valley, the Beaufort Sea, the North Sea and others. During his time at Chevron, Dave advanced into management, at different times leading both the geology and physical/chemical measurements divisions and overseeing a variety of exploration- and productionrelated research applications.

In 1999 Dave joined the NASA family at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. His role began with an assignment as project manager on a portion of the Mars Sample Return mission, but then to the Mars Program Office, first as Associate Chief Scientist, then as Chief Scientist. His responsibilities include oversight of the scientific productivity of JPL’s existing missions to Mars and also strategic planning for potential future Mars missions that are over the horizon. Most importantly, the latter includes the completion of the missions associated with Mars Sample Return, the design of the precursor missions needed to support the potential human exploration of Mars and planning for the scientific objectives and strategies for the future human explorers.

This forum, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of the founding of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, addresses the future challenges of the oil and gas industry to supply the world’s increasing energy needs without compromising global environmental concerns with continued use of fossil fuels. A diverse panel of distinguished speakers will engage in a sobering discussion of the global challenges in transitioning to low carbon energy future.

Speakers Include:

Steven E. Koonin, Professor of Information and Director, NYU Center for Urban Science and Progress, New York University, New York, NY
• Topic: Global Population, Energy Demand, and Future Technology

Cindy Yeilding, Senior Vice President, BP America, Houston, TX
• Topic: Global Petroleum Resources and Transportation Fuel Options

Mark A. Snell, President of Sempra Energy, San Diego, CA
• Topic: The Global Power Fuel Mix and the Carbon Transition

Jesse H. Ausubel, Director of the Program for the Human Environment and Senior Research Associate, Rockefeller University, New York, NY
• Topic: Atmosphere, Air, Land, Water, and Energy Density

Kenneth B. Medlock III, Senior Director, Center for Energy Studies, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX
• Topic: Energy Diversity, Carbon Tax, and Economic Realities

Scott W. Tinker, Director, Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
• Topic: Global Energy Security and Poverty

Moderated Panel discussion Follows talks