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- Volume 28, Issue 1, 2010
First Break - Volume 28, Issue 1, 2010
Volume 28, Issue 1, 2010
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News Feature: Tracking the impact of recession on oil industry supermajors and timing of sustained recovery
More LessRuud Weijermars assesses the impact of the 2008/2009 recession on the oil business by time-series tracking of carefully selected key performance indicators (KPIs) of the six supermajorsprior to - and over - the recession period. What emerges is that business recovery has begun since May 2009 for nearly all supermajors. However, the oil industry’s exceptionally high returns on capital employed of well over 20% seen immediately prior to the recession seem unlikely to recur and are argued to be non-sustainable.
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CO2 plume imaging using 3D pre-stack stratigraphic inversion: A case study on the Sleipner field
Authors V. Clochard, N. Delépine, K. Labat and P. RicarteOne possible solution to reduce global warming is to capture the carbon dioxide (CO2) associated with fossil fuels emissions and store it into geological formations for several thousand years as is the case for oil and gas fields and natural CO2 reservoirs. This carbon capture and storage (CSS) concept has been actively investigated by several research consortia during the last decade and is currently gaining momentum with the development of new test sites around the world.
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How injection well regulation is planned for CO2 sequestration in the US
By D. JacksonProposals for new US federal requirements for CO2 geologic sequestration injection wells are currently under discussion. Dan Jackson explains the details and the implications.
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A pragmatic look at carbon capture and storage: from global issues to the technical details
Authors L.S. Melzer and T.L. DavisL. Stephen Melzer and Thomas L. Davis outline the human dilemma facing society over global warming and take an optimistic view of the contribution that CO2 sequestration can make to resolve some of the issues arising.
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Exploration process optimization: a vision for the integrated exploration workflow
By M. SterneskyMicrosoft has formulated a systematic approach to streamlining the process involved in every stage of exploration with reduced costs and optimal use of human resources in mind. Upstream market development manager Mike Sternesky describes the thinking behind the vision.
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Thematic Set: Scaling in stratigraphic data series: implications for practical stratigraphy
Authors R.J. Bailey and D.G. SmithSedimentary layers are planiform, lenticular, generally composite, three-dimensional bodies, distinguished by their lithologies. They are mostly defined and logged in terms of their thickness. This parameter relates non-linearly to time, since it is the outcome of both deposition (at various instantaneous rates) and erosion, which jointly influence the net rate of accumulation. The Layer Thickness Inventory method investigates the distribution of thicknesses in borehole sections over a wide range of scale. The thickness distributions obey power laws, suggesting that, regardless of age and sedimentary facies, stratigraphic layering is geometrically fractal. There is also a relationship between rate of accumulation and the time span over which it is estimated, which expresses the fractal scale and distribution of hiatuses in the record. Such spatial and temporal relationships suggest that conventional hierarchical and cyclical stratigraphic patterns are properties subjectively imposed on the record. The spatially and temporally fractal aspects of the stratigraphic record also suggest that it is the output of a global system that operates in a condition of self-organized criticality. This has important implications for stratigraphic prediction and forward modelling, and reservoir modelling. It also underlines the need for a reassessment of hierarchical stratigraphies, including sequence stratigraphies and cyclostratigraphies.
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Thematic Set: Sequence stratigraphy: common ground after three decades of development
Authors O. Catuneanu, J.P. Bhattacharya, M.D. Blum, R.W. Dalrymple, P.G. Eriksson, C.R. Fielding, W.L. Fisher, W.E. Galloway, P. Gianolla, M.R. Gibling, K.A. Giles, J.M. Holbrook, R. Jordan, C.G.St.C. Kendall, B. Macurda, O.J. Martinsen, A.D. Miall, D. Nummedal, H.W. Posamentier, B.R. Pratt, K.W. Shanley, R.J. Steel, A. Strasser and M.E. TuckerSequence stratigraphy emphasizes changes in stratal stacking patterns in response to varying accommodation and sediment supply through time. Certain surfaces are designated as sequence or systems tract boundaries to facilitate the construction of realistic and meaningful palaeogeographic interpretations, which, in turn, allows for the prediction of facies and lithologies away from control points. Precisely which surfaces are selected as sequence boundaries varies from one sequence stratigraphic approach to another. In practice, the selection is often a function of which surfaces are best expressed, and mapped, within the context of each case study. This high degree of variability in the expression of sequence stratigraphic units and bounding surfaces requires the adoption of a methodology that is sufficiently flexible to accommodate the wide range of possible scenarios in the rock record. We advocate a model-independent methodology that requires the identification of all sequence stratigraphic units and bounding surfaces, which can be delineated on the basis of facies relationships and stratal stacking patterns using the available data. Construction of this framework ensures the success of the method in terms of its objectives to provide a process-based understanding of the stratigraphic architecture and predict the distribution of reservoir, source-rock, and seal facies.
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Thematic Set: Recent advances in stratigraphy – a commentary
More LessMy 1996 paper concluded in part that ‘the next century will bring more quantitative data, more remote 3D data, greater data processing power, and relatively fewer field geologists. Meeting the future challenges within the fields of exploration and production will need better quantitative stratigraphic tools, a better understanding of stratigraphic processes and rates, both more numerate-geologists and more-numerate geologists, and a better understanding of uncertainty in geological processes. Looking a century ahead, a wish list might include: quantification of stratigraphic uncertainty, predictive models for climate change, predictive models for magnetic reversals, 3D forward models capable of operating at multiple resolutions, 3D inverse models capable of automatically deriving basin history from seismic volumes, and as a result of all these tools, a series of global quantitative palaeoecology maps at 100 kyr/10 km resolution for the Tertiary’.
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Thematic Set: Integrating magnetostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, cyclostratigraphy and seismic data to obtain a high resolution stratigraphic record: a case study from the Vienna Basin
Authors W.E. Paulissen and S.M. LuthiWe have developed an integrated methodology to obtain a high resolution stratigraphic record that assists in evaluating the relative contributions of tectonics, eustacy, and other factors to sedimentary basin infills. The approach combines magnetostratigraphic and biostratigraphic analyses of well data to form a basic chronostratigraphic framework. Seismic data are included to refine the time lines by taking into account unconformities and faults that cause time gaps. These are subsequently corroborated by detailed analysis of electrical borehole images. The latter, having a vertical resolution of about 1 cm, are used to perform a spectral frequency analysis in order to identify cyclicities in the sedimentary record. Using the chronostratigraphic framework, the cyclostratigraphic analysis is well constrained and can provide a temporal resolution that lies significantly higher than the Milankovitch cycles. This methodology is demonstrated with a dataset from a borehole in the Central Paratethyan Vienna Basin. Focusing on the Upper Sarmatian, the approach described above resulted in accurate chronostratigraphic age dating, the identification and location of time gaps caused by unconformities and faults, and an accurate sedimentation rate for this stage. The cyclostratigraphic results indicate that a strong allocyclic orbital forcing was superposed on the overall tectonic evolution of the basin.
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Volumes & issues
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Volume 42 (2024)
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Volume 41 (2023)
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Volume 40 (2022)
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Volume 39 (2021)
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Volume 38 (2020)
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Volume 37 (2019)
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Volume 36 (2018)
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Volume 35 (2017)
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Volume 34 (2016)
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Volume 33 (2015)
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Volume 32 (2014)
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Volume 31 (2013)
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Volume 30 (2012)
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Volume 29 (2011)
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Volume 28 (2010)
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Volume 27 (2009)
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Volume 26 (2008)
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Volume 25 (2007)
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Volume 24 (2006)
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Volume 23 (2005)
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Volume 22 (2004)
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Volume 21 (2003)
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Volume 20 (2002)
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Volume 19 (2001)
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Volume 18 (2000)
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Volume 17 (1999)
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Volume 16 (1998)
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Volume 15 (1997)
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Volume 14 (1996)
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Volume 13 (1995)
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Volume 12 (1994)
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Volume 11 (1993)
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Volume 10 (1992)
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Volume 9 (1991)
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Volume 8 (1990)
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Volume 7 (1989)
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Volume 6 (1988)
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Volume 5 (1987)
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Volume 4 (1986)
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Volume 3 (1985)
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Volume 2 (1984)
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Volume 1 (1983)