First Break May 2022 - Global Exploration Hotspots

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SPECIAL TOPIC

Global Exploration Hotspots EAGE NEWS Highlights to expect from Madrid Annual TECHNICAL ARTICLE Carbon capture and storage in Ireland INDUSTRY NEWS Global energy spending to hit $2 trillion

OUR PLANET. FROM A NEW PERSPECTIVE.

cgg.com/geoverse SEE THINGS DIFFERENTLY

FIRST BREAK® An EAGE Publication

CHAIR EDITORIAL BOARD Gwenola Michaud (Gwenola.Michaud@cognite.com) EDITOR Damian Arnold (editorfb@eage.org) MEMBERS, EDITORIAL BOARD • Paul Binns, consultant (pebinns@btinternet.com) • Lodve Berre, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (lodve.berre@ntnu.no) • Satinder Chopra, SamiGeo (satinder.chopra@samigeo.com) • Anthony Day, PGS (anthony.day@pgs.com) • Peter Dromgoole, Retired Geophysicist (peterdromgoole@gmail.com) • Rutger Gras, Consultant (r.gras@gridadvice.nl) • Hamidreza Hamdi, University of Calgary (hhamdi@ucalgary.ca) • John Reynolds, Reynolds International (jmr@reynolds-international.co.uk) • James Rickett, Schlumberger (jrickett@slb.com) • Peter Rowbotham, Apache (Peter.Rowbotham@apachecorp.com) • Dave Stewart, Dave Stewart Geoconsulting Ltd (djstewart.dave@gmail.com) • Femke Vossepoel, Delft University of Technology (f.c.vossepoel@tudelft.nl) • Angelika-Maria Wulff, Consultant (gp.awulff@gmail.com) EAGE EDITOR EMERITUS Andrew McBarnet (andrew@andrewmcbarnet.com)

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Exploration recovery in 2022: more drilling, bigger targets and more frontier areas

Editorial Contents 3

EAGE News

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Personal Record Interview

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Monthly Update

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Crosstalk

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Industry News

Technical Articles

MEDIA PRODUCTION Saskia Nota (firstbreakproduction@eage.org) PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Ivana Geurts (firstbreakproduction@eage.org) ADVERTISING INQUIRIES corporaterelations@eage.org EAGE EUROPE OFFICE PO Box 59 3990 DB Houten The Netherlands • +31 88 995 5055 • eage@eage.org • www.eage.org EAGE RUSSIA & CIS OFFICE EAGE Russia & CIS Office EAGE Geomodel LLC 19 Leninsky Prospekt 119071, Moscow, Russia • +7 495 640 2008 • moscow@eage.org • www.eage.ru EAGE MIDDLE EAST OFFICE EAGE Middle East FZ-LLC Dubai Knowledge Village Block 13 Office F-25 PO Box 501711 Dubai, United Arab Emirates • +971 4 369 3897 • middle_east@eage.org • www.eage.org EAGE ASIA PACIFIC OFFICE UOA Centre Office Suite 19-15-3A No. 19, Jalan Pinang 50450 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia • +60 3 272 201 40 • asiapacific@eage.org • www.eage.org EAGE AMERICAS SAS Calle 93 # 18-28 Oficina 704 Bogota, Colombia • +57 1 4232948 • americas@eage.org • www.eage.org

35 Carbon capture and storage potential in Ireland — returning carbon whence it came Joseph M. English and Kara L. English 45

The right maturity model for the Norwegian North Sea Karthik Iyer, Ebbe H. Hartz and Daniel W. Schmid

Special Topic: Global Exploration Hotspots 51

Probing the frontier in Namibia William A. Heins

59 Marulk Basin, just north of Statfjord? Is it really dry?

Carl Fredrik Gyllenhammar, Irfan Baig, Ann Iren Eide, Peter Keller, Manzar Fawad, and Jon Sandvik 67

Fantastic basins and where to find them Neil Hodgson and Karyna Rodriguez

73 Exploration recovery in 2022: more drilling, bigger targets and more frontier areas Frankie Hulbert 77 Assessing the hydrocarbon exploration potential of the South China Sea Caroline Wood and Ashley Uren 83 A global exploration cycle to unlock hotspots needed to achieve an affordable and realistic energy transition Mike Lakin 91 Hydrocarbon play concepts in the Orange Basin in light of the Venus and Graff oil discoveries Richard Hedley, Anongporn Intawong, Felicia Winter and Victoria Sibeya

Feature: WhatsUp! 97 From Roman road to path dependency – which legacy should we prepare?

Gwenola Michaud 98

Calendar

EAGE MEMBERS CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTIFICATION Send to: EAGE Membership Dept at EAGE Office (address above) FIRST BREAK ON THE WEB www.firstbreak.org

cover: A view of the South China Sea. Our global exploration hotspots section assesses the hydrocarbon potential of the area.

ISSN 0263-5046 (print) / ISSN 1365-2397 (online) FIRST

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European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers

Board 2021-2022

Dirk Orlowsky President

Jean-Marc Rodriguez Vi c e-President

Pascal Breton Secretary-Treasurer

Near Surface Geoscience Division Alireza Malehmir Chair Esther Bloem Vice-Chair George Apostolopoulos Immediate Past Chair Micki Allen Contact Officer EEGS/North America Hongzhu Cai Liaison China Albert Casas Membership Officer Eric Cauquil Liaison Shallow Marine Geophysics Deyan Draganov Technical Programme Officer Hamdan Ali Hamdan Liaison Middle East Vladimir Ignatev Liaison Russia / CIS Andreas Kathage Liaison Officer First Break Musa Manzi Liaison Africa Myrto Papadopoulou Young Professional Liaison Koya Suto Liaison Asia Pacific Catherine Truffert Industry Liaison Panagiotis Tsourlos Editor-in-Chief Near Surface Geophysics Florina Tuluca Committee Member

Oil & Gas Geoscience Division

Caroline Le Turdu Membership and Cooperation Officer

Peter Rowbotham Publications Officer

Colin MacBeth Education Officer

Lucy Slater Chair Yohaney Gomez Galarza Vice-Chair Michael Peter Suess Immediate Past Chair; TPC Erica Angerer Member Wiebke Athmer Member Juliane Heiland TPC Tijmen Jan Moser Editor-in-Chief Geophysical Prospecting Francesco Perrone Member Matteo Ravasi YP Liaison Jonathan Redfern Editor-in-Chief Petroleum Geoscience Giovanni Sosio DET SIC Liaison Aart-Jan van Wijngaarden Technical Programme Officer

SUBSCRIPTIONS First Break is published monthly. It is free to EAGE members. The membership fee of EAGE is € 80.00 a year (including First Break, EarthDoc (EAGE’s geoscience database), Learning Geoscience (EAGE’s Education website) and online access to a scientific journal.

Companies can subscribe to First Break via an institutional subscription.

Every subscription includes a monthly hard copy and online access to the full First Break archive for the requested number of online users.

Aart-Jan van Wijngaarden Technical Programme Officer

Alireza Malehmir Chair Near Surface Geoscience Division

Lucy Slater Chair Oil & Gas Geoscience Division

Orders for current subscriptions and back issues should be sent to EAGE Publications BV, Journal Subscriptions, PO Box 59, 3990 DB, Houten, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 (0)88 9955055, E-mail: subscriptions@eage.org, www.firstbreak.org.

First Break is published by EAGE Publications BV, The Netherlands.

However, responsibility for the opinions given and the statements made rests with the authors.

COPYRIGHT & PHOTOCOPYING © 2022 EAGE All rights reserved. First Break or any part thereof may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transcribed in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopying and recording, ­without the prior written permission of the publisher.

PAPER The publisher’s policy is to use acid-free permanent paper (TCF), to the draft standard ISO/DIS/9706, made from sustainable ­forests using chlorine-free pulp (Nordic-Swan standard).

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HIGHLIGHTS

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Community spirit in Madrid

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Check out the AGMM

South African students action-packed programme

Highlights you can expect in Madrid We will soon be welcoming geoscientists and engineers from across the globe to the 83rd edition of our Annual Conference & Exhibition at IFEMA in Madrid, Spain, between 6-9 June 2022. Theme for this year’s event is ‘Leading Geosciences into a New Era’, and here are some meeting highlights you can expect.

Opening Session The 83rd EAGE Annual Conference and Exhibition begins on 6 June with our Opening Session between 17:00 and 19:00 CEST, featuring the opening address by our president Dirk Orlowsky who will set the agenda for the week, laying out EAGE’s vision and goals for the coming year.

A new feature this year will be a 20 minute live ‘fireside chat’ between Josu Jon Imaz, CEO of Repsol, and Andrew McBarnet, EAGE Emeritus Editor. In 2019

Forum sessions will continue to facilitate the conversation on the future for the geoscience and engineering community.

Repsol announced an ambitious strategic plan to accelerate its energy transition, becoming the first major to commit to a net zero emissions business by 2050.

During this one on one interview, Imaz will discuss how ambition, technology and people will shape the future of energy and why he believes energy transition presents an enormous opportunity.

Later in the session the Repsol CEO will join a panel debate with leading industry figures on ‘How energy transition will unfold: the big picture’.

During the Opening Session we will also celebrate the accomplishments of our members through the EAGE Awards.

In 2022, for the first time, the Arie van Weelden Award – EAGE’s recognition for young professionals – will be presented to two recipients. The EAGE Board approved an update of the regulation suggested by the Awards Committee earlier this year. It specifically takes into account the time constraint for nominating a young professional, the significance of the recognition on a person’s career and the widening scope of topics in which EAGE multi-disciplinary geoscientists are FIRST

involved. The Awards Ceremony is where you can discover and applaud all the winners.

Over the past two years, EAGE Local Chapters have been playing a key role in keeping the community connected, locally and globally. During the Opening Session we will also take a moment to celebrate some of the most impressive contributions by announcing the winners of the Best LC Prizes of 2022. If you are a member of a Local Chapter, you will want to be there.

In addition, the 2022 Laurie Dake Challenge will have come to an end in a final contested the day before the Annual begins. Which team will write their names in this year’s Hall of Fame? All will be revealed at the Opening Session, so a lot to look forward to.

Technical Programme The Technical Programme of the EAGE Annual 2022 and SPE EuropEC combines a diversity of topics with a high-quality and rigour unique to EAGE programmes.

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EAGE NEWS

the complex and wide fields of geoscience and engineering. The disciplines represented at the conference range from Geophysics, Geology, Reservoir Engineering, and Integrated Subsurface to Mining and Civil Engineering, Data and Computer Science, and HSE and Sustainability. The full list of topics as well as the full programme of the sessions and presentations can be found online at eageannual2022.org.

Forum sessions Continuing the series initiated last year there will be a plenary EAGE Forum every day of the event in which some of the most pressing issues affecting the wider geoscience and engineering field will be discussed. You can look forward to sessions on ‘Adapting O&G exploration to the new energy era’, ‘Subsurface low carbon solutions’, and ‘Why minerals matter for the geoscience community’.

Exhibition Visiting the Exhibition is a must to meet the people behind the many geoscience and related products, services and innovations available today. More than 150 companies will showcase their latest developments at this year’s Exhibition. At the Digital Transformation Area EAGE provides a look to the future with new ideas and new ways of working smarter, faster and more efficiently. Meanwhile the Energy Transition Area will offer visitors an insight into how companies and research organisations are mapping the pathway to net-zero emissions.

For those considering attendance you can register for a full week, or per day.

EAGE and our exhibitors are looking forward to your visit. You can find more

information and the full list of exhibitors on eageannual2022.org.

Workshops, field trips, Short Course As usual, the Conference & Exhibition is accompanied by a large side programme.

This year 12 workshops covering the spectrum of EAGE’s multi-disciplinary community will complement the Technical Programme. Adding a workshop to your conference agenda might just be the icing on the cake. If you have a hard time deciding which workshop to pick, go for the three-day Workshop Package registration! The package gives you access to workshops on all days (Sunday, Monday and Friday), so you can sign up for up to three workshops.

The Annual Meeting also provides the perfect opportunity for several very interesting field trips in the area. If you can’t wait to spend a day out in the field, then why not consider one (or more) of the EAGE field trips. You can choose from a meeting on geothermal potential of the Madrid Basin, a site visit to Las Loras UNESCO Global Geopark or Molina-Alto Tajo Global UNESCO Geopark, and a site visit to underground gas storage at Yela.

For those who would rather have a hands-on learning experience involving a computer screen, check out EAGE’s short course ‘Machine Learning for Geoscientists with Hands-on Coding’ by Dr Ehsan Naeini. The one-day course will cover the basic principles of ML and some of the most widely used algorithms, as well as explain a workflow for implementing a typical ML application, quality controlling and interpreting the outcomes. Through a series of exercises, participants will

familiarise themselves with the flexibility of coding in Python, including examples where ML algorithms have been implemented for well- and/or seismic-based applications.

So look on our website to see the extraordinary range of topical and relevant experiences on offer and find one that suits you best.

Discussion in the poster area.

Networking experience Last but not least, EAGE understands the importance of more informal networking and has planned a social programme, including the Icebreaker Reception, afternoon drinks, special networking lunches, the Conference Evening at an incredible venue, and more.

We also welcome family members of our delegates to join us in Madrid. All registered family members have access to the Exhibition, the Icebreaker Reception, the Conference Evening and the family members’ tour on Tuesday 7 June.

Additionally, the event features an extensive Community programme with dedicated activities for a series of technical disciplines, students, women in geoscience, young professionals, and many more. See pages 6-7 for more details.

Make sure you head over to www.eageannual2022.org to find out more about what’s on offer and, most important, register in time.

Remember: you can save with the discounted fees if you reserve your attendance

Networking at the Icebreaker in Amsterdam last October.

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before 15 May 2022.

85 Hz FWI IMAGE

FWI VELOCITY BEX MC3D data courtesy of Multi-Client Resources

SIMULTANEOUS MODEL-BUILDING AND LEAST-SQUARES IMAGING There’s no need to pull a rabbit out of a hat when it comes to reflection FWI. DUG’s unique augmented acoustic wave equation isolates the “roo ears” for high-resolution velocity updates beyond the diving-wave limit. It also enables least-squares imaging using the entire wavefield providing high-frequency reflectivity volumes for quantitative interpretation.

Simultaneous velocity model building and least-squares imaging directly from field data.

A roo-volution in seismic imaging!

EAGE NEWS

All our Community work is here for you Community Hub and Dome During the EAGE Annual Meeting in Madrid this year, you can once again catch up with our Local Chapters, Student Chapters, Special Interest Groups and Technical Communities at the EAGE Community Hub and Dome in the Exhibition hall.

There we will host a special programme including several insightful talks and exciting activities to fulfil your experience. The Community Hub is also the best place to meet with EAGE staff, ask questions about the Annual and the range of services that we provide, such as membership, EarthDoc and Learning Geoscience.

Dedicated sessions As our largest and most multi-disciplinary gathering in the year, the EAGE Annual is also an ideal opportunity for sharing the work of our technical communities.

During the week you can join dedicated sessions hosted by these groups, some of which are present in this capacity for the first time at the event. The list includes: Energy Transition Technologies Powering Progress towards a Net Zero Future - presented by the EAGE Decarbonization & Energy Transition community on 7 June (15:15-18:15 CEST); Petroleum Systems of the Mediterranean Sea - presented by the EAGE Basin & Petroleum Systems Analysis community on 8 June (9:3012:30 CEST); and Current Trends in Mineral Exploration Geophysics - presented by the EAGE Mineral Exploration Geophysics community on 9 June (15:1518:15 CEST).

Young Professionals Special Session Working from home over the last two years has presented us all with its challenges – and opportinities. In this Special Session for Young Professionals we are going to hear how organizations – from large international energy companies to start-ups and universities – have adapted to this new way of working. Join the YP session on 7 June at 16:00-18:00 CEST to find out what the impications may be for the future.

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Panoramic view of Plaza de Cibeles in early summer Madrid.

Women in Geoscience and Engineering Special Session The theme for this year’s Women in Geoscience and Engineering session is ‘Navigating career and life in a new era’.

This session reflects the main theme of the EAGE Annual – ‘Leading geosciences in a new era’. We will discuss what it takes to find your place in the rapidly changing world and set your own meaningful path in a career and life at large. The session will start with a keynote presentation followed by a discussion featuring women geoscientists and engineers with different careers and backgrounds on their approach to the changing professional landscape.

The positive impact of volunteering will be one of the topics on the agenda. Join WGE session on 8 June from 16:00-18:00 CEST. Career Advice Centre Do you want to give your career a boost?

The EAGE Career Advice Centre organises activities to support EAGE members with their professional, educational and career development and personal growth.

The programme offers a range of activities for different career stages, from advice on CV preparation and job searching methods, to mentoring and requalification of existing skill sets to new disciplines.

Advanced LinkedIn Training How can you get noticed and send an effective message across the increasingly noisy world of online networking? We asked 2022

professional coach Mark White, who specializes in LinkedIn, to share his best tips and tricks to boost your online presence and communications. You can join this live training session on Thursday 9 June online.

Speed mentoring There is value to unlock at the EAGE Annual by connecting with another participant - either online or in person. If you are attending the event alone or for the first time, don’t miss this opportunity to meet a fellow geoscientist or a mentor, with whom you can share the experience.

We also call on our experienced members to join and share advice - from technical to career matters. You can sign up until Tuesday 7 June at 13:00 CEST. Professional portrait photography A strong CV starts with a professional photo. Get yours taken at the EAGE Community Hub! Hackathon on eXplainable AI This year’s hackathon (5 and 6 June) is organized by the EAGE AI Committee and focused on XAI (eXplainable Artificial Intelligence). Teams will explore ways in which we can build more interpretable machine learning tools. The goal is more understandable and trustworthy subsurface prediction. You can join both online and in person, but places are limited so hurry up and register.

EAGE NEWS

What students can look forward to in Madrid

Students will receive a variety of opportunities to engage in our programmme throughout the conference. We will be both online and in person and hope to see many student chapters represented at the Annual. This will be either via presentations in the Technical Programme, or through our onsite activities, especially our student chapter meeting scheduled for 8 June.

As in previous years, we will have a whole week of activities. It all starts on Sunday 6 June with the culmination of the Laurie Dake Challenge when the finalists present their findings on an oil field exercise proposed by Repsol.

On Tuesday 8 June, we will have the exhibition tour which offers the chance to meet a selection of exhibiting compa-

On Wednesday 9 June, students will have a great window to chat and meet representatives of the energy industry, who will assist students in any question about career opportunities. Last but not least, on Thursday 10 June, we will reward the student engagement at the EAGE Annual Conference by putting on an Education Hunt, which is a perfect way to get better acquainted with the industry both online and onsite. All student delegates will receive a personalised invitation with instructions about how to participate. For more information keep an eye on our EAGE Annual 2022 website.

nies and their business and, who knows, find future internship or career openings.

Then there is the GeoQuiz with up to 100 students taking part, also available in an online format. Competitors test their knowledge as they compete to outwit each other, striving to win.

The local student community in Spain has been invited to our conference, and we will meet them in an open session to talk about their career prospects and how the Association can support them. We will finalise our day inviting students to take a tour with us to the Geomineral Museum in Madrid.

Up to 40 students will join us to take a unique tour that opens a window onto the geology, mineralogy and history of Spain.

GeoQuiz in progress.

Check out the AGMM

How did the Association do? The AGMM, in person this year, is where to find out.

Is there anything you always wanted to know about EAGE but haven’t had the chance to ask? Are there issues you would like to raise with the Board? Or are you just curious about the management of the Association? If you want answers, then the Annual General Meeting for Members (AGMM) is where you should be!

After two years being held online, this year’s AGMM will be held in per-

son during the EAGE Annual 2022.

Join the AGMM on 8 June (14:15-15:15 CEST) to engage with the Board and share ideas and thoughts on EAGE and its future. We will also have some online components for members who cannot make it to Madrid so they can join the meeting virtually. Visit www. eage.org/about_eage/agmm for more information.

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OUR JOURNALS

THIS MONTH

Quantitative geoscience top of the agenda in Kuala Lumpur

Geophysical Prospecting (GP) publishes primary research on the science of geophysics as it applies to the exploration, evaluation and extraction of earth resources. Drawing heavily on contributions from researchers in the oil and mineral exploration industries, the journal has a very practical slant.

A new edition (Volume 70, Issue 4) will be published in May, featuring twelve articles.

Editor’s Choice article: • In search of the vibroseis first arrival – Stewart Trickett • Oriented extrapolation of common-midpoint gathers in the absence of near-offset data using predictive painting – Javad Khoshnavaz • Pressure effects on the anisotropic electrical conductivity of artificial porous rocks with aligned fractures – Tongcheng Han Petroleum Geoscience (PG) publishes a balanced mix of articles covering exploration, exploitation, appraisal, development and enhancement of sub-surface hydrocarbon resources and carbon repositories. A new edition (Volume 28, Issue 2) will be published in May, featuring eleven articles.

Editor’s Choice article: • The principles of helium exploration – Diveena Danabalan et al.

• Overview of the exploration potential of offshore Argentina – insight from new seismic interpretations – Steve DeVito et al.

• The role of pore pressure and its prediction in deep geothermal energy drilling – examples from the North Alpine Foreland Basin, SE Germany – Michael C. Drews et al.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST JOURNALS

GP 8

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The latest quantitative geoscience workflows and innovation will be under scrutiny at EAGE’s groundbreaking event on 31 May-1 June 2022 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The workshop on Quantitative Geoscience as a Catalyst in a Carbon Neutral World aims to be an immersive learning environment for participants to exchange ideas, challenge the norms, and discover new ideas to put into practice.

Quantitative Geoscience has a key role to play in reducing and/or offsetting the carbon emissions of current and future activities to achieve carbon-related targets focusing on the energy industry. Recognising the need for action, enthusiasts and visionaries are implementing initiatives to decarbonise their operations in exploration and development. The technical programme will include in-depth presentations on the following topics: Life cycle of CO2 and how G&G components fit into it; Inversion as a catalyst; Reservoir characterisation; Non-traditional applications; and Case Studies - Challenges faced, lesson learned, and success stories.

This workshop welcomes all the subsurface disciplines including geologists, geophysicists, petrophysicists, rock physicists, geomechanics consultants, reservoir engineers, field development managers, and net zero leaders to be part of this interactive event and benefit from the synergy provided by the technical programme.

You can join representatives at the workshop from companies such as PETRONAS, PTTEP, Halliburton, Schlumberger, DUG, Cairn India, Beicip-Franlab Asia, Qeye, GeoSoftware, Ikon Science, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, and Azimuth GeoSolutions. The event is sponsored

by Schlumberger, Beicip-Franlab Asia, GeoSofware and Ikon Science.

Learn more about this event!

2022

EAGE NEWS

Bangkok workshop to explore a sustainable future with digital innovation A regional conference on the role of digital technology in meeting Net Zero CO2 targets is being held in Bangkok on 13-15 September 2022.

The EAGE Conference on Digital Innovation for a Sustainable Future is aims to bring relevant geoscience and related communities together to take a closer look at a sustainable future by sharing ideas and experiences on creating a positive and tangible impact on our industry and our planet. Energy companies across the world recognise digital technology as a key enabler to accelerate the pace of innovation and help them stay competitive in a rapidly evolving landscape. Machine learning, artificial intelligence, big data analytics,

and cloud computing are the tools that are leading the way toward a sustainable future.

The EAGE conference will host multi-dimensional discussions with professionals from the energy and technology sectors. A broad range of innovative and provocative topics from high-performance computing to subsurface imaging and geologic models, to sustainable field development and CCUS technical excellence, will be explored during this three-day conference.

The key topics of the conference are likely to be: Digital foundation; Improving efficiency in E&P with digital technologies; Energy transition and sustainability; and Scalability and operational excellence. Among those attending will be PTTEP, Microsoft, PETRONAS, Cognite, Earth Science Analytics, Eliis, Geoplat. ai, Halliburton, Iraya Energies, Pertamina, ARM, Nvidia, Baker Hughes, and S&P Global.

Learn more about this event!

EAGE Online Education Calendar VELOCITIES, IMAGING, AND WAVEFORM INVERSION - THE EVOLUTION OF CHARACTERIZING THE EARTH’S SUBSURFACE, BY I.F. JONES (ONLINE EET)

SELF PACED COURSE

6 CHAPTERS OF 1 HR

GEOSTATISTICAL RESERVOIR MODELING, BY D. GRANA

SELF PACED COURSE

8 CHAPTERS OF 1 HR

CARBONATE RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION, BY L. GALLUCCIO

SELF PACED COURSE

8 CHAPTERS OF 1 HR

3 MAY 3 JUL

GEOLOGICAL CO2 STORAGE, BY A. BUSCH, E. MACKAY, F. DOSTER, M. LANDRO, P. RINGROSE

EXTENSIVE COURSE *

7 CHAPTERS OF 1 HR

3-6 MAY

INTEGRATED METHODS FOR DEEP-WATER RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION,

BY J.R. ROTZIEN

SHORT COURSE

4 CHAPTERS OF 5 HRS

5-6 MAY

MACHINE LEARNING IN GEOSCIENCES, BY G. SCHUSTER

SHORT COURSE

2 CHAPTERS OF 4 HRS

9 MAY 9 JUN

DEVELOPING DEEP LEARNING APPLICATIONS FOR THE OILFIELD: FROM THEORY TO REAL WORLD PROJECTS, BY B. MONTARON

EXTENSIVE COURSE *

5 CHAPTERS OF 1 HR

10-13 MAY

FULL-WAVEFORM INVERSION FOR HIGH-RESOLUTION RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION, BY D. GISOLF

SHORT COURSE

4 CHAPTERS OF 4 HRS

12-13 MAY

INTRODUCTION TO HEAVY OIL: GENESIS, PROPERTIES, DISTRIBUTION, RECOVERY TECHNOLOGIES AND UPGRADING, BY A. SHAFIEI

SHORT COURSE

2 CHAPTERS OF 4 HRS

16-20 MAY

INTRODUCTION TO DATA ANALYSIS: CONCEPTS AND EXAMPLES,

BY R. GODFREY

SHORT COURSE

4 CHAPTERS OF 4 HRS

17 MAY 17 JUN

NON-SEISMIC DATA ACQUISITION AND PROCESSING: GRAVITY AND MAGNETICS, BY J. MONDT

EXTENSIVE COURSE*

7 CHAPTERS OF 2 HRS

24-25 MAY

FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM RESERVES UNDER PRMS 2018,

BY V.A. HUERTA QUINONES

SHORT COURSE

2 CHAPTERS OF 4 HRS

30-31 MAY

GEOPHYSICAL DATA ANALYSIS IN JULIA, INCLUDING MACHINE LEARNING,

BY R. KUMAR

SHORT COURSE

2 CHAPTERS OF 4 HRS

30 MAY 2 JUN

UPSCALING AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BASED PROXIES FOR UNCERTAINTY ASSESSMENT OF RESERVOIR PRODUCTION,

BY D. GUERILLOT

SHORT COURSE

4 CHAPTERS OF 4 HRS

START AT ANY TIME

* EXTENSIVE SELF PACED MATERIALS AND INTERACTIVE SESSIONS WITH THE INSTRUCTORS: CHECK SCHEDULE OF EACH COURSE FOR DATES AND TIMES OF LIVE SESSIONS FOR THE FULL CALENDAR, MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION PLEASE VISIT WWW.EAGE.ORG AND WWW.LEARNINGGEOSCIENCE.ORG.

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EAGE NEWS

Role of passive monitoring for CO2 storage discussed at London meeting EAGE Local Chapter London latest talk in March was on ‘Advancing the Capability of Passive Seismic CO2 Monitoring Technology – Cuttlefish Carbon Guard’. The speaker was Dr Roy Bitrus of TenzorGeo. Passive seismic technologies have a long-term role to play in decarbonising the energy sector by verifying the safety and security of stored CO2 over long periods. Full waveform location (FWL) technology aims to locate induced microseismic tremors or events during CO2 injection due to changes in pore pressure, fluid displacement and fracturing in the reservoir.

Similar passive seismic methods have been used onshore to monitor CO2 injection projects such as in Weyburn. However, these methods were considered expensive in the past.

Recent advances in passive seismic technology, i.e., data clustering with faster, efficient processing and interpretation, make it more available for continuous monitoring.

With the added benefit of potentially utilising existing permanent

reservoir monitoring (PRM) systems and integration of different passive seismic methods, these solutions will

practical and technical aspects of the workflow and its potential significance to the industry were discussed.

pay off in the long term, providing continuous time-lapse monitoring and early warning signals of potential CO2 breach in the reservoir.

The presentation was followed by the Q&A session and interactive online communication between the speaker and the audience, where

Recording of the talk is available on the EAGE’s YouTube channel. EAGE Local Chapter London acknowledges Artem Kashubin of PetroTrace, Yulia Biryaltseva of Equinor, Celina Giersz of STRYDE and, of course, Roy Bitrus of TenzorGeo for arranging this event.

EAGE Student Calendar 3-4 MAY

CONFERENCE ON ENERGY TRANSITION AND RAW MATERIALS - A CHANGE DRIVEN BY STUDENTS AND YOUNG PROFESSIONALS

9 MAY

STUDENT WEBINAR: APPLICATION OF SEISMIC ATTRIBUTES AND MACHINE LEARNING ONLINE TECHNIQUES FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF FAULTS AND FRACTURES IN SEISMIC DATA,

BY DIANA SALAZAR FLOREZ

13 MAY

2022 MINUS CO2 CHALLENGE APPLICATION DEADLINE

ONLINE

5 JUN

LAURIE DAKE CHALLENGE FINAL ROUND

MADRID, SPAIN

6-9 JUN

83RD EAGE ANNUAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION (STUDENT ACTIVITIES)

MADRID, SPAIN

18-22 SEP

NEAR SURFACE GEOSCIENCE CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2022

BELGRADE, SERBIA

7-9 NOV

3

THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS

RD

EAGE GLOBAL ENERGY TRANSITION CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION (GET 2022)

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION PLEASE CHECK THE STUDENT SECTION AT WWW.EAGE.ORG

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UPPSALA, SWEDEN

THE RULES ARE CHANGING REGISTER FOR UPDATES HERE

EAGE NEWS

South Africa’s student chapter looks forward to post-Covid era EAGE Student Chapter (SC) at the University of the Witwatersrand is the first (and currently only) in Southern Africa since 2020. The chapter has been involved in a number of exciting community and field projects across South Africa, collaborating with prominent organisations such as the AfricaArray network and the Wits Seismic Research Centre.

With a diverse and enthusiastic group of students, the Wits EAGE SC is cementing itself as a highly active, sci-

from the Wits Seismic Research Centre, Wits School of Geosciences’ Bridge the Gap programme, and the SAS-SEG (South African Student Chapter of the Society of Economic Geologists). For more information, see website: https:// africaarray.net/.

The Chapter is focused on two branches: social/networking events and technical activities. The former comprises participating and hosting geo quizzes and conferences (such as the Africa Array) to encourage active

Student Chapter team. Back row (left to right): Dr Michael Westgate, Malaika Motsoai, Rapetsoa Kenneth, Ndamulelo Mutshafa, and Joshua Pillay. Front row (left to right): Jureya Dildar and Nombuso Maduna.

entifically competent, professional, and community-minded organization with an exciting future. The SC is focused on promoting the growth of technical competence, international connections, and productive collaboration for students in the South African context. This entails active encouragement and promotion of the geosciences, with a primary focus on geophysics via community outreach projects In December 2021, the SC organised and hosted the 15th AfricaArray Scientific Meeting as a three-day international, hybrid conference. Participants included leading industry geoscientists and prominent academics but also offered a platform for young geoscientists to present their research interests. A truly inclusive effort, the event would not have been such a success had it not been for the help of students

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participation and involvement from all branches of science. The major focus of the community outreach programmes is engagement with schools and undergraduate students to educate them on the various career opportunities in geoscience and more specifically geophysics.

The Chapter plans on visiting schools to interact with students and showcase what we do including hosting career days in the geoscience faculty. Depending on finance we would like to conduct mini field projects on/ off-campus. Another plan is to host monthly talks about the relevant challenges where geoscientific knowledge is relevant. For example, if an area is prone to sinkholes and a survey is conducted in a particular area, the results and any recommendations will be presented back to the community.

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STUDENT CHAPTER

We may also put together think tanks on contemporary topics like energy transition (such as CCS) or cost-effective geophysics.

Regarding technical activities, we plan on hosting student workshops where an expert trains the students at Wits in technical aspects like software use and data processing. This developed into the idea of hosting technical talks or competitions such as hosting an EAGE symposium to include the entirety of geosciences and attending events such EAGE (Laurie Dake and the Minus CO2), and the Frank-Arnott NGEA Challenge.

The Chapter plans on attending both EAGE Annual and NSG conferences. We intend to host workshops in South Africa for the ERM-MIN3 FUTURE project, where a team of international (Sweden, Italy, France, South Africa) geophysicists will discuss seismic solutions for in-mine surveys.

We also intend to take part in the EAGE Geo-Quiz and webinars which offer a wide range of topics and are discipline specific to each student. Students in the Chapter are also submitting abstracts and plan to attend the NSG Conference and Exhibition this year.

Jureya Dildar, president of the Chapter, says the Covid-19 pandemic was a major challenge for us as a new student chapter in 2020.

Adaptation was important during this challenging time, networking component moved to an online platform.

Students still managed to get involved with EAGE activities by submitting abstracts and presenting virtually at EAGE events. Following safe Covid19 protocols, they continued with inperson activities such as field work and the 2021 conferences held locally in our university.

For more information about the EAGE Wits University Student Chapter!

EAGE NEWS

Make your vote count in Annual EAGE Ballot The EAGE Board is responsible for developing appropriate policies to achieve the objectives of the Association in the interests of its members. This year’s Ballot is taking place in May 2022, and we invite all members to participate online as this is an important opportunity for you to have a say in how the Association is run on your behalf from July 2022.

Here are the candidates: • Edward Wiarda (senior geophysicist, EBN BV) running for Vice-President • Maren Kleemeyer (learning advisor geophysics, Shell Global Solutions) running for Education Officer • Andi Pfaffhuber (CEO & founder, EMerald Geomodelling) running for Vice-Chair Near Surface Geoscience Division • Caroline Le Turdu (technical marketing manager, Schlumberger) extending the role of Membership and Cooperation Officer for another two years • Aart-Jan van Wijngaarden (leader, work processes in E&P, Equinor) extending the role of Technical Programme Officer for another two years.

On the EAGE website you will find short biographies and motivation words from all the candidates to help with your voting decisions.

A personalized invitation has been sent to your email with instructions on

how to vote. We are looking forward to having your vote in this year’s Ballot.

ADDITIONS THIS MONTH On 6-9 June 2022, EAGE will be hosting its 83 rd Annual conference and exhibition, in Madrid. Conference abstracts will be available on EarthDoc in advance and throughout the conference. A number of disciplines will be represented at the conference, including Geophysics, Geology, Reservoir Engineering, and Integrated Subsurface, Mining, Civil Engineering, Data and Computer Science, HSE and Sustainability.

Papers from the Third EAGE Workshop on HPC in Americas being held on 17-18 May in Salvador Bahia, Brazil will be added. This workshop aims to discuss the emergence and applications of digital technologies in the field of geosciences, featuring approximately 10-15 papers along with invited and keynote speakers.

Lastly, new issues of Geophysical Prospecting and Petroleum Geoscience will become available on EarthDoc in May.

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EAGE NEWS

Special Issue on seabed prospecting technology planned for Geophysical Prospecting

A special issue of Geophysical Prospecting (GP) on advances and applications of ocean bottom geophysical prospecting technologies is set for 2023. The aim is to provide a platform for researchers to share their latest results in ocean bottom geophysical exploration or their new vision of tectonics in the light of ocean bottom geophysical data. Original and commentary articles are welcome.

Ocean bottom geophysical prospecting is the primary direction in which marine energy resource exploration and deep Earth science research is heading in the future. In recent times, a vast quantity of ocean bottom geophysical data has been collected by petroleum companies and scientific research departments. Ongoing analysis has prompted geophysicists to develop new processing, interpretation and inversion methods for ocean bottom geophysical data. This in turn promotes the application of further ocean bottom geophysical exploration technology.

Though many advances have been made, there is still a long way to go to meet the industrial expectation for such

a technique. This is mainly manifested in the challenges of effectively suppressing noise caused by the data gathering process; the lack of a valid imaging method for the data; the absence of substantive breakthrough in joint inversion of multiple geophysical data; and the shortcomings in the application of converted wave imaging and reduction of inversion ambiguity using various geophysical information.

Therefore the potential topics for this GP Special Issue include but are not limited to: Theory of ocean bottom geophysical exploration and forward and inversion methods; Equipment, engineering practice, and new interpretation method for ocean electromagnetic data; New theory and engineering practice in the acquisition, processing, interpretation, and inversion of seafloor multi-wave seismic data; Joint inversion theory using multiple ocean bottom geophysical data; Joint inversion of sea-surface and ocean bottom geophysical exploration; Joint inversion of ocean bottom geophysical data, remote sensing, and satellite gravity

data; Science-based research and solutions involving deep solid geophysics using ocean bottom geophysical data; Exploration and detection of gas hydrate with ocean bottom geophysical methods; Detection of oil and gas migration during the production period; and Reserve, migration and transform of geofluids in the subduction zone based on ocean bottom seismic and electromagnetics.

Manuscripts should be prepared according to the author guidelines detailed on the GP website and submitted using the online submission webpage: https://wiley. atyponrex.com/journal/GPR. It is very important to clearly indicate in a cover letter that the manuscript is submitted to this Special Issue and notify the lead guest editor Prof Tongcheng Han (hantc@upc. edu.cn) via email with the subject line ‘GP Special Issue submission’ to avoid delays in processing the manuscript.

Deadline for manuscript submission is 31 July 2022 with review results by 30 September 2022 and revisions by 30 November 2022. Final decisions are scheduled for 31 January 2023 with publication soon afterwards.

Guest editors for the issue are Tongcheng Han, China University of Petroleum - hantc@upc.edu.cn; Lei Xing, Ocean University of China - xingleiouc@ouc.edu. cn; Xiangchun Wang, China University of Geosciences·Beijing - wangxc@cugb. edu.cn; Kai Gao, Los Alamos National Laboratory - kaigao87@gmail.com; and Amir Haroon, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR) - aharoon@ geomar.de.

The EAGE Student Fund supports student activities that help students bridge the gap between university and professional environments. This is only possible with the support from the EAGE community. If you want to support the next generation of geoscientists and engineers, go to donate.eagestudentfund.org or simply scan the QR code.

Many thanks for your donation in advance!

D O N AT E T O DAY !

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PERSONAL RECORD INTERVIEW

CHRIS WALKER

Personal Record Interview

Tales from four decades of reinventing marine seismic acquisition Chris Walker has played a central role in the development of ocean bottom seismic, currently chief geophysicist, BGP Offshore but previously with RXT, FairfieldNodal and Seabed Geosolutions. Earlier with Geosource, Geco and PGS he was heavily involved in the 3D seismic multi-streamer revolution.

His career started in academia and then he worked in the coal industry.

Geo interest began with magnetic stripes?

My brother had joined a scientific book club in his late teens. When I was 12 years old one edition had an article on the magnetic stripes Drum Matthews and Fred Vine had discovered offshore Colombia, the first physical evidence of seafloor spreading. I was hooked. In a geography exam a few months later I happily regurgitated what I had learnt, only to be given an F by the geography teacher - ‘arrant nonsense and completely unproven’, she noted.

Your educational path was unusual …

Ever since I can remember I was going to study for a PhD. When I finished my first degree in quantum physics at the New University of Ulster, I nearly embarked on a physics and psychology doctorate.

The head of the Physics Department wouldn’t hear of it, because at some point I had said I was interested in geophysics research. ‘I know someone at Durham’, he said, and that’s where I ended up.

You really built a digital tape machine?

As part of my PhD, it was originally supposed to be a PUBS — Pop-Up Bottom Seismometer — but there was a shortage of glass spheres in 1974. So I ended up building a digital sonar buoy. The cutest element in it was a pin matrix unit to preprogramme the recording intervals in the buoy, used in the first Moog synthesisers just then becoming popular in the music industry.

From academia to coal After nine years of academia (three years post-doc at University of Bath) in 1978, I applied for a position at the National Coal Board (NCB) which was starting to use surface seismic to map coal seams around existing mines. I was interviewed by chief geologist Mike Clarke and then chief geophysicist Anton Ziolkowski. A few weeks into the job Anton and a colleague went off to Australia for two months consultancy work. I was left running two land crews — one Vibroseis, the other dynamite — and an SSL processing centre in Doncaster. I learnt more in those eight weeks than in nine years at university.

An unusual recruitment …

The NCB has been the only job I have ever applied for. In 1980 the new head of R&D at Geosource geophysical services company, who I had met in New Orleans nearly a year before, called me out of the blue, and asked me to fly to Houston the next day about a possible position. I explained that wasn’t possible at such short notice. No problem, he said, I’ll come to see you. We met at the Intercontinental Hotel in Hyde Park and he offered me four times what I was earning at the NCB. Multiple streamers didn’t catch on easily …

I saw a telex from the head of marine ops at GSI in Dallas to their ops manager in Teesside telling him not to believe the nonsense from Geco about towing two streamers — it just wasn’t possible.

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Conoco was the first to try it. The company insisted that, if the survey didn’t work, it would still only pay for the time spent on the twin streamer survey, even if we had to take twice as long shooting with a single streamer. Thankfully everything worked out and led the way to the multi-streamer surveys that dominate 3D and 4D acquisition today. That was in 1985.

What prompted move from PGS to RXT? A meeting with Shell in the Netherlands where we had more than 500 man-years of experience in the room. The company told us that it appreciated the cost reduction in 3D marine delivered by multi-streamer, but said the quality of the data was showing no improvement. We discussed the better physics of ocean bottom recording but recognised the limitations of the technology then available. It set me thinking about how to improve ocean bottom cable efficiency/cost reduction. When Mike Scott, a colleague at both Geco and PGS, asked me to help set up an innovative ocean bottom seismic company (RXT), I was in. My dictum ever since has been the ‘future is on the seafloor’ and that has proved the case with nodes superseding cable.

Has there been a life outside work?

Squash at a pretty high level until my knees packed up. Playing guitar badly since I was 14. My culinary skills have ramped up since lockdown. Guests at my recent 70th birthday party can attest that I make a pretty mean gin and tonic.

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Make sure you’re in the know

EAGE MONTHLY UPDATE RE GUL A R RE GIS T R AT ION DE A DL INE

PUBLISH IN OUR JOURNALS

Join u s!

EAGE Conference on Digital Innovation for a Sustainable Future 13 -15 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 • B A N G KO K , T H A I L A N D

Geophysical Prospecting Special Issue: Mineral Exploration and Mining Geophysics Submission deadline: 30 May 2022

Geophysical Prospecting Special Issue: Advanced Techniques, Methods and Applications for an Integrated Approach to Geophysical Prospecting

MINUS CO2

CHALLENGE 2022 Novel ways of utilizing resource with net-zero emissions

GET INVOLVED! APPLICATION DEADLINE:

13 MAY 2022

CA L L F O R A B S T R AC T S D E A D L I N E S I N J U N E 2 0 2 2

15 MAY 2022 1 June 2022 Sixth International Conference on Fault and Top Seals 17 June 2022 Asia Petroleum Geoscience Conference and Exhibition (APGCE) 23 June 2022 Second EAGE Workshop on Advanced Seismic Solution in the Gulf of Mexico 25 June 2022 Fourth HGS/EAGE Conference on Latin America 29 June 2022 Third EAGE Marine Acquisition Workshop (posters only) 30 June 2022 First EAGE Guyana-Suriname Basin Conference 30 June 2022 2nd EAGE Workshop on Fiber Optic Sensing for Energy Applications

Submission deadline: 31 May 2022

Near Surface Geophysics Special Issue: Geophysics for Infrastructure Planning, Monitoring and Building Information Modelling (BIM)

WELCOME TO THE EAGE COMMUNITY HUB !

INTERACTIVE EAGE COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES | ENERGIZING STUDENT PROGRAMME ONE-STOP-SHOP FOR ALL THINGS EAGE

#430

Submission deadline: 31 May 2022

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CROSSTALK

BY AN D R E W M c BAR N E T

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Why hope springs eternal The Irish Nobel prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney noted that discovered volumes were calculated at 4.7 billion barrels of oil ‘Even if the hopes you started out with are dashed, hope has to be equivalent (boe), the lowest figure since 1946. It also represented a maintained.’ It’s the kind of advice that should resonate with the considerable drop from the 12.5 billion boe found in 2020. seismic business as much today as over the past several decades.

All expectations of a likely resumption of spending in the post Essentially high hopes have never been fulfilled for very long.

Covid era have been confounded by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

We simply don’t know how the market is going to respond. What The historical record is one of major promising technology achievements starting with the introduction of 3D seismic in the 1980s, we do know for sure is that ‘energy security’ is now top of the followed by multi-streamer acquisition, sophisticated navigation energy policy agenda for many governments especially in Europe and positioning, 4D reservoir monitoring, electromagnetics, broadand North America where the price of heat and transport has soared band, node-based surveys on land and on the seabed, extraordinary stoking fears of inflation. As a result of this looming energy crisis advances in imaging and processing, etc. and the dark shadow of an incomprehensible and brutal conflict, the Yet few geophysical service companies ever figured out how latest scary report published in February from the UN’s Intergovernto reap the reward from investment in these extraordinary technical mental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) received scant recognition. successes. Indeed their oil company customers have been the main BBC News quoted Heleen De Coninck, professor of socio-technical beneficiaries enjoying more cost effective surveys at no extra innovation and climate change, Eindhoven University of Technology, warning that we’ve reached ‘the now-or-never point of limiting price thanks to the competition between the providers. In addition, marine seismic contractors proved unable to manage the overhead warming to 1.5C’. of owning vessels and undertaking continuous Sooner or later the world would have woken up to the fact that the timetable for the research during the lows of the E&P investment ‘We know for sure cycle. Today, the only two substantial marine replacement of fossil fuels was unrealistic but energy security is top the current turmoil has hastened the process. seismic contractors still standing are both laden with serious debt.

The logical expectation is that oil companies of the agenda.’

It was another poet, Alexander Pope, in will come to the rescue. Producing countries An Essay on Man who cited the phrase ‘Hope such as the UK, Norway and the US are already springs eternal’. Pope embraced what some refer to as optimistic cutting the industry some slack in order to stimulate hydrocarbon philosophy that can be traced back at least to Socrates. Maybe we investment. can have cause for hope that the remaining players in the seismic On the other hand, OPEC+ countries have not shown much business can look forward to an improvement in their lot. interest in erring from their disciplined oil quota strategy. OPEC Pre-pandemic there was evidence of an uptick in the E&P Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said in April ‘We could spending cycle with tendering for marine seismic work steady and potentially see the loss of more than 7 million barrels per day prices firming. This seemed like the first signs of cautious new (bpd) of Russian oil and other liquids exports ... Considering the industry spending on reserves replacement after a long hiatus. That current demand outlook, it would be nearly impossible to replace momentum obviously faltered as the pandemic disrupted the world a loss in volumes of this magnitude.’ Barkindo also noted that the economy. With a month to go in 2021, Rystad Energy reported current highly volatile market was a result of ‘non-fundamental that global oil and gas discoveries were on track to hit their lowest factors’ outside OPEC’s control. This was probably an allusion to full-year level in 75 years. By the end of November, total global the growing stand-off between the US and Gulf nations over stalled

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security talks on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, restrictions on arms and by Norwegian company inApril, which after 10 years developsupplies to the region and withdrawing support for the Saudi-led ment, is finally investing in node inventory.

PGS continues to steer clear of major seabed seismic investmilitary offensive in Yemen. OPEC+ countries agreed in March to stop using International Energy Agency data in their supply/demand ment, maybe partly because of its stretched financial predicament. calculations deeming it to be too US-biased.

However, it recently announced further partnership with Sea Floor Geophysics to optimise use of P-Cable ultra-high resolution seismic Hopes of oil companies stepping up could prove illusory. Analysts have been pointing out for some time that the market turmoil of technology and is already working with the company on reviving the past two years has divorced the predictable correlation between towed-streamer EM technology.

PGS and Shearwater are still heavily dependent for their rising oil price and the level of E&P spending. This is perhaps why financial fortunes on some form of recovery in the marine seismic Rystad Energy is cautious about the immediate prospects for the streamer survey market. This remains obstinately stagnant leaving oilfield services sector which it notes has reported negative net the headache of balancing how many vessels to keep active. income margins since 2015. Even if as much as $100 billion extra A closer look at long-time protagonists in the seismic business, oil company investment surfaces this year, it would be unevenly notably CGG, ION Geophysical and TGS, shows clear indications distributed due to ‘widespread cost inflation and varying growth of looking outside traditional markets to apply their technology expectations’. It expects any new spending to come from ‘short-cybase. Emblematic of the trend is the recent cle upstream activities such as shale resources rebranding of the International Association of and infill drilling’. An obvious subtext is that ‘Hopes of oil Geophysical Contractors (IAGC). In January oil companies are aware of the inflationary companies stepping the trade group changed its name to EnerGeo pressures and, in an uncertain market, are likely to focus on shareholder returns, their default up could prove illusory.’ Alliance. This is said to convey ‘a recharged and ongoing commitment to providing soluposition of the last few years. tions for the energy evolution as its members Judging from recent statements from the continue to discover, develop, and deliver the mainstay, low-carbon leadership of Shearwater, PGS and CGG, there is some ground and alternative energy the world demands.’ for hope. Any level of new work will be welcome. This is most It is perhaps mischievous to wonder whether EAGE’s sister likely to come from the strengthening demand for seabed seismic geoscience associations, the Society of Exploration Geophysicists surveys and growing indication of a structural shift away from 3D and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, both towed-streamer acquisition. Tenders are either out or expected for undergoing some soul-searching about their future direction, will major ocean bottom node (OBN) surveys in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and take IAGC’s rebranding as the cue to change their names. The oil Kuwait. Brazil, Nigeria, the Caspian and Turkmenistan are either companies set the trend with Statoil retitling as Equinor and Total active or pending, and of course the Gulf of Mexico and North Sea Oil’s adoption of TotalEnergies. The UK oil and gas trade organisahave a continuous stream of projects. tion Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) has just dropped the oil and gas and To date the provision of equipment and services to this burgeonnow refers to itself as Offshore Energies UK. Its chief executive ing market does not seem overcrowded. Magseis Fairfield and BGP Deirdre Michie said: ‘Oil and gas is still a fundamental part of what Offshore have been the leading contenders. Shearwater is capturing we do and how we do it, but hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, an increasing share of work building on the Isometrix/Q-Seabed offshore wind. Those are all part of an integrated energy mix that we technology inherited from Schlumberger. At the EAGE Annual see being developed today.’ It begs the question whether members Meeting in June the company will probably be talking a lot about of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain (PESGB) feel its Pearl node development. The unexpected success story has to they need to rethink their name. be PXGEO, a regrouping from the now defunct Polarcus, which Levity aside, the geoscience community and its associations took over technology from Seabed Geosolutions, originally a are facing unprecedented challenges in trying to make sense of the merger between Fugro and CGG. The company is signed up for global future of energy resources and the potential opportunities for work in Brazil, Egypt and the North Sea. Axxis Geo Solutions, the careers and businesses. How much hope should be invested in the opportunist start-up of a few years ago, has rebranded as Carbon likely outcome is of course the big question. It seems certain that Transition, sold its node-on-a rope handling system to Magseis Fairthe application of geoscience expertise and application is likely to field and changed focus, while SAExploration remains an outlier. become more varied as the energy transition unfolds. To hope that The market’s ability to supply sufficient OBN equipment to the reward of contributing geoscience to the renewables world will meet rising demand may prove an issue especially with supply chain ever match the oil industry in its prime is another matter. In other disruption. Sercel, partnered by BGP, recently joined the ranks of word, Seamus Heaney may have been a bit over-optimistic at his equipment manufacturers with its GPR node. Magseis Fairfield, Nobel Prize award ceremony in advising ‘Walk on air against your Geospace and Seabed Geosolutions have been the main providers. better judgment.’

They will soon be joined by Shearwater (Pearl) proprietary nodes

Views expressed in Crosstalk are solely those of the author, who can be contacted at andrew@andrewmcbarnet.com.

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HIGHLIGHTS

INDUSTRY NEWS

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Searcher completes Nova Scotia survey

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Global energy spending will hit $2 trillion this year to break dependence on Russian oil and gas

An oil refinery in Moscow. The EU is taking steps to limit member states’ dependence on Russian oil.

Surging oil, gas and energy prices together with the European Union’s goals of becoming less dependent on Russian supplies and post-Covid-19 pandemic inflation will catapult global energy spending this year to $2.1 trillion, Rystad Energy research shows.

Concern in energy markets that the war in Ukraine will derail the energy transition is unfounded according to the latest data which suggests that spending in green energies will grow faster than in the fossil fuel sector. Without the invasion, however, there would have been less growth in investments in oil and gas and the share of green energies in global energy spending would be slightly more than today’s 31%.

Upstream oil and gas spending is now projected to grow 16% – or $142 billion – compared to last year as oil and gas producers around the world up their investment budgets to increase output. For green energy in 2022, based on the current pipeline of projects, global capacity will grow at 250 gigawatts (GWac) within wind and solar, and green energy spending will grow by 24%, or $125 billion.

Another important factor pushing energy spending to new highs is the global inflation of material prices, labour costs and shipping rates caused by the pandemic and the sanctions imposed on Russia.

Compared to 2020 levels, project costs in oil and gas have increased by between 10% and 20%. Within renewables, lithium, nickel, copper and polysilicon prices – which are all important materials in battery and solar PV manufacture – have sent renewable project costs up by between 10% and 35% within the same timeframe.

‘The world is now spending more on energy than ever before. The year 2014 was the last time we saw similar numbers.

One can see a major shift in the amount of spending on green energy, which has increased, with a drop in expenditure on oil and gas. However, expenditure on other fossil fuels, such as coal, has remained constant,’ said Audun Martinsen, head of energy service research at Rystad Energy.

Breaking down the spending, capital and operational expenditures in 2022 by FIRST

sub-sector reveals that it is still upstream oil that dominates the energy landscape, with $658 billion of spending and a growth of 16% to produce 99.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in liquids supply.

However, the gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector is also growing strongly, with a 15% increase in spending, increasing output to 396 million cubic feet per day (MMcfd) from 390 MMcfd.

Within green energies, it is solar, carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen and geothermal that are growing the most, with between 40% and 60% growth.

However, it is mainly solar utility scale and wind that are adding significant additional capacity of around 140 GWac and 110 GWac, respectively.

In Europe green energy – through solar and wind power, coupled with hydrogen and CCS initiatives – will be key to improving energy security but also delivering on member countries’ energy transition goals. The European Commission in March unveiled a plan to make Europe independent of Russian gas and the commission’s REPowerEU body has set out a framework to target a 45% share of renewables in primary energy by 2030.

The framework demands 1600 GWac of installed capacity in Europe by 2030.

In 2022, based on the current pipeline of projects, global capacity will grow at 250 GWac, and lead to green energy spending to grow by 24%, or $125 billion.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Searcher completes 3D multi-client offshore Nova Scotia survey

Peggy Cove Light House, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Searcher Seismic has released its multi-client Tangier 3D seismic offshore Nova Scotia, Canada.

The survey consists of 8502 km2 of high-quality wide-azimuth (WAZ) 3D seismic data located in the central portion of the Scotian Basin.

Prior to the Tangier 3D acquisition, the imaging of thick Cretaceous and Jurassic clastic sequences in the lower slope and basin floor had been hampered by the complexities of imaging below

an extensive salt canopy, a challenge similar to that encountered in the prolific deep-water Gulf of Mexico. The high-resolution Kirchhoff and RTM depth processed volumes bring new clarity of imaging of the sub-salt sequences and their sand fairways, said Searcher.

This survey was acquired in the central, sand-prone portion of the Nova Scotia margin, where the newly imaged sub-canopy structural plays revealed by the Tangier 3D are of a globally significant scale. Searcher considers that the Aspy D-11 well drilled within the Tangier 3D proved the existence of a working oil-generative system and further analysis has revealed additional potential in this under-explored basin.

Neil Hodgson, Searcher’s VP Geoscience, said, ‘The recent release of bp’s Tangier exploration licence presents explorers with a unique opportunity to explore the plays imaged by this dataset.

With CNSOPB’s recent completion of the area’s strategic environmental assessment, a call for bids is expected to be announced this year. Improved terms coupled with the need for easily accessible energy supply provides explorers with opportunities to target the huge potential and quick route to market.’

Meanwhile, the company has announced a multi-client 2D seismic data

reprocessing project of offshore Nova Scotia data.

The 2D seismic dataset comprises of more than 13,000 km of 2D data throughout the Scotian Shelf, including the prolific Sable Sub-Basin that, in addition to the produced fields, contains ten undeveloped significant discoveries that have P50 recoverable gas reserves of 1.3 TCF. Searcher will apply its proprietary post-stack reprocessing method to rectify navigation, metadata, amplitude, phase and time creating a contiguous legacy database that can be easily loaded into any interpretation software. Secondly, major improvements in the data will be provided by reprocessing the data through a modern pre-stack reprocessing sequence, including shallow water demultiple and deghosting. Reprocessing is expected to reveal numerous additional leads in the form of seismic attribute anomalies which can be calibrated with discoveries and producing fields.

Neil Hodgson, said: ‘Reprocessing the seismic data in the vicinity of the prolific Sable Island Fields is likely to reopen this gas province at a time when low carbon energy security and supply is so welcomed, and our ability to see the gas before we drill has never been easier.’

Fugro shoots bathymetry survey in India Fugro has won a contract to shoot a bathymetric survey along the Andhra Pradesh coast in south-eastern India. The survey for India’s National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) will facilitate the Indian Government’s plans to develop the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to benefit the coastal community and protect marine living resources. The data will also be used for scientific research projects and coastal resilience studies such as

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assessment of coastal vulnerabilities and geohazard potential and ocean climate change.

The six-month project started in November 2021. Fugro will survey around 56,000-line km of coastline in total, collecting bathymetric data in water depths between High Tide Line (HTL) and 30 m.

To gather insights about the seabed, Fugro is using a shallow-water boat

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equipped with a dual frequency echosounder and a differential global positioning system for data acquisition. For surveying in very shallow water (up to 5 m) and the surf zone area, the Fugro team is going to use a jet ski-equipped with Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) and a single beam echosounder.

Real-time kinematic positioning (RTK) technology is being used for topography survey.

INDUSTRY NEWS

CGG, PGS and TGS create unified seismic data platform CGG, PGS and TGS have teamed up to release a unified seismic data ecosystem which offers access to three of the world’s largest multi-client libraries via a single log-in.

For the first time, subscribers can interactively search for available data from all three vendors and easily download subsurface assets and entitlements from the Versal platform.

Versal was developed to provide a vendor-neutral, single point of access to ensure enhanced efficiency, usability, and reduced lead times.

With three of the largest multi-client data libraries, users have 70% of the world’s multi-client seismic data at their fingertips. In addition, the ecosystem’s cloud capabilities remove the need to set up and manage individual cloud solutions.

All licensed and available data for a region of interest across vendors is visible in one display, enabling distributed workforce and hybrid teams to work closer together.

Users can access Versal from anywhere via a standard web browser and import their own data for analysis via a map service or shapefile. All information is managed by an independent third party.

As a result, each vendor’s data, client entitlements and information remain invisible to other vendors, and data storage remains solely within each individual vendor-controlled data lake.

The platform is GDPR-compliant for data and information privacy and offers identity management that is OIDC and OAuth 2.0 compliant. End-to-end communication is directly from the user to the vendor.

Distributed Acoustic Sensing:

A SHIFT IN SEISMIC SENSING High resolution subsea seismic data recording with standard optical fibre OptoDAS interrogator provides: • dense spatial sampling (in-well and seabed) • very low noise (even with long lead-in fibres)

Norway launches public consultation for APA 2022

Established Norwegian fields are expected to attract much interest.

Norway has launched its APA 2022 (Awards in Pre-defined Areas) for public consultation.

APA includes most of the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and a large part of the southern Barents Sea. New acreage in the Barents Sea is included in the APA area. The application deadline will be in the third quarter of 2022 and awards will be made in January 2023.

All licensing rounds are carried out in areas that are open for petroleum activity.

In the consultation round, input is only requested from the consultation bodies if they believe there is new, significant FIRST

information that is relevant regarding where there may be petroleum activity in the open, accessible areas.

Allocation in predefined areas (APA) was introduced in 2003 to facilitate timely exploration of the most geologically known parts of the shelf. ‘In these areas, the expected discovery size is declining,’ said the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. ‘The companies are mainly looking for minor discoveries that do not justify independent development. These discoveries can be profitable when seen in connection with other discoveries and/or can utilize existing or planned infrastructure.

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See more at: asn.com /activities /fiber sensing

INDUSTRY NEWS

CGG completes lithium screening study

Map of investigated screening locations for lithium brines (image courtesy of CGG).

CGG has released a GeoVerse Lithium Brine Screening study to support the search for the critical energy transition element. The global study provides a data-rich screening tool to enable explorers, operators, investors and extraction technology companies to discover, eval-

uate and compare lithium brine opportunities.

The study and supporting primary data is delivered though the GeoVerse platform and leverages CGG’s Earth Data Library. Experts from CGG’s Minerals and Mining team developed a proprietary meth-

odology to evaluate more than 250,000 datapoints and 27,000 lithium measurements to create a comprehensive and consistent water chemistry database, supplemented by key engineering and geochemical characteristics, to help inform project development and investment decisions.

Meanwhile, CGG has been recruited to the Selkie Project, a €5.2m ($5.7 million) cross-border initiative aiming to improve the performance of wave and tidal marine energy devices in Wales and Ireland. The company will test and validate new technology tools on wave and tidal demonstration projects. CGG will support the project through the design and testing of new environmental monitoring technology.

Shearwater Geoservices wins 4D survey offshore UK Shearwater Geoservices has won a 4D seismic monitor project at Equinor’s Mariner field offshore UK. This will be the third Isometrix survey over the field and the second 4D monitor survey. The one-month project will be executed during the 2022 North Sea summer season.

Time-lapse seismic surveys help to maximize production from existing fields by providing subsurface data to update reservoir modelling and production simulations, said Shearawter.

Irene Waage Basili, CEO of Shearwater, said: ‘‘Time-lapse seismic acqui-

sition is a critical activity for creating value from offshore oilfield assets’ We have a long-established track record of executing 4D seismic surveys for Equinor and we look forward to return to the Mariner field to capture high-quality geophysical data for our client.’

TGS licenses Neuquén Basin data in Argentina TGS is providing access to well data from Argentina’s prolific Neuquén Basin in the province of Mendoza.

TGS-enhanced data such as standardized digital logs (LAS, LAS+, Mud LAS, Lith LAS), validated well headers, quality-controlled directional surveys and other available derivatives will be licensed through its cloud-based R360 Platform.

The well data and seismic data will help to deepen the geological understanding of the region and enable E&P companies maximize the potential for both conventional and unconventional resources in Mendoza’s portion

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of the Neuquén Basin, home of the world-class Vaca Muerta Formation, said TGS. This data will complement existing 2D seismic coverage and support operators in assessing the potential in the blocks included in the province’s open bid rounds.

Jan Schoolmeesters, executive vice-president of Digital Energy Solutions at TGS, said: ‘This region has vast potential, and the combination of TGS’ offerings will provide the most current understanding of geological knowledge and insight, allowing our customers to make better and more informed investment decisions.’

INDUSTRY NEWS

Ukraine war will speed up Europe energy transition

Big increases in solar power generation are expected in Europe.

Europe’s energy transition will be accelerated because of its pivot away from Russian gas, according to DNV’s Energy Transition Research. Its research shows that 34% of the energy mix in Europe will come from non-fossil fuels in 2024, two percentage points more than the pre-war forecast. Overall gas use will drop 9% in 2024 compared with DNV’s pre-war model run. The biggest percentage increase is in solar, which by 2026 is up 20%.

The delayed retirement of some of the continent’s nuclear power plants is also an important component of filling the gap.

Although some coal is needed in the very short term to meet Europe’s energy demand, by 2024 postponed retirements and higher nuclear utilization will be important to cover the shortfall of natural gas. Emissions from energy will be 2.3% lower in Europe in the period 20222030, compared to a pathway without the Ukraine war. This is due to the increased prominence of low carbon energy (renewables and nuclear), more energy efficiency and, in the short to medium term, lower economic growth.

‘As they did during the Covid-19 pandemic, Europe’s leaders have applied clarity of thought during a crisis to accelerate the continent’s energy transition.

This time Europe is increasing energy security whilst reducing emissions,’ said Remi Eriksen, group president and CEO of DNV. DNV estimates that Europe will produce 12% more gas in 2030, reflecting the industry’s reaction to higher oil and gas prices in the short term and response to the pledge from the EU to deliver more gas. The role of imported LNG is limited by regasification capacity, with

extra infrastructure expected to take 2-5 years to build. However, it will form a strand of the continent’s overall energy security strategy.

There is a risk of overcapacity in the oil and gas sector towards the end of the decade as companies look to capitalize on the high prices and supply gap. The long-term trend remains bearish for oil; increased oil and gas capacity towards 2030 will lead to lower prices which will likely increase global use in the 2030s by a small amount.

‘The war in Ukraine has shaken the energy markets but decarbonization remains the central theme. Energy companies will have to strike a careful balance between meeting the short-term supply gap for oil and gas whilst avoiding stranded assets in the longer term,’ said Sverre Alvik, director of energy transition research at DNV. For consumers, there is no immediate end in sight to high electricity prices. Electricity prices will be 12% higher in Europe in 2024 than if the continent did not transition away from Russian energy. The rise in commodity costs will also impinge on the take-up of electric vehicles as battery costs rise. For Europe, that means half of new car sales will be electric in 2028 instead of 2027, although this could be overcome by policy incentives, said DNV. In DNV’s model, Europe comprises all countries in the continent, including the Baltic states, but excluding Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Turkey. Its system dynamics energy transition mode forecasts the energy mix to 2050. For this analysis, DNV presumed Europe would cut Russian gas imports by 80% in 2023 and 100% in 2025.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

PGS releases reprocessed Uruguay and Colombia data PGS has released an 11,000 km reprocessed seismic volume that covers the extension of Uruguay’s shallow and deepwater provinces from the Pelotas Basin to the Punta del Este Basin.

The data ties to its 15,600 km2 3D GeoStreamer dataset, enabling analog assessment of the recent equatorial margin Namibia discoveries.

Adriana Sola, area manager, Latin America and Caribean, at PGS.

This 2D project is the result of an agreement between PGS and Uruguay’s state oil company ANCAP to reprocess 2D data of different vintages, applying the latest imaging techniques. The data will provide seismic quality and coverage to perform regional and reservoir evaluation studies and unlock prospective opportunities from Paleozoic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary.

Data quality improvements can be seen in the shallow parts and also on the deeper targets and events, revealing mini-basins that were not previously visible. These enable a better understanding of the petroleum system, including the identification and distribution of source rocks, reservoirs, and seal/trap systems.

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as highlighted by the recent discoveries of Graff and Venus in Namibia’s Orange Basin, which is a conjugate margin of Uruguay. The rejuvenated Uruguay MC2D enables analog assessment of the recent Namibia discoveries, said PGS. ‘There is an abundance of offshore exploration opportunities, supported by oil seeps, gas chimneys, and BSRs, indicating a working petroleum system.

Most of these plays have yet to be tested,’ said PGS. Meanwhile, PGS has been given the go ahead to reprocess 2D lines from different vintages into a MegaProject covering the Pacific offshore Colombia.

Working in partnership with SCG (Servicio Geologico Colombiano), the company has been given the go ahead by the National Hydrocarbon Agency (ANH) from Colombia to reprocess data in an area that covers most of the Tumaco offshore basin, including the San Juan Basin. This area is characterized by the forearc basin structural style in convergent margins, related to subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the western part of South America. Along the South Colombia pacific margin, thick Cenozoic sedimentary sequences accumulated over blocks of transitional and oceanic crust basement that accreted between the Late Cretaceous and Early Cenozoic periods with a sedimentary fill of predominant from Tertiary age.

The potential petroleum system is related to source rocks of late Cretaceous and early Tertiary age, migrated to turbidites fan systems associated with the Miocene interval. Trap and seal are provided by Middle-Upper Miocene shales combined with early Middle Miocene mud. Such a framework presents an attractive array of potential hydrocarbon-bearing traps, said PGS. ‘This reprocessed regional Tumaco Basin dataset will provide an entry tool for Colombia’s Pacific offshore area, improving imaging of the play elements and de-risking the prospectivity potential,’ said Adriana Sola, area manager, Latin America and Caribean, at PGS. 2022

CGG wins offshore Brazil OBN seismic imaging contract CGG has won a two-part ocean bottom node (OBN) seismic imaging project from PXGEO over the Sapinhoá Shared Reservoir in the Santos Basin offshore Brazil. The data will bring improved geological insight to the asset operator, Petrobras, to assist with better management of oil recovery and production development.

The baseline 3D seismic survey acquired by the PXGEO Poseidon OBN crew, covering 575 km2, is already being processed at CGG’s Rio de Janeiro subsurface imaging centre.

The team is applying CGG’s latest proprietary imaging technologies, including time-lag full-waveform inversion, internal multiple attenuation and least-squares migration, to resolve challenging structural uncertainties in the pre-salt and gain better insight into the reservoir’s geomechanical behaviour. CGG will process the 4D monitor survey after its planned acquisition, again by PXGEO, in 2023.

Meanwhile, CGG is expanding its high-performance computing (HPC) capacity by building a European HPC hub in southeast England that will become operational in H1 2023 and increase its cloud HPC capacity by up to 100 petaflops. The UK HPC Hub will be powered with 100% renewable energy.

PXGEO’s OBN crew has acquired 575 km2. Credit: PXGEO.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Goex MGC shoots a 3D survey in Mozambique

FULL SPECTRUM FALCON GRAVITY

EXPLORE CONGO

Geoex MGC has announced a multi-client 3D project in Mozambique covering up to 8500 km2.

The proposed survey will prioritise the North Angoche Basin and further possibilities in other areas of Angoche, Zambezi and Save Basins.

Geoex MCG has agreed with the Instituto Nacional de Petróleo (INP) to shoot a modern high-resolution 3D dataset on the A6-B block offshore Mozambique which will cover an area up to 8500km2, currently available in the 6th Licensing round.

This 3D survey will further elucidate the potential prospectivity of the underexplored Angoche margin. The offshore Angoche area contains sediment deposited in a rift, rift-sag, drift, and passive margin environment. Prospectivity of the Angoche margin is supported by discoveries in the Rovuma basin to the north and the onshore Pande and Temane fields in the south. These discoveries indicate a working petroleum system that may extend to the Angoche margin.

It is envisaged that oil-prone deep marine source rocks (TOC ~8%) in the Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceous (Lower Domo shale equivalent) charge the overlying Lower Cretaceous deep marine sands (Pemba Fm) in fan mounds or wedge out traps on the Northern FIRST

Basin Slope. Further prospectivity lies in the Upper Cretaceous (Domo Sand/ Lower Grudja equivalent) which hosts the Rovuma gas discoveries with ~5TCF in total. In the Angoche margin, these reservoirs are paralic grain flow/slump sands in stratigraphic (fan mound) or roll over structural traps. There is also potential prospectivity envisaged close to the Davie fracture zone in a more distal play.

The acquisition parameters target these reservoir features to allow interpreters further insights that are currently unavailable. Furthermore, by utilising long streamers, the crustal regime of the Angoche margin will be imaged to a high standard which has important implications for the thermal regimes. Further parameters include a 2ms sampling rate and an 11-second recording length.

Mozambique has pre-qualified 12 companies for the 6th Licensing Round, six as operators and the remaining six as non-operators.

Operators are CNOOC; Sinopec; Eni; ExxonMobil; Petro China International Iraq; Total Energies. Non-operators are RN Angoche; Novatek; Qatar Petroleum Mozambique; Sasol Africa; ONGC Videsh; Discovery Exploration.

Winning bidders will be announced on 30 November 2022.

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DATA FOR PHASE 1 ARE NOW AVAILABLE, COVERING 4 BLOCKS IN THE CUVETTE CENTRALE BASIN OF CONGO.

INDUSTRY NEWS

PGS rejuvenates Cyprus data First data is ready on PGS’s phase one of the Cyprus Vision reprocessing and work has started on phase two. This project, to create a 20,000 km2 contiguous, modern seismic data volume in the Cyprus EEZ, has been carried out in partnership with the Cypriot Ministry for Energy, Commerce and Industry.

Phase one, which began in May 2021, creates a seamless 3D seismic volume of 14,750 km2 KPSDM for Cyprus offshore blocks 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Processing and velocity model building are complete and the raw data is now available for viewing.

Final data volumes will be ready in June 2022.

‘Cyprus has attracted strong industry interest in its context in the wider Eastern Mediterranean region. Multiple commercial gas discoveries have been made in recent years, most notably Zohr in Egypt, and similar Cypriot discoveries Calypso and Glaucus. There is also the possibility of presalt Miocene sand-hosted reservoirs,’ said Joshua May, PGS business development manager Africa, Mediterranean and Middle East.

PGS has started the second phase of the project to add another 6000 km2 of rejuvenated KPSDM data. Phase two will

Full-stack KPSDM image within the Cyprus Vision volume, displaying typical, deformed Messinian salt together with a thick presalt sediment section.

add coverage in Blocks 2, 3 and 9. This will be matched and merged with the data from phase one to create more than 20,000 km2 of contiguous, modern seismic data in the Cyprus EEZ. The full reprocessed Cyprus Vision volume, delivered on a common grid, will be available in Q1 2023.

Meanwhile, PGS is expected to report Q1 contract revenues of $62 million,

compared to $25.5 million in Q1 2021.

Multi-client late sales revenues were approx. $55 million in Q1 2022, compared to $49.2 million in Q1 2021. However, multi-client prefunding revenues were approx. $15 million in Q1 2022, compared to $79.8 million in Q1 2021, and multi-client cash investment ended at approx. $22 million, compared to $43.3 million in Q1 2021.

TGS reprocesses more Indonesia data

Bromo vocalno at sunrise, East Java, Indonesia.

TGS has announced its third seismic data reprocessing project of 2022 in Indonesia, delivering insights into the prospective Tarakan Basin.

The project applies a broadband processing workflow to 3363 km2 of 3D

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data to better understand the hydrocarbon prospectivity of the basin, where the significant Parang and Badik oil discoveries have been made.

TGS will apply a broadband PreSTM and PreSDM workflow with

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dynamic matching FWI, tomography and modern demultiple methods to address key imaging challenges associated with the complex shallow overburden.

Will Ashby, executive vice-president, Eastern Hemisphere at TGS, said, ‘Applying the modern imaging expertise of TGS to the Tarakan Basin dataset will play a crucial role in unraveling the full offshore potential of this area.’ We have developed this project, building on recent exploration success in the area.’

Final pre-stack time and depth products will be available during Q4 2022 and Q1 2023, respectively.

INDUSTRY NEWS

CGG appoints worldrenowned climate expert to lead ESG strategy CGG has appointed Professor David Viner as head of environmental science.

Viner, who has more than 30 years’ experience across global climate change and sustainability arenas in the academic, public and private sectors, will develop CGG’s environmental science business and also advise the company on its ESG strategy.

He started his career at the world-renowned Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, where he is now a visiting professor. From 2007 he was the principal specialist for climate change at Natural England where he developed its approach to landscape-scale adaptation. From 2008 he was director for climate change at the British Council, where he developed a global programme of engagement to help support the UK and beyond for climate action.

In 2012 Viner joined Mott MacDonald, where he provided the evidence base for the establishment of its renowned Climate Resilience Initiative. His most recent

position was as an associate director at the Green Investment Group at Macquarie, where he led the team responsible for ensuring that all its investments were aligned to the global green transition.

Viner has been involved with the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 1992 and was a co-ordinating lead author for its working group 2 Sixth Assessment Report published on 28 February. He is also a member of the UK Natural Environmental Research Council’s Scientific Committee, a fellow of the Institute of Environmental Science and an honorary lifetime member of Friends of the Countryside for work on climate change and land management.

He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and reports.

Peter Whiting, EVP Geoscience, CGG, said: ‘His appointment underscores the strength of our commitment to growing our portfolio of new technologies, data and solutions which address environmental and energy transition challenges.’

Equinor to stop trading in Russian oil Equinor has announced that it will stop trading in Russian oil. The company has pledged not to enter any new trades or engage in transport of oil and oil products from Russia.

However, it explained that while it is exiting its projects in Russia, it has

Equinor holds a stake in the Kharyaga field located in Russia. Credit: Svein Are Enes/Equinor ASA.

certain contractual commitments arising out of contracts entered into prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This includes contracts signed in January under which Equinor was due to receive four oil cargoes in March. Two of these are being sold on to customers in Asia. The third is a naphta cargo that will be delivered to an Equinor contracted storage facility. The fourth is a feedstock cargo to be delivered at the Mongstad refinery in Norway.

‘Receiving these cargoes is in full compliance with current sanctions.

Equinor is continuing its work to exit Russia in a responsible way while ensuring compliance with all applicable laws, including sanctions,’ Equinor said in a statement.

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Assistant Professor positions – Solid Earth Geophysics The Department of Geosciences at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), College of Petroleum Engineering & Geosciences (CPG) invites applications for two Assistant Professor positions in Solid Earth Geophysics in any sub-domain such as mining geophysics, exploration/applied geophysics including upcoming technologies such as DAS and scaled laboratory experiments, computational geophysics and geodynamics, with highly quantitative and innovative domains (machine learning, data analytics, etc.) being preferred. We seek two outstanding individuals to boost the Department’s reputation for cutting-edge research and dedicated teaching.

Further details including responsibilities, qualifications and compensation can be found on the CPG jobs website, see https://cpg.peopleadmin.com/ postings/506/print_preview How to Apply: Applicants must send a cover letter, a statement of teaching and research interests, a curriculum vitae containing citation statistics (h-index and citations) on google scholar and Scopus with links provided plus a complete list of publications and the names and contact information for a minimum of three references to: College of Petroleum Engineering & Geosciences, Human Resources Office, KFUPM, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia. Preference is for email submissions to cpg-jobs@kfupm.edu.sa and to panteleimon.soupios@kfupm.edu.sa.

Applications will be received starting April 04, 2022; application closing date is May 31, 2022.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

CGG and Kent form carbon capture and hydrogen alliance

Carbon capture installations.

CGG has formed a partnership with the energy services engineering company Kent to work together on realizing decarbonisation opportunities through CCUS development and hydrogen production and supply.

CGG and Kent will aim to provide customers in the energy and industrial sectors with ‘end-to-end’ services across

the life cycle of the projects. For example, from subsurface characterization required for storage screening and evaluation to project engineering, planning, construction, and commissioning, including latelife activities such as decommissioning and long-term monitoring, that include instrumentation and data management.

This collaboration brings the capability to masterplan entire CCUS clusters.

CGG will deploy its subsurface characterization and subsurface risk analysis tools for CCUS and H2 projects as well as monitoring and instrumentation technologies for long-term monitoring and environmental assessment. CGG also has an extensive Earth Data library of geology and seismic multi-client data to help clients quickly identify suitable storage sites in depleted oil and gas reservoirs and aquifers. Kent will provide capabilities in engineering and design of facilities, CO2 capture, transportation through pipeline to wellhead, where they will work alongside

CGG from wellhead and into storage reservoir.

CGG has more than 15 years of experience supporting high-profile CCUS projects around the world, including Sleipner, Troll, Weyburn, Pembina and Gorgon.

Kent has been involved in more than 50 CCUS projects worldwide and was a key player in one of the world’s largest operational CCUS projects at Boundary Dam, Canada. Kent also has more than 50 years’ experience on hydrogen projects, including most recently HyNet in the UK. The partnership will develop feasibility studies and concept designs to support client stage gating processes.

Peter Whiting, EVP, Geoscience, CGG, said: ‘Our partnership with Kent will provide clients in energy and industrial sectors with the end-to-end solutions they need to achieve their energy transition goals with CCUS and H2 storage projects.’ We will bring a fully integrated view of projects.’

Shearwater wins 3D surveys offshore South Korea Shearwater GeoServices has won a contract for two 3D seismic surveys offshore South Korea, together with seismic data processing and imaging by Korea National Oil Corporation (‘KNOC’).

Shearwater’s first contract with KNOC includes reservoir properties prediction analysis following processing. It will also be the company’s first reservoir characterisation project in partnership with Qeye, providing a complete workflow from geophysical data collection through to geoscience deliverables.

The Myungtae 3D survey, in Block 6-1 Central & East, covers 2575 km2.

The data will be processed through a full time and depth imaging sequence,

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Shearwater will use the vessel Geo Coral to acquire the two 3D surveys.

with delivery of predicted reservoir properties. The second survey covers approx. 500 km2 and with data processed through a full-time processing sequence.

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Shearwater will use the vessel Geo Coral to acquire the two 3D surveys, which are expected to take approx. four months to complete during the summer of 2022.

INDUSTRY NEWS

TGS starts big reprocessing project offshore Malaysia TGS has started a 3D reprocessing project offshore Malaysia, the first stage of which will cover a 16,957 km2 area, integrating existing 3D seismic data offshore Peninsular Malaysia.

Thirty-six 3D seismic surveys of varying vintages covering a key part of the Malay Basin will be processed through a broadband workflow by TGS’ consortium partner DownUnder GeoSolutions (DUG) at its Kuala Lumpur processing centre. The workflow, which includes

project announced in Asia Pacific in Q1 2022, demonstrating the demand for modern data to help address the acute energy supply challenge in this region. In addition to the Peninsular Malaysia Regional 3D Seismic Reprocessing, TGS, as part of the Sarawak Multi-Client consortium, is actively acquiring 3D seismic data offshore Sarawak and is committed to supporting Petronas and other E&P companies across Malaysia.’

ENERGY TRANSITION BRIEFS Halliburton is carrying out a study for Energean to assess carbon storage potential of the Prinos basin in Greece. Halliburton carbon capture, utilization and storage experts will collaborate with Energean to evaluate the Prinos area’s CO2 storage complex. Work will include plume modelling, characterizing the storage complex, and a conceptual development plan with performance modelling.

Aberdeen City Council and bp have signed an agreement to deliver a scalable green hydrogen production, storage and distribution facility in the UK city powered by renewable energy.

Aker Carbon Capture has agreed with Microsoft to offer services in the carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) market. ‘We will demonstrate the full value chain of carbon reduction and removal utilizing Aker’s CCUS technology and Microsoft’s digital capabilities to enable the ecosystem for the voluntary carbon market, providing traceability and data — ensuring high-quality carbon credits,’ said a joint statement.

FWI, Q-Migration, and Q-Tomo, will create a single contiguous 3D volume and a modern regional scale dataset to evaluate the Malay Basin.

This new dataset will allow for improved play mapping and structural understanding, identification of new exploration and CCS opportunities, and re-evaluation of reserve estimates in late-life assets.

This initial phase is part of a multi-year basin revitalization initiative awarded by Petronas. Stage 1 notably includes acreage in the 2022 Malaysia Bid Round, such as the exploration block of PM428 and the Abu Cluster, identified as a late-life asset prime for re-evaluation, and numerous other oil and gas clusters tied regionally for the first time in modern processed 3D seismic data.

Kristian Johansen, CEO at TGS, said, ‘This is our fifth reprocessing

TGS anticipates project expansion with further stages up to a total project area of more than 40,000 km2.

Final time and depth migrated products are expected during Q2 and Q3 2023.

Meanwhile, TGS expects net segment revenues for Q1 2022 to be approx. $114 million, compared to $75 million in Q1 2021, but Net IFRS revenues are expected to be £132 million, compared to $144 million in Q1 2021.

Kristian Johansen, said: ‘We continued to see improvement in market conditions during Q1 2022, with customers starting to become more interested in frontier areas. I’m particularly pleased with the strong late sales performance, which grew more than 80% compared to the same quarter of last year. With $215 million of net cash TGS is well positioned to benefit from increased activity.’

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bp is partnering with Japanese company Marubeni to explore offshore wind development opportunities and potentially hydrogen projects in Japan. bp has purchased a 49% stake in Marubeni’s proposal for an offshore wind project off the coast in Japan and will establish an offshore wind development team in Tokyo.

Equinor has been awarded the operatorships for the development of CO2 storage at the Smeaheia site in the North Sea and Polaris site in the Barents Sea. Equinor and Naturgy are jointly bidding for projects in Spain’s first upcoming offshore wind auction offshore Canary Islands in 2023.

Three companies have been offered exploration licences to store CO2 in two areas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. One area in the North Sea and one in the Barents Sea were announced in September last year, and the authorities have assessed applications from five companies.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

TGS releases well map of UK and Norway shelf

TGS has released the North West Europe Facies Map Browser (FMB) 4.7.0 to support conventional oil and gas exploration and regional carbon storage assessment across the UK and Norway Continental Shelf.

Updates include all newly released exploration and appraisal wells from the UK and Norway Continental Shelf and new data types to assist with both regional and infrastructure-led exploration workflows. Further enhancements to the

stratigraphic model have been completed, including a review of the Cenozoic stratigraphy integrating well data and TGS seismic data – providing a robust stratigraphic framework to support new hydrocarbon play concepts for near-field exploration and carbon storage assessments. The FMB 4.7.0 desktop browser includes functionality updates that make it easier to visualize and analyse the largest cross-border well database in North West Europe. FMB data is also available via the FMBConnect API data services, allowing users to seamlessly connect well and map data directly from TGS Cloud into their workflows.

Will Ashby, executive vice-president, Eastern Hemisphere at TGS, said, ‘FMB is a critical tool for better informed investment decisions, supporting carbon storage assessment, infrastructure-led exploration and exploration in less mature acreage where new gas discoveries can play a role as a bridge fuel for the energy transition and to increase energy security.’

The next annual release of the FMB platform is scheduled for Q12023.

PGS wins award for vessel safety AI tool

Vessel Ramform Sovereign and vessel Ramform Viking.

PGS has won an award for an incident management tool on its vessels that uses artificial intelligence to analyse data and automate alerts.

The company has won the Safety Performance Improvement sector at

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the Innovation Excellence Awards run by the digital environmental research and advisory company Verdantix for the tool that that identifies trends, automates alerts and proactively prevents incidents.

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PGS is using Industrial DataOps software, including Cognite Data Fusion to respond to some 7500 actual and potential issues logged annually.

Cognite and PGS have developed an application called HSEQ Categorizer to sort and categorize the reporting of incidents based on keywords. The application looks for the presence, exclusion, or combinations of certain words. The HSEQ Categorizer is hosted on Cognite Functions, a service enabling users to deploy Python code to Cognite Data Fusion that can be called on demand or on a scheduled basis.

The organized data is then visualized in a Power BI dashboard, which enables users to set up alerts and be notified.

INDUSTRY NEWS

3D industrial carbon capture pilot starts The ‘3D’ industrial pilot to demonstrate an innovative process for capturing CO2 from industrial activities is up and running at ArcelorMittal’s Dunkirk site in France. A consortium including TotalEnergies, ArcelorMittal, Axens and IFP Energies Nouvelles (IFPEN) has started the demonstration project, which is scheduled to last for 12 to 18 months.

The carbon capture facility will process steelmaking gases, demonstrating the effectiveness of the carbon capture process by separating the CO2 from other gases. During the demonstration stage, it will capture 0.5 tonnes of CO2 an hour.

‘This carbon capture pilot is a big step towards decarbonizing the industry: it is being tested in steelmaking, but can also be applied to refining processes,’

LICENSING ROUND BRIEFS

said Marie-Noëlle Semeria, chief technology officer at TotalEnergies.

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will hold a wind energy auction for two lease areas offshore the Carolinas on May 11. The lease areas cover 110,091 acres in the Carolina Long Bay area that could generate 1.3 gigawatts of wind energy. The Carolina Long Bay offshore wind energy auction will allow offshore wind developers to bid on one or both of the lease areas within the Wilmington East Wind Energy Area (WEA).

TotalEnergies bids for Polish offshore wind projects TotalEnergies and KGHM have signed a 50/50 partnership to participate in the Polish government tender for offshore wind projects.

The government is auctioning 11 areas in the Polish Baltic Sea, representing an expected total capacity of over 10 GW. TotalEnergies will leverage its expertise in offshore operations and its ties with global supply chains.

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has announced the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area (WEA) environmental assessment (EA) for public comment.

The Morro Bay WEA, which is 20 miles off the central California coastline, covers approx. 240,898 acres, which could bring to the grid up to 3 GW of clean energy.

KGHM, as a Polish state-owned group, will bring its knowledge of the Polish market.

‘The development of offshore wind contributes both to the Europe’s energy transition and supply security. With favourable weather conditions, Poland is particularly well positioned to participate in the growth of this promising market,’ said Patrick Pouyanné, chairman & CEO of TotalEnergies.’

Australia has received ten bids for areas for its 2021 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release. The 2021 release comprises 21 areas across the Bonaparte, Browse, Carnarvon basins off Western Australia, and the Otway, Sorell and Gippsland, off Victoria and Tasmania. The following areas received bids: W21-1, W21-3, W21-8, W21-10, V21-2, T21-1, T21-2, T21-3 and T21-4.

Australia is inviting bids on eight areas for petroleum exploration in Western Australia. The blocks are based in the Northern Carnarvon Basin and Amadeus Basin, and vary in size from 390 to 10,282 km2. Seven of the blocks are onshore and one is offshore. Deadline for applications is 16 June. bp has won the Agung l and Agung ll oil and gas exploration blocks in the second round of Indonesia’s 2021 Oil and Gas Working Area Bid Round.

The Agung I Block covers an area of 6656 km2 deepwater offshore Bali and East Java, while the Agung II Block is located in deepwater offshore of South Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara and East Java covering an area of 7970 km2.

Poland is auctioning 11 areas in the Baltic Sea for offshore wind projects.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

TGS shoots 3D survey offshore Egypt

Oil production rig in the Red Sea, Egypt.

TGS and Schlumberger are shooting a 3D seismic survey in the Red Sea, Egypt.

This survey represents the second phase of new acquisition for the partners in this region and will encompass a minimum of 5000 km2. Data will be acquired with long offsets and processed using a Pre-Stack Depth Migration (PSDM)

workflow to enable subsalt imaging. The acquisition is expected to start in April 2022, with final products in mid-2023 ahead of future licensing rounds in the region.

‘The region is considered to hold significant hydrocarbon potential characterized by a wide range of prospective

hydrocarbon systems comprising large, untested structures,’ said TGS. TGS and Schlumberger are working with the Egypt Ministry of Petroleum and South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (GANOPE) to promote the prospectivity of the Egyptian Red Sea.

Oil and gas round-up Shell has signed three production sharing contracts (PSC) with Petronas to explore oil and gas offshore Sabah and Sarawak, including blocks SK439/SK440 in shallow water off the coast of Sarawak and exploration of blocks SB-2W and SB-X in deep water off the coast of Sabah. bp is reported to be looking to sell the Foinaven oil field in the North Sea, hoping Britain’s renewed focus on domestic production will attract buyers interested in extracting the field’s remaining reserves.

The Colombian Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) has revealed that discovered gas in place has reached 25 TCF. In recent petroleum system modelling, 22 play fairways were defined. The most prospective of them are located in the Middle Magdalena, Llanos Foothills and Eastern Llanos Basins. Resources in conventional reservoirs range from 16 to 28 TCF. Equinor has won a drilling permit for well 7220/8-3 in production licence PL 532 in the Bar-

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ents Sea. Licensees are Equinor (Operator) 50%; Var Energi 30%; Petoro 20%.

ConocoPhillips has won consent for exploration drilling in production licence PL 1064 in the Norwegian Sea. Exploration well 6507/4-3 S will be drilled to test a prospect named Peder.

Water depth is 435.6 m.

Norway has approved applications for revised production permits for the Oseberg, Troll and Heidrun fields.

Shell is reported to be reconsidering its recent decision to pull investment from the UK’s Cambo oil field in the North Sea as a result of rising oil prices and after the partners were granted a two-year extension to develop the field.

In December, Shell said the economic case, along with possible regulatory delays, meant it was withdrawing from Cambo, 75 miles off the west coast of Shetland. Shell’s partner, and operator of the Cambo development, Siccar Point Energy, confirmed in early December 2021 that Shell had taken the

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decision to ‘not progress its investment at this stage’.

Longboat Energy has made a big discovery in the Equinor-operated Kveikje exploration well (35/10-8S) in licence PL293B in the Norwegian North Sea. The preliminary estimate of recoverable resources in Kveikje Main is 28 to 48 MMboe (gross).

Norway has granted Neptune Energy a drilling permit for well 35/9-16 A in production licence PL 153 in the North Sea. Licensees are: Neptune Energy Norge (Operator) 30%; Petoro 30%; Wintershall Dea Norge 28%; and OKEA 12%.

Equinor has found oil and gas in licence PL 293 B to the Troll and Fram area. The size of the discovery is between 4 and 8 million standard cubic metres of recoverable oil equivalent, or 25-50 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent.

Shell is expected to write down $4 to $5 billion in its first quarter 2022 results related to closing down its Russia activities.

Special Topic

GLOBAL EXPLORATION HOTSPOTS Explorers have a pretty good idea of where global exploration hotspots are but excellent multi-disciplinary geoscience strategies are required to identify the sweetspots. This month we focus on some of the emerging strategies. We also look at how the exploration hotspot picture is evolving as a result of the energy transition. As the world emerges from the Covid-pandemic and as a result of the war in Ukraine, energy prices have spiked and oil majors are planning to allocate bigger budgets to the oil and gas exploration that will continue to be required during the energy transition. Deepwater prospects off the Atlantic coast of West Africa will be featured as well as less obvious hotspots.

William A. Heins draws attention to some of the primal palaeo-geographic, climatic, and oceanographic datasets that support further exploration on the frontier.

Carl Fredrik Gyllenhammar et al explain why the area an area of the UK-Norway border of the North Sea has much more prospectivity than was previously thought.

Neil Hodgson et aldiscuss hotspots that are being reactivated as a result of the new world order.

Frankie Hulbert reviews notable activity in 2021, trends observed in the last decade and planned exploration proposed for 2022.

Caroline Wood et al explain why the South China Sea’s untapped potential is attracting growing global interest.

Mike Lakin assesses the change of approach that is needed to harness exploration hotspots during the energy transition.

Richard Hedley et al summarise some of the main play concepts in Namibia and South Africa.

Submit an article

Special Topic overview January

Land Seismic

First Break Special Topics are covered by a mix of original articles dealing with case studies and the latest technology. Contributions to a Special Topic in First Break can be sent directly to the editorial office (firstbreak@eage.org). Submissions will be considered for publication by the editor.

February

Digitalization / Machine Learning

March

Reservoir Monitoring

April

Unconventionals and Passive Seismic

May

Global Exploration Hotspots

June

Leading Geosciences in a New Era

It is also possible to submit a Technical Article to First Break. Technical Articles are subject to a peer review process and should be submitted via EAGE’s ScholarOne website: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/fb

July

Modelling / Interpretation

August

Near Surface Geo & Mining

September

Reservoir Engineering & Geoscience

October

Energy Transition

November

Marine Acquisition

December

Data Management and Processing

You can find the First Break author guidelines online at www.firstbreak.org/guidelines.

More Special Topics may be added during the course of the year.

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FEATURE: WHATSUP!

From Roman road to path dependency — which legacy should we prepare?

Gwenola Michaud reflects on how the past shapes the present and on our responsibility in our present activities for future solution development cycles.

All roads lead to Rome Some systems used every day were designed a long time ago yet still provide remarkable solutions. From the first major road (constructed in the third century BC, 200 km long between Rome and Napoli), the Roman road arterial network was the lifeblood of the empire. Much of this network is still visible and actively used. What makes the Roman road system so sustainable? First, it was designed with one purpose in mind: with a maximum travel speed between positions of 30 km a day, the idea was to follow a straight line. This required not only precise land surveys to define the most direct route, but also bold decisions in road building requiring building bridges, digging tunnels, climbing up and down steep hills or mountains. A second aspect was the engineering of durable and sustainable solutions. From trench digging with small retaining walls on the side of the road to the various foundation and surface stone layers, along with efficient water drainage, the roads were built to last with the minimum need for intervention. A third characteristic was a relevant and efficient documentation: stone pillars gave user-friendly standardised information about nearby towns and stopping places, allowing easy adoption even in unfamiliar lands. Security was also reinforced to encourage travellers to confidently use the road system. The system was deployable and up-scalable as seen through its extension around the Mediterranean Sea, extending from Britain to the Tigris-Euphrates and from the Danube to Spain and northern Africa. Finally, this solution was profitable.

Tolls were collected on some sections of the road system while collaboration grew along the roads to provide rest stops and food for travellers and horses. This inspirational development of a sustainable solution is an example of the past positively shaping the present.

Paved Roman road are an inspiration for sustainable solutions.

Shift-click However, past decisions sometimes shape our present in an annoying way and for a long time. Let’s take our daily keyboards as an example. They were designed to be inefficient; when using typewriters, it was important not to type too fast as the spokes carrying the metal letters to the paper could get tangled. The US standard QWERTY design was adapted to AZERTY for the French market, with other keyboard variations losing out to ‘first to market’ design. I challenge anyone to correctly type passwords on AZERTY layout if previously set on a QWERTY layout! The French culture ministry regrets the impact of the AZERTY layout on the standard of written French, especially with the difficulty of accenting capital letters. But even with governmental push, the chances of ever modernising the solution are slim, with over 2 billion computers in the world (hardware), and over 5 billion internet users (brainware). This illustrates how difficult it can sometimes be to move away from unfortunate path dependency.

Guardians for the future In our everyday work, we can all cite examples of technology which could be replaced or improved, but are still in use. Seismic volume names used to have a character length limit in some seismic interpretation software, requiring imaginative abbreviation on loading; these coded and undocumented filenames probably still linger on our disks and on storage media. Even the most modern data processing interface could be relying on inefficient algorithms from the 20th century, when memory and compute power limitations required innovative but obsolete solutions.

There are multiple reasons for our reluctance to upgrade to new and better solutions: economic, priority, lack of know-how or resource. The safe course of action is therefore to keep everything, hoping to figure out later what to do with it. While we should respect the past, legacy tools and collected data, isn’t it equally our duty to be rigorous, diligent, and responsible towards the legacy we will leave? Should we pay attention not only to the creation and update of data, but also to the archive and deletion side? How should we retire and even delete irrelevant data with confidence, and decommission obsolete tools no longer needed? This is tricky as the simple definition of obsolete could be subjective. Yet we surely do not want to leave an ocean of insignificant data, various versions of algorithms and irrelevant solutions for the next generation. Our aspiration should be like expert gardeners, able to take care properly and respectfully of knowledge and tools with their difference and originality, while being brave to prune, remove dead branches and trials to give space to better solutions.

Views expressed in this article are solely those of the author, who can be contacted at gwenola.michaud@cognite.com

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CALENDAR

CALENDAR OF EVENTS DATE 6-9 JUNE 2022

83rd EAGE Annual Conference & Exhibition Madrid, Spain www.eageannual2022.org

May 2022 3-4 May

The Energy Transition Students and Young Professionals Conference www.eage.org

Uppsala

4-5 May

Seismic 2022 and Beyond – The Continuing Role of Seismic in the Energy Industry www.spe-aberdeen.org

Online

17-18 May

Third EAGE Workshop on HPC in Americas www.eage.org

Salvador

Brazil

23-27 May

EGU General Assembly 2022

Vienna

Austria

30 May 4 Jun

Joint Workshop Meeting APSLIM II and 19IWSA www.sw3d.cz

Online

31 May 1 June

EAGE Workshop on Quantitative Geoscience as a Catalyst in a Carbon Neutral World www.eage.org

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

2-3 Jun

GeoTHERM

Offenburg

Germany

6-9 Jun

83 rd EAGE Annual Conference & Exhibition www.eageannual2022.org

Madrid

Spain

14-16 Jun

GEODAYS

Pau

France

15-16 Jun

DGMK/ÖGEW Spring Conference

Celle

Germany

Sweden

June 2022

August 2022 17-18 Aug

Second EAGE Workshop on Advanced Seismic Solutions in the Gulf of Mexico www.eage.org

Ciudad de Mexico and online

Mexico

22‑24 Aug

Third EAGE Marine Acquisition Workshop www.eage.org

Oslo

Norway

23‑24 Aug

EAGE Asia Pacific Workshop on CO2 Geological Storage www.eage.org

Perth

Australia

The Hague and online

Netherlands

September 2022 5-7 Sep

ECMOR 2022 European Conference on Mathematics of Geological Reservoirs www.eage.org

EAGE Events

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12-14 Sep

MEDiNA Technical Conference and Exhibition www.medinace.aapg.org

Tunis

Tunisia

13-15 Sep

EAGE Conference on Digital Innovation for a Sustainable Future www.eage.org

Bangkok

Thailand

14-16 Sep

Fourth HGS/EAGE Conference on Latin America www.eage.org

Cartagena

Colombia

18-22 Sep

Near Surface Geoscience Conference & Exhibition 2022 www.nsg2022.org

Belgrade

Serbia

19-21 Sep

Sixth EAGE High Performance Computing Workshop www.eage.org

Milan

Italy

26-28 Sep

Sixth International Conference on Fault and Top Seals faultandtopseals.org

Vienna

Austria

28-30 Sep

First EAGE Guyana-Suriname Basin Conference Discoveries and Opportunities to Harness the Potential of a New Oil Patch www.eage.org

Georgetown and online

Guyana

October 2022 10-12 Oct

Sixth EAGE Eastern Africa Petroleum Geoscience Forum The future of petroleum geoscience in the Eastern African energy mix www.eage.org

Cape Town and online

South Africa

12-14 Oct

First EAGE Western Africa Exploration & Production Workshop Collaboration in frontier and emerging exploration in Western Africa www.eage.org

Cape Town and online

South Africa

12-14 Oct

Second EAGE Workshop on EOR in Latin America www.eage.org

Bogotá

Colombia

14-16 Oct

Baku 2022 Fourth international conference on Geology of the Caspian Sea and Adjacent Areas www.eage.org

Baku

Azerbaijan

24-27 Oct

EAGE 5 th Asia Pacific Meeting on Near Surface Geoscience & Engineering www.eage.org

Taipei

Taiwan

26-27 Oct

Second EAGE Workshop on East Canada Offshore Exploration www.eage.org

St John’s and online

Canada

28-31 Oct

Second EAGE Subsurface Intelligence Workshop www.eage.org

Manama

Bahrain

November 2022 15-17 Nov

Sixth EAGE Rock Physics Workshop www.eage.org

Riyadh

Saudi Arabia

7-9 Nov

EAGE GET 2022 3 rd EAGE Global Energy Transition Conference & Exhibition www.eage.org

The Hague

Netherlands

21-22 Nov

First EAGE/SBGf Workshop on Reservoir Monitoring and its Role in the Energy Transition www.eage.org

Rio de Janeiro and online

Brazil

23-25 Nov

Third EAGE Conference on Pre Salt Reservoirs www.eage.org

Rio de Janeiro and online

Brazil

28-29 Nov

Asia Petroleum Geoscience Conference & Exhibition (APGCE) www.eage.org

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

28-30 Nov

Eighth EAGE Arabian Plate Core Workshop: From Play Concepts to Reservoir Heterogeneity www.eage.org

Dhahran

Saudi Arabia

December 2022 1-2 Dec

Fourth EAGE Workshop on Unconventional Resources www.eage.org

Bogota

Colombia

5-7 Dec

2 nd EAGE Workshop on Fiber Optic Sensing for Energy Applications in Asia Pacific www.eage.org

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

EAGE Events

Non-EAGE Events

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