--> ABSTRACT: Exploration and Development Geoscience in the 21st Century: How to Survive, How to Thrive?, by N. Kumar; #91021 (2010)

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Exploration and Development Geoscience in the 21st Century: How to Survive, How to Thrive?

KUMAR, NARESH

The oil industry will need to display as much flexibility in the Twenty-First Century as it has during the Twentieth. Organizations which are committed to technology, are flexible, dynamic, and demand interdisciplinary integration will not only survive but flourish in the next century. New geological technologies will focus on improved reservoir management and developing plays in structurally complex areas. Most seismic interpretation will be done in 3-D and in depth, and new tools to detect "missed pay" will be in existence. All geological/geophysical/engineering data will be utilized in integrated full-basin models.

As most major companies have reduced their basic research effort, the task of developing new technologies will fall on universities, consortia, national labs, and contractors. However, majors and independents who are most efficient at integrating new technology into their exploration and development efforts will be the ones who are most successful. Four major technology focus areas will be critical for success during the next century: (1) Resolution of complex structures through improved seismic methods coupled with realistic geologic models, (2) Combination of both geological and geophysical techniques to improve prediction of reservoir quality at prospect, field and basin level, (3) Interpretation of various types of "Direct Hydrocarbon Indicators", and (4) Reconstruction of maturation, migration, and entrapment of hydrocarbons through 3-D basin models. New and highly useful technologies in each of these areas are already on the horizon.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91021©1997 AAPG Annual Convention, Dallas, Texas.