Mesozoic Biochronostratigraphy and Paleoenvironment of the South Atlantic

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New Research for the South Atlantic By EGI Foraminiferal Biostratigrapher, Eiichi Setoyama, PhD and Research Associate & Adjunct Associate Professor, Sudeep Kanungo, PhD Mesozoic Biochronostratigraphy and Paleoenvironment of the South Atlantic: A revised framework based on 20 DSDP and ODP deep-water sites Journal of South American Earth Sciences, Volume 99, 2020, 102511, ISSN 0895-9811. doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2020.102511. The full article may be viewed and downloaded at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0895981120300249 Abstract: The South American and West African margins of the South Atlantic and the Southern Ocean are characterized by Mesozoic black shales that serve as source rocks of known and unknown petroleum systems. The knowledge of regional chronostratigraphy and paleoenvironment enables the prediction of the stratigraphic and geographic distribution of black shales with precision, as well as the understanding of local heterogeneity in regional- or global-scale oceanographic changes, such as oceanic anoxic events. Through sample re-analyses, this study provides a high-resolution Mesozoic chronostratigraphic and paleoenvironmental…

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EGI Advisory Board Chair Receives 2020 AAPG Distinguished Service Award

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EGI is delighted to congratulate Advisory Board Chairperson, Dr. Jonathan Craig from ENI, who was awarded the 2020 AAPG Distinguished Service Award. Established by AAPG Executive Committee action in 1971 the Distinguished Service Award is presented to members who have distinguished themselves in singular and beneficial long-term service to AAPG. Jonathan entered the oil & gas industry in 1980 and has worked as a structural geologist for Geomorphological Services Ltd., an exploration geoscientist for Shell, and an Exploration Manager and the Chief Geologist for LASMO plc. Since 2001, he has successively been the Head of Technical Projects, Head of Prospect Validation, Head of Geology and Head of Strategic Exploration Projects for the Eni in London and Milan. EGI Advisory Board Chair, Dr. Jonathan Craig (Eni) During his career he has worked on a wide variety of international exploration and development projects, including overseas assignments in Australia, Tanzania, Indonesia, Pakistan, Colombia,…

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2020 Outstanding Chemical Engineering Dissertation Award

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EGI Affiliate Scientist and Former EGI Fellow Receives Chemical Engineering Award EGI is proud to congratulate Affiliate Scientist and former EGI fellow, Dr. Jan Goral, in his selection for the 2020 Outstanding Chemical Engineering Dissertation Award for his work “Digital (Shale) Rock Multi-Physics: Micro-/Nano-Scale Characterization of Petrophysical and Geomechanical Properties of Oil-/Gas-Bearing Rocks.” Jan completed his PhD and graduated from the Department of Chemical Engineering in Spring 2019. Jan Goral joined EGI when he started his PhD at the Department of Chemical Engineering with Professor Milind Deo in January, 2016. Prior to that, he was a graduate research/teaching assistant at the Department of Mining Engineering while working on his master’s degree in Mining Engineering. At EGI, Jan worked on projects with professors Milind Deo and John McLennan, Affiliate Scientist Ian Walton, and EGI Director Raymond Levey. He conducted research on micro- and nanoscale-resolution 3D imaging and modeling of shale rocks, as…

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Message from the Director

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As we welcome a new decade, we at EGI wish you all a very productive and prosperous 2020.  Reflecting on 10 years of changes, growth, challenges, and successes, we know that it is your support and engagement that are the cornerstones of our progress. It is our honor and pleasure to continue to work on behalf of all of our members and the energy industry at large.  The collaborative partnerships forged between EGI members and researchers is unparalleled in this type of consortia and we are grateful for the opportunity to continue to be your partner to develop the innovative, science-driven knowledge to move the energy industry forward especially in this dynamic time of change. Looking forward, 2020 is off to a busy start as we plan for EGI international and domestic meetings and conferences, as well as Distinguished Lecture Series, workshops & short courses, and enhanced access to EGI…

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2020 Transform Margins Workshop in Smolenice, Slovakia – POSTPONED

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Due to the global Covid-19 crisis, this event has been RESCHEDULED for December 14–17, 2020. Further details are available HERE. Preliminary Agenda Transform Margins Workshop & Field Excursion Arrive December 14 – Depart December 17 Registration Open to All Invited Guests Monday, December 14: Transportation provided from the Vienna, Austria airport to Smolenice Castle Conference Center. This drive from Vienna to Smolenice includes a field excursion component focused on the classical Vienna pull-apart basin. Tuesday – Wednesday, December 15 & 16: Two days of Transform Margin workshops. The Workshop structure will include invited talks to be followed by open discussion. Thursday, December 17: Morning departure by bus for return to Vienna Airport. (Exact time TBD; likely 7:00 am) For full workshop details and abstracts, please visit https://transformmargins.com. Questions and concern specifically pertaining to the Transform Margins Workshop may be directed to Marína Matejová. For complete workshop details and abstracts, please…

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New EGIconnect & Research Catalog Platforms to Deliver Enhanced Access

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Preview the new platforms now By Christopher Kesler EGI is excited to share new developments for improving and enhancing how we deliver the research and information resources our members depend on. Beginning in late 2019, EGI began the process of migrating the EGIconnect platform to a new Enterprise ArcGIS Online service that will bring easier search and access features, data security, and new user capabilities. As the initial stages have been completed, we are excited to share the new potential as we continue to work toward full implementation. The EGI Research Catalog— publicly accessible abstracts of EGI legacy research and projects available to all EGI members— has recently been upgraded for easier searching and access. The location map for navigating and searching the EGI public research catalog has been upgraded to an ArcGIS Online web application. For an overview of any or all of the 850+ completed reports, zoom in…

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EGI Awarded New Patent in Source Rock Analysis

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EGI is pleased to announce that based on the PhD topic of Dr. Dhrupad Beti, who successfully defended his PhD in December 2019, EGI has received a new patent titled "Temperature Profile for Rock Sample Composition Analysis." The patented method enables predicting liquid hydrocarbon composition solely by analyzing rock samples using anhydrous pyrolysis technique. The inventors (EGI Affiliate Scientist David Thul and Dr. Dhrupad Beti) have just received approval. The goal of this research supported by EGI and now patented is to license this technology for effective use by the industry and EGI member companies. Following his successful PhD defense, Dr. Beti is now starting a new position as EGI Data Science Post-Doctoral Fellow. Mr. Dan Jarvie, well known to the petroleum industry will be an informal advisor to EGI for this special fellowship position. Dr. Beti is the first to be awarded the EGI Post-Doctoral Fellow in Data Science.…

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EGI at AAPG Global Superbasins Leadership Conference

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photo credit: Dr. Rasoul Sorkhabi and AAPG Explorer. EGI Research Professor Dr. Rasoul Sorkhabi is an invited speaker at the AAPG Super Basin 2020 conference in Sugar Land, Texas, 11–13 February 2020. Dr. Sorkhabi’s talk is “Source Rocks of the World Overview” and is scheduled for Wednesday, 12 February morning session. In advance of the conference, Dr. Sorkhabi was interviewed by AAPG for their recent issue of AAPG Explorer. Emphasizing the importance of petroleum systems analysis in developing shale plays, Sorkhabi says, “We need to go beyond this vague umbrella term of ‘shale’ and really look at our rocks. Petroleum systems are very integrated physical, geochemical, sedimentological and structural processes. All unconventional plays are located in conventional basins. They need to be studied using a detailed and holistic approach.”  The full article, highlighting “‘lessons learned’ from current super basins” and applying these lessons to new discoveries, is available in the current issue…

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Shale Plays of the Middle East

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New Article and Distinguished Lecture from EGI’s Rasoul Sorkhabi photo credit: GEOExPro, vol 16 issue 5 Dr. Rasoul Sorkhabi recently published an article entitled Shale Plays of the Middle East in GeoExPro (Vol. 16 no.5, 2019). The article examines the potential for transferring the U.S. shale technology revolution to exploration in the Middle East.  While shale formations are common throughout the Middle East, Dr. Sorkhabi goes on to evaluate current challenges and opportunities in potential development of shale resources in the region. Visit GeoExPro to read Dr. Sorkhabi’s full article. EGI is also delighted to announce that Dr. Sorkhabi will also be presenting on the subject as an EGI Distinguished Lecturer. For more information and scheduling, please email us and someone will respond promptly. Read More

Tony Doré Receives Wallace E. Pratt Memorial Award

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EGIGlobal Chief Scientist among recipients of Best Article Award Global Chief Scientist & Senior Advisor to the Director, Tony Doré, with his co-authors, was awarded the 2019 Wallace E. Pratt Memorial Award for their paper titled “Triassic-Paleogene paleogeography of the Arctic: Implication for Sediment routing and Basin fill.” The Wallace E. Pratt Memorial Award serves to honor and reward the author(s) of the best AAPG Bulletin article published each calendar year. The paper appeared in AAPG Bulletin 102. Sømme, Tor & Doré, Anthony & Lundin, Erik & Tørudbakken, Bjorn. (2018). Triassic–Paleogene paleogeography of the Arctic: Implications for sediment routing and basin fill. AAPG Bulletin. 102. 2481-2517. 10.1306/05111817254. Read More

New Beginnings & Accolades for Early Career Staff

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2019 was a year of high accomplishment for EGI Petroleum Geochemistry Lab Manager Dhrupad Beti, who not only successfully passed the oral defense of his PhD thesis in early November, but was also honored by the Houston Geological Society & EAGE Conference on Latin America for his poster presentation at the November conference. The poster, “Application of a new resource assessment workflow to offshore Suriname: Correction for mineral matrix effect and reclassification of organofacies,” was awarded second runner up in the student poster presentation category. To view the winning poster, click on the image below to expand. Dr. Beti's HGS-EAGE 2019 student winning poster. Dr. Beti’s oral thesis defense, titled “Experimental Determination of Quantity and Quality of Hydrocarbons in Sedimentary Rock Samples,” was presented in early November 2019 to members of his committee (Dr. Terry Ring, Dr. Lauren Birgenheier, Dr. John McLennan, Dr. Milind Deo, Dr. Raymond Levey), EGI staff…

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EGI Distinguished Lecture Series Closes Successful 2019 with Full Schedule

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EGI warmly congratulates 2019 Distinguished Lecturer, EGI Research Professor Dr. Michal Nemčok, for his highly successful and much in-demand presentation “Kinematics and hydrocarbon habitat in different types of foreland/foredeep basins.” We also extend our warmest gratitude to the companies who hosted Dr. Nemčok, particularly in December with a packed schedule that saw him present at eight different companies in the Houston Texas area, to wrap a successful Lecture season. Our thanks go out to BP, ConocoPhillips, Ecopetrol, EOG Resources, ExxonMobil, Hess Corp., Occidental Oil & Gas Corp., and Repsol for their interest and support for this informative and impactful series. In the coming months, EGI will finalize plans for the 2020 Distinguished Lecture Series, with new speakers and topics.  Watch for details in future issues of ASK EGI and your email inbox. Thickness distribution of the Carbonera (from top C1 to top C7) Formation in the Llanos foreland basin (Hermeston…

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Updates from the Utah FORGE Project

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FORGE Managing PI Joseph Moore Congressional Testimony: WATER AND GEOTHERMAL POWER Originally published November 15, 2019 by UtahFORGE. EGI Research Professor & FORGE Managing PI Dr. Joseph Moore, Manager and PI of the FORGE project gave testimony on geothermal energy to the Subcommittee on Energy of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology at a hearing titled "Water and Geothermal Power: Unearthing the Next Wave of Energy Innovation" The purpose of this hearing was to examine research, development and demonstration needs for advancing water power and geothermal energy technologies. Read the full testimony here View and listen to the full hearing here FORGE Welcomes New Postdoctoral Fellow The Utah FORGE team welcomed a new post-doc fellow in early December.  Dr. Pengju Xing comes to EGI from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he graduated with a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh (2017). He most recently conducted research in geomechanical and…

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EGI Mourns the Passing of Longtime Colleague Howard P. Ross

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In September 2019, EGI mourned the loss of a longtime colleague and friend, Dr. Howard P. Ross.  An early member of the original Earth Science Laboratory/University of Utah Research Institute (ESL/UURI) from which EGI began, Howard was an EGI Research Scientist until his retirement in 2000, and remained an Affiliate Scientist for another decade. A number of current EGI staff and affiliates worked closely with Dr. Ross, particularly in the geothermal program. While at ESL/UURI Dr. Ross pioneered the use of electrical, gravity and magnetic methods for geothermal exploration. His work led to the siting of the first successful production well at the Cove Fort-Sulphurdale geothermal field in Utah. The field currently supports a 25 MWe power plant owned by ENEL. The full obituary for Dr. Ross may be viewed here. Read More