What's new in exploration: Happy days ahead, maybe

WILLIAM (BILL) HEAD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 

Great News: Needless to say, but I will say it anyway, energy was given a giant step of freedom on Nov. 5 in the United States. That is, assuming that President-elect Donald J. Trump can convince others to redirect power towards more liberty [less regulation] and less taxation [your money]. The seminal reversal of the so-called Chevron doctrine by the U.S. Supreme Court will help to stop career regulators from inventing laws. 

Bad News: It’s not the horrible nuclear threat or ongoing wars, but they should not be tolerated either. Rather, freedom means that hydrocarbon reserves will now be in more demand. Great! Where? You may have noticed that only two categories of future reserves are being aggressively pursued. So far, that means fracing within continents and mega-discoveries offshore, but not in the Gulf of Mexico or the North Sea. That is meaningful for FPSOs.  

However, if I recall correctly, buying an FPSO business bankrupted my company, PGS. Too much of a good thing in the wrong place or time in history can be fatal. Not so, for Exxon in offshore Guyana. So, what to do? You have been reading in this magazine that mergers, sales, and buying reserves remain a going business. The news then? Game on, so no slackers, if you care about shareholder value. 

CO2???? Can’t wait for the next push for green or saving the world from CO₂? Neither can investors, who are watching Trump, et al, and the Euro greens. No worries. Liberal ideologues have already started lawsuits against an administration (Trump’s) that has yet to exist! Even if the EPA’s $85/ton credit for sequestration evaporates, geophysical and reservoir geology continues to develop ideas and technology that will benefit exploration and long, long, long-term production.  

Currently, I am inspecting DOE proposals for monitoring gas leakage in situ from orphan wells and gas leakage at the surface from any well. Also, projects onshore, along the GOM coast, appear to be hot candidates for both sequestration and oil recovery. Frac tech is progressing, such as the U. of Bergen’s research in foam substitutes for brine water. Foam, as in dish soap! 

An old idea is being rejuvenated: geology while drilling. Who else has money to spend on well technology? World Oil has noted SLB’s advances, but to be fair, explore them for yourself:  https://www.slb.com/products-and-services/innovating-in-oil-and-gas/well-construction/measurements/logging-while-drilling-services 

Fig. 1. Dr. Jon Olson, University of Texas at Austin.

Not to be left behind, at the University of Texas at Austin’s Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, the holder of the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Family Chair, Jon Olson, presented a workshop on fracing to Texas teachers, and Hilary Olson presented on geothermal fracking applications. Assisted by Sabrina Ewald, this nonpolitical workshop session for science teachers gave creative hands-on demonstrations of the porosity and permeability of rock types common to fossil fuel fracing and hydrothermal reservoirs.  

Hydraulic Fracturing and Geothermal Energy: Diversifying Engineering and Technology Applications in the Energy Sector.   

https://cast.statweb.org/2024/sessions.cfm?session_key=14F31C4A-DA65-80EC-6019-DF432F690B5A&session_date=Thursday,%20Nov%2014,%202024 

While tempted to interrupt the presentation that day, I will say that the Hildebrand brothers are to be commended for their money well spent. The battle for hydrocarbons is not at the pump or the drill bit but in the minds of our young people, who are facing uncertain futures. You can contact Dr. Olson at jolson@austin.utexas.edu. Perhaps he will share some of his slides with your group of doubters. After all, to paraphrase a politician, no good crack should go to waste.