Join us for the inaugural PESGB Liverpool Branch meeting on Wednesday!

“An overview of applied and academic petroleum geoscience at Liverpool, Manchester, the NW England and N Wales: past, present and future”
With Professor Richard Worden

Wednesday 15 February, 7.30pm
Tea & coffee from 6.45 pm

Jane Herdman Lecture Theatre*
Jane Herdman Laboratories
Department of Earth, Ocean & Ecological Sciences
University of Liverpool
4 Brownlow Street
Liverpool, L69 3GP

The PESGB Liverpool Branch based at Liverpool University is a new group composed of a mix of current and retired petroleum industry professionals from the northwest England region, and Liverpool University academics who research and teach petroleum geology. Our aim is to facilitate strong links between these two composite groups, to provide an opportunity for current petroleum geology students to meet more industry professionals, and to showcase to the public the important societal contribution made by the petroleum industry and the academic research and teaching that supports it.

 

* The Jane Herdman Building is in Grid Reference D3 on the university map. Go to this site to see the campus map that shows the Jane Herdman Building:
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/files/docs/maps/liverpool-university-campus-map.pdf

The following site gives directions to the Jane Herdman Building:
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/earth-ocean-and-ecological-sciences/contacts-and-finding-us/

There is a visitors’ car park immediately outside the Jane Herdman Building. The entrance to this car park is off Pembroke Place (details are shown on the campus map).  The parking charge (payable as you leave) is about £1/hour

PESGB GEOLiteracy Tour, 8-15 April 2017: ‘Why Dinosaurs Matter’​ With Professor Ken Lacovara

The PESGB are delighted to announce that Professor Ken Lacovara will be headlining The PESGB GEOLiteracy Tour 2017.

He has unearthed some of the largest dinosaurs ever to walk our planet, including the super-massive Dreadnoughtus, which at 65 tons weighs more than seven T. rex! A popular public speaker, Lacovara enjoys sharing the wonders of science and discovery with audiences around the world. He has appeared in numerous television documentaries on American TV networks, as well as on the BBC, and was voted as one of the best TED speakers in 2016.

Why study the ancient past? Because it gives us perspective and humility. It’s the past that gives our world context. And it’s the past that gives us foresight. Dinosaurs were tiny, and huge. They were skittish and ferocious. Fast and slow. Runners, walkers, climbers, flyers, and sometimes swimmers. They were solitary and gregarious. Nocturnal and diurnal. Meat-eaters and plant-eaters. Hunters, scavengers, grazers, and browsers. They were drab, colourful, scaled and feathered. But, most of all, they were astoundingly adaptable. Dinosaurs dominated every continent and were thriving the day before their demise. Snuffed out by an asteroid, along with 75% of species on the planet, their sudden extinction emphasizes the contingent nature of Earth history. Over geological time, improbable, nearly impossible events do occur. By studying the ancient past, we begin to see ourselves as part of nature, connected across deep time to all other living things. After 165 million years, the dinosaurs died in the world’s fifth mass extinction, wiped out in a cosmic accident, through no fault of our own. They didn’t see it coming and they didn’t have a choice. We, on the other hand, do have a choice and the nature of the fossil record tells us that our place in this world is both precarious and potentially fleeting. Right now, our species is propagating an environmental disaster of geological proportions that is so broad and so severe, that it can rightly be called the sixth extinction. But, unlike the dinosaurs, we can see it coming. And, unlike the dinosaurs, we can do something about it. That choice is ours.

Join Ken on Tour…

TOUR DATES

SATURDAY 8 APRIL
Kimmeridge Bay & Lulworth Cove Family Field Trip
FREE but registration required

The Etches Collection Museum
Talk & Reception
FREE but registration required

SUNDAY 9 APRIL
Lecture
Lyme Regis Baptist Church
FREE but registration required

MONDAY 10 APRIL
Lecture
Natural History Museum, London
FREE but registration required

TUESDAY 11 APRIL
Stoneley Lecture & Reception
Cavendish Centre, London
£15, includes drinks reception

WEDNESDAY 12 APRIL
Keith Palmer Lecture & Reception
University of Birmingham School
FREE but registration required

FRIDAY 14 APRIL
Fun family activities throughout the day
TED talk screenings & Q&A
Aberdeen Science Centre, Aberdeen
Registration not required, venue entry fees apply

Stoneley Lecture & Reception
Aberdeen Science Centre, Aberdeen
£10, includes drinks reception

SATURDAY 15 APRIL
Lecture (Part of the Edinburgh Science Festival)
National Museum of Scotland
Registration coming soon

SURVIVING THE DOWNTURN: Join us for the next Aberdeen Coffee Morning next week

The Tramsheds Coffee Shop at the Aberdeen Science Centre
Tuesday 7 February 2016, 10.30-12.30
Refreshments will be provided

These free events are open to all PESGB members regardless of age and experience 

The PESGB are holding a series of free workshops and social gatherings in Aberdeen for members who are currently between jobs. 

Attend the next Coffee Morning at The Tramsheds Coffee Shop at the Aberdeen Science Centre from 10.30-12.30 next Tuesday. Refreshments will be provided. 

Click here to register your free place 

Join the PESGB 3Cs Branch next Thursday for drinks and discoveries offshore Africa!

Thursday 26 January 2017, 6pm
Stable Bar, The Three Tuns, Henley-on-Thames

The New Finds of this Century in Offshore Northern and East Africa: Challenging the Paradigms
With Dr. Duncan MacGregor, MacGeology Ltd.

Prior to the discovery of the Tamar Field offshore Israel in 2009, the offshore margins extending from Guinea Bissau in Northwest Africa clockwise through to Mozambique in East Africa were regarded as one of the world’s largest exploration ‘graveyards’, with only small areas of success having being defined offshore Tunisia and west Libya and in the Nile Delta. Since then the region has seen a renaissance, placing it clearly as the world’s most successful recent exploration province, with some 250 Tcf (circa 43 Billion Barrels oil equivalent) discovered in the last seven years. In 2015, the two largest discoveries in the world came from this region. The figure below shows discoveries in the last 3 years, which includes for 2015, two of the three largest global discoveries at Zohr and Tortue. Note most of the Rovuma reserves were found prior to this.

Figure 1 : African Frontier Discoveries in 2013-16 period

This talk looks at the regional geology that underpins the recent discoveries, including a review of the various petroleum systems and the exploration history leading to the major discoveries. Many aspects of the new plays have been unusual, for instance the largest trap in the Rovuma Basin (Figure 2) lies on the downthrown side of toe thrusts with a reservoir heavily influenced by contourite currents and updip of a kitchen in a currently active graben.

Figure 2 : Play cross_section through the largest new petroleum province, the Rovuma Basin of Mozambique

Another somewhat unusual trap type found is the largest oil discovery at SNE in Senegal, which appears to largely a subcrop trap within unusually wide deep marine sands at the base of progrades (Figure 3). The largest global discovery in 2015 lay in a Miocene (and probably older) pinnacle reef at Zohr offshore Nile Cone, over a high trend bypassed by two major clastic lobes of the prodelta, within an area characterized by extreme lithological variations.

Figure 3 : Play cross-section through the SNE discovery, Senegal

With the exception of the SNE discovery, the key question to be asked is ‘where is the oil?. One paradigm that seems to have been shattered is that heat flow should fall towards oceanic crust : instead geothermal gradients in excess of 40 deg C/km seem to be associated with many of the new discoveries close to the continent-ocean boundary. With so much gas now established, it will take a considerable time for markets to be found and almost all new ventures must now focus on liquids.  The margins still contain many frontier basins and plays which are reviewed on this basis. The key is likely to lie in mapping diminished overburdens to the deep Jurassic source rocks that are the probable sources to many of the discoveries.

REVIEW: Christmas, Across the Pond

Review by Michael Lee, Hess

Across the pond on 15 December, the Houston PESGB regional branch held its first event, a networking session/Christmas party at the Richmond Arms. Around 40 people came, both members and non-members, for drinks, food and company. Many had been members when they were based in the UK and while some had maintained their membership, others had lost touch and were excited to be reconnecting with a society that they remembered fondly. One attendee had been a member in the UK 20 years ago, and was intending to rejoin due to the presence of a Houston branch.

In addition, some non-members (both Americans and internationals) came to learn more about the PESGB and were interested to learn about what the society does. British beer and scotch eggs are also very popular with Houston based expats and locals alike!

The turnout and feedback has been very encouraging, and we plan to make these informal events more of a regular occurrence, with a target of one per quarter. The next one is being planned for April, so stay tuned. The Houston regional branch committee would like to thank all the people who attended and for the help of the UK based PESGB team for helping us get started.

REVIEW: Cumberland & Lake District Christmas Shindig

Review by Dave Bodecott

Happy New Year from PESGB Cumberland (and Westmorland) – Lake District regional group!

(Please note, Westmorland does not have an “e” in the middle, neither does Mungrisdale which is just west of where we met and where the Lower Palaeozoic hills start).

Our group had a Christmas lunch meeting on Friday 23 December at the Herdwick Inn, Penruddock where the food, beer and accommodation are excellent, conveniently located beside the A66 main road to Keswick and five minutes from the M6. The pub has fibre broadband and last time I counted, was about a 20Mb/s connection. Penruddock sits on the Carboniferous limestone that rings the Lake District at about 2pm on the clock face. There is neither source rock nor reservoir potential thereabouts, but traces of Radon do emanate from the Lake District granite batholith 2000 metres below ground level.
The Herdwick is dog-friendly, which does present problems to customers at the bar when the landlord’s dogs pass wind or sit on the seats, but there is also a village shop upstairs, open 8am-10pm. The landlord appears to be geologist-friendly and the interior has many fine pieces of sandstone, limestone and volcanics to study over a pint by the warm fires.
The holiday season had brought out a wholesome group of geos. Short presentations were made on West Africa, City fundings, share markets and oil price scenarios including the Trump effect. We also looked at some superb Carboniferous stromatolite samples and discussed Seb Luning’s paper on solar radiation as a driver of Holocene climate cycles. Shares and the oil price have seen major increases over 2016 so there was a hint of optimism in the air, although it has to be said, 2016 has been a horrendous year for many, with some PESGB members sadly passing away, retiring, unemployed, under-employed or unemployable, despite their vast experience and multifarious talents. We all hope the future is brighter.

Next meeting will probably be around Easter time depending on travel commitments.

REVIEW: Three Counties Christmas Curry

Review by David Johnstone, ERCL 

November and December were active months for the 3 Counties Group with an enlightening evening discussion on UK Shale Gas and the Christmas Party with a hearty festive fare of Turkey curry.

We would like to thank Gareth Beamish, Subsurface Director at INEOS Shale, for his wide-ranging and open talk on “The Potential Challenges of Shale Gas Development in the UK” and to INEOS for sponsoring the venue. The talk was another great success and was again very well attended with the barn full to capacity. Gareth introduced us to INEOS, the Anglo-Swiss multi-national, one of the world’s largest chemicals companies and the first to import ethane from US shale gas into the UK as feedstock for Grangemouth now that availability from the North Sea has declined. INEOS operates some of the most energy-intensive assets in the UK including one of only two gas crackers in the country, hence the company has a particularly interest in securing reliable long term gas supplies as part of its wider business strategy. Gareth then gave a comprehensive overview of the shale gas potential of the UK illustrated with a variety of basin cross-sections, well logs and drawing comparisons with US shale plays. This was followed by outlining proposed drilling and hydraulic fracturing practices but sparking particular debate and interest in the room was INEOS’ approach to community relations and Gareth’s experiences engaging with the public at a local level. Much discussion was had on the roles we, as a collective industry, could take in the public understanding of the benefits and challenges faced by our nation’s energy needs. We would certainly like to thank all who contributed to making this an informative and thought provoking evening.

The Three Tuns really pulled out the stops for our inaugural Christmas party complete with Christmas tree, roaring log fire, and delicious curries which inspired sackloads of festive bonhomie. It was great to see so many people there and a great time was had by all. A very big thankyou to Toya Latham for organising the event and providing home baked cakes for dessert, they went down a treat. Thanks also to the ticket sellers (Joseph Nicholson and Joan McKinley) whose persuasive techniques helped to make the evening such a success.
For those in the 3Cs region who haven’t yet attended our informal talks are held in the old stable bar to one of the quaintest market square public houses in Henley-on-Thames, The Three Tuns. Afterwards there’s a often collective move to a local eateries for further discussion.

All are welcome to join and we are particularly interested to hear of any talk proposals or ideas for future events.

PESGB Houston members – celebrate the festive season together at The Richmond Arms!

Thursday 15^th December 2016, 6.00pm
The Richmond Arms Pub, 5920 Richmond Ave, Houston, TX 77057

We would like to invite you to the inaugural networking meeting for the PESGB Houston Branch.

The objective of the Petroleum Exploration of Great Britain (PESGB) is to promote, for the public benefit, education in the scientific and technical aspects of petroleum exploration. Several regional branches exist to help achieve this objective, holding regular lecture meetings and other educational activities, and providing social and networking opportunities.

Given that there are over 100 members located in Houston, we feel it is time to launch a US regional branch!

We are hereby excited to invite you to our first networking event; so come have a drink, fun and network with our fellow compadres as we end this year with a bang!!!

We encourage you to forward this invitation to non-members, who may wish to learn more about the PESGB.

Food and soft drinks will be provided, and a full bar is available. We hope to see many of you there!

For further information, please contact:
Michael Lee: milee@hess.com
Stephanie Nwoko: stephwoks@yahoo.com
Steven Sawyer: Steven.Sawyer@enipetroleum.com

 

Aberdeen Party next week, have you booked your ticket yet? Book now!

Soul Bar, Tuesday 6 December 2016, 6pm 

Only £15! Bring a non-member guest for £20*
Tickets include entrance, buffet, house wine, draught beer and soft drinks

(*Non-member tickets need to be booked by the member they are accompanying by calling the PESGB office on 020 7408 2000)

Join the YPs for mixology sessions and learn to make five cocktails!

Don’t miss out, click here to book your place today!

Don’t forget to register yourself for tomorrow’s free Surviving the Downturn Workshop!

The Copthorne Hotel,
29 November 2016, 10.30-12.30

Refreshments will be provided

SELL YOUR STORY

Connecting with others is how we find strength in the face of adversity- come along and connect with people in similar situations, share experiences and ideas towards getting back into work, build back up your self-esteem and motivation. Andrea will be leading discussions and activities around building rapport, influence and connections, and using LinkedIn to your best advantage.

Click here to book your free place today!

Please share this invitation with anyone you think might benefit, non-members able to attend one session 

Welcome to the PESGB Blog…

The PESGB Blog has been designed to complement the PESGB website, and bridge the gap between the PESGB Magazine and social media, whilst providing a forum for discussion for the PESGB community.

Post your comments, or contact blog@pesgb.org.uk to write a feature, share your anecdotes, pearls of wisdom or musings on the industry. This blog is for the members, shaped by the members. If there is anything you would like to see here, please get in touch.

Get involved, we would love to hear from you!

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