What would
you have done if, on the first day of your job, you were shown
to your office and informed that your workstation was loaded and ready
to go.
You turn
on your workstation, and your boss comes in and says "the Waytoobig
Oil Company just had a Siph davisii discovery six miles east of
our lease. Take a look at it and tell me if we have anything like
it on our acreage."
You can't
simply push a few buttons on your workstation and have the answer.
Technology has provided many great tools to help you, but none of
them operate independently of you.
You need
to know the section, the reservoir type and quality, the nature
of the trap.
You need
to put it all together — and understand it.
Fortunately
for you:
Many past
workers have developed a timetable based on foraminifera, so you
can know immediately where in geologic time the discovery resides.
Other workers
have developed sea level charts, so you can determine the likelihood
that the reservoir was deposited in a deltaic or a turbidite setting.
Still more
workers have developed an understanding of the reservoir distribution
in those depositional settings.
The combined
contribution from these past workers is our heritage — and without
that heritage, you could not even begin to answer your boss' question.
It was
for the preservation of our heritage that a group of geologists
met in Tulsa in 1917 and founded the AAPG. The industry at that
time was still in its infancy, Spindletop had been found only 16
years earlier and the science of geology was beginning to be accepted
in the burgeoning oil industry — although doodlebuggers and frauds
were still in ample supply.
The founders
listed several purposes they had for the Association, and among
them were:
- To
advance the science of geology, especially as it relates to petroleum,
natural gas, other subsurface fluids and mineral resources.
- To
disseminate information relating to the geology and the associated
technology of petroleum, natural gas, other subsurface fluids
and mineral resources.
- To
inspire and maintain a high standard of professional conduct on
the part of its members.
- To
provide the public with means to recognize adequately trained
and professionally responsible geologists.
The second
two of these purposes are the core reasons for the formation of
the DPA. Those AAPG members who are certified have been through
an intense peer review of their ethical and professional conduct,
and have been found to meet the highest standards of professionalism.
In short,
their review process qualifies them to be counted among the best
of the best, the A-Team of the Association.
Those four
purposes, taken together, meant that the heritage provided by those
pioneers in the industry was based on the best science it could
be — and that it would be preserved for those of us in the future.
The workstation
and all of the other technology we have at our fingertips is the
future. Embrace it, for it will help you drill economic discoveries.
But let's
not forget to celebrate our past, for without it, we could not find
the next prospect.