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Forum, c/o AAPG EXPLORER, P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, Okla. 74101, or fax (918) 560-2636;
or e-mail to forum@aapg.org. Letters may be edited or held due to space restrictions.
READERS’FORUM
Strategies for Success
Regarding your story on “Strategies for
Success” (April EXPLORER): The article
by Louise Durham has shed light on many
important areas of concern that need to be
addressed and dealt with collectively.
Transparency and access to a common
data pool with respect to the challenges
(international or local) and how to deal with
them are the only way for advancing our
unconventional exploration and exploitation
trend – and continue as geoscientists to
play our role in providing energy in an
affordable and safe way.
Let’s remind ourselves of the
advancements made through the digital
era back in the 1970s, and the technical
transformation that has followed in 2-D,
3-D, 4-D seismic in securing more energy
resources, without which we could not have
responded efficiently to the population
explosion and energy needs over the years.
Therefore, let us continue our drive and
take advantage of the breakthroughs in
communications and the web, and use
them as a means of bringing us closer
to being able to respond to the everincreasing
challenges – and change the
“unconventional” to the “conventional” soon.
Abdurrazak Ali Endisha
Cairo, Egypt
Shaking it up
In regard to John Lorenz’ article on
massive stimulation by underground nuclear
explosions (Historical Highlights, March
EXPLORER): There were other studies done
in 1965-1967 on the Nevada Test Site.
I was involved in very detailed geologic
studies to discover the control of surface
fracture patterns formed above explosions
that were unrelated to and beyond the
central chimney collapse. These were found
to be attributable to through-going joint
sets related to faults. The explosions jostled
the joint-bounded blocks in the Paleozoic
bedrock causing the fractures to propagate
upward through 2,000 feet of alluvium and
reproduce the joint pattern on the surface.
Where the joint pattern changed, the
Safety
from page 34
The difference between the NOV and
a penalty is that the penalty carries a
monetary fine, according to Glosser.
She noted the issuance of penalties
declined between 2008 and 2011 during
various drilling stages. Yet non-minor, or
serious, NOVs increased during that time.
“This brings up the idea that maybe the
inspectors are using more discretion over
time,” Glosser said.
“We also see that as Marcellus
exploration has become more popular,
there has been more funding dedicated
to the programs,” she added, “which has
resulted in more inspectors being hired and
more inspections being performed by the
Pennsylvania DEP.”
Self-Reporting
In a recent feature story on drilling
safety in the Marcellus, a leading business/
financial newspaper noted that inspections
of Marcellus operations more than doubled
between 2010 and 2012, according
to Pennsylvania DEP data, when the
department doubled its staff of inspectors.
Violations dropped about 50 percent during
that time.
At least part of this drop was attributed
to larger companies buying out some of
the small drillers who, though often skilled
fracture pattern changed. The deeper shots
produced better surface patterns.
Explosions close to the Yucca Fault also
triggered fault offset.
Jostling of joint and faults by repeated
earthquakes over long periods of time
might explain the many surface lineaments
present in relatively low seismically active
areas such as the eastern United States.
Patrick Barosh
Bristol, R.I.
It Seems Obvious
Planet earth and mankind could not
survive without CO 2. As to climate change,
the climate science community is increasing
its support that “CO 2 is neither a pollutant
nor a driver of climate change.”
Those holding an opposite view should
read “Fire, Ice, Paradise,” by H. Leighton
Steward. His views regarding CO 2 enjoy
wide support by many in the climate
science group. Steward suggests we ask
ourselves as we ask others, “Are we willing
to bet our economy, our standard of living
and lose our opportunity to provide more
food and shelter for millions of people on a
warning of catastrophic global warming that
never happened, even when CO 2 levels in
the atmosphere were 18 times higher than
today?”
Further support for Steward’s positions
regarding CO 2 comes from a group of more
than 20 scientists and engineers known
as The Right Climate Stuff (a group that
includes AAPG Honorary member and
former NASA astronaut Harrison Schmitt).
It seems clear (also even obvious) that
our politicians and government agencies
should take another look at the real effects
of CO 2 on climate before madly rushing into
ill-conceived legislation in the matters of
carbon tax, etc., and massive continuation
of subsidies for alternative fuels, which can
either compete with fossil fuels in cost or
efficiency.
Dick Baile
Houston
at what they do, are not always adequately
financed to implement the somewhat
extreme safety measures needed.
These buyouts are rather typical of big
plays, which often are triggered by smaller
companies. The small entities essentially
pave the way for their well-funded big
brethren to move in and apply the latest and
greatest technical expertise.
For example, when big-major Shell
bought early-Marcellus-driller East
Resources, it reportedly shut in the rigs for a
couple of weeks to retrain the workers as a
first step to improvement.
Following the takeover, Shell is reported
to have averaged less than one violation for
every four wells drilled.
DEP data indicate that small private firms
and public companies that tally below $2
billion in stock market value are most often
the ones cited for infractions.
Glosser noted that drillers often report
their own incidents, and the DEP will send
someone to inspect.
“When the drillers are self-reporting, the
public complains less,” she emphasized. “In
the years when the public is reporting more
complaints, the drillers are reporting fewer
incidents.”
The benefits of understanding the
Marcellus HSE incident reporting include:
u Identification of engineering and
operational risks.
u Promotion of public confidence in
shale gas development practices.
EXPLORER
AAPG
EXPLORER
WWW.AAPG.ORG MAY 2013
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