Exploration Insights February 2020 | Page 2

Egyptian Red Sea — a New Exploration Frontier? Gulf of Suez analogues indicate that there could be significant exploration potential in pre-rift Nubian, and syn-rift siliciclastic and carbonate plays in the Egyptian Red Sea. Could this represent the next exploration frontier? “Our strategic focus for 2020 is on our data and insight pipelines, developing 3rd party data, and customer data integration capabilities” Welcome to a new year of the Exploration Insights magazine, and a new year at Neftex ® Insights! Over the past year, we have been working hard to deliver updates to the Neftex Insights portfolio. These include producing basin-scale depth frameworks, the continued integration of seismic datasets, and a series of regional projects, such as an investigation of the Neogene stratigraphy and petroleum plays of the Red Sea, research into the biogenic gas potential of the Eastern Mediterranean, and an analysis of unconventional plays in North America. 2019 was also the Neftex Year of the Cretaceous. We carried out a wide range of projects focusing on this prolific interval, covering themes such as eustasy, climate, oceanic anoxic events, and source-to-sink. For example, we reviewed the post-salt Cretaceous plays of the African South Atlantic margin, investigated the Late Cretaceous deep-water clastic plays of the MSGBC Basin, and assessed the Early Cretaceous deep-water clastic plays of Morocco. Many articles in this magazine highlighted exploration into the Cretaceous interval, with a look at Cretaceous stratigraphic patterns, and using fan-scaling relationships to assess submarine fan extents. Our customers’ user experience was enhanced by introducing the Play Cross Section dashboard and the Seismic Showcases, which allow you to interact dynamically with play and seismic data, respectively. We also added a new Webmapper TimeSlider toolbar that enables you to visualize data and interpretations across an interval, and generate quick-look presence maps for source rocks and reservoirs. 04 Mailu Prospect, Papua New Guinea Total is scheduled to drill the Mailu carbonate prospect in an undrilled basin in Papua New Guinea. This article looks at the complex tectonics of the region and their impact on the Mailu play. We demonstrate how numerous 1D model sensitivity runs can help to assess a petroleum system carrying a high degree of uncertainty. 12 Editor Rebecca Head Looking to the year ahead, our strategic focus for 2020 is on our data and insight pipelines, developing 3rd party data, and customer data integration capabilities. We are planning a number of exciting releases, including our new ShaleExplorer unconventionals dashboard, the PRIME TM Paleoclimate modeling insights, and QuickPlates ® version 2, with enhanced functionality. FairwayFinder, the first in our next generation of exploration tools, will also be added to the Neftex portfolio. If you would like to learn more about these upcoming releases, please contact us. Editorial Advisors In this month’s issue, we continue to highlight hot topics in exploration, as well as some of the latest innovations in Neftex workflows. It is our privilege to thank all of the team for their efforts in 2019, and you the reader for your continued engagement — your interest is very much appreciated and your feedback is always welcome. Alessia Nawell Mike Simmons Thomas Jewell Artwork Helen Ding Rachel Hopper On the Rocks: The Ongoing Value of Outcrop Geology Outcrops allow geoscientists to develop and reinforce their skills and gain insights, leading to more effective exploration and production. Outcrops act as analogues and data points, which are vital for successful interpretation of the subsurface. Technological innovations are facilitating knowledge transfer directly into subsurface models. 18 Design and Circulation Helen Smyth Thomas Jewell DOMAIN OWNER BASIN ANALYSIS MANAGER OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CONTENTS Stefanie Clayton The Exploration Handbook — Subsurface Mapping On the cover: Sunset in Egypt https://www. goodfreephotos.com Scan the QR code below and sign up to receive our monthly digital magazine. This magazine is published by Halliburton Landmark. For comments and suggestions contact: [email protected]. Contour maps are representations of the subsurface that depict a specific formation or structural horizon, commonly produced in either two-way travel time or depth. This article highlights the critical role that subsurface contour maps play in making informed exploration decisions, and describes how they are typically generated through 3D modeling. © 2020 Halliburton 24