Latest Events
Society of Petroleum Geophysicists (SPG) & Association of Petroleum Geologists (APG), (Vadodara Chapters)hosted their Annual Technical Meet jointly on 22nd July 2023 at ONGC Officers Club Vadodara. A large number of Geoscientists including retired senior officers from ONGC and students from MS Universityalso attended the event.
ED-Basin Manager Sh. P. R. Mishra presided over the meet. The event featured two distinguished geoscientists as speakers: Prof. M.G. Thacker, HOD, Department of Earth and Environment Science, KSKV Kachchh University and Prof. Dhananjay Sant, Faculty of Science, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.
The afternoon session witnessed delivering of two thought-provoking, interactive talks. The first one was by Prof. M.G. Thacker on the topic “Geo-tectonic evolution of Kachchh paleo-rift Basin”. It was followed by another very enlightening talk by Prof. Dhananjay Sant on the topic 'Kachchh Basin: New Insights'.
In the first presentation, Prof. Thacker explained in great detail the evolution of Kutch Basin from Late Triassic onwards. Kutch basin is a rift basin which formed when India separated from Gondwanaland in Late Triassic. Synrift sedimentation took place in Half-Grabenal settings during Mid to Late Jurrasic.
Post-Rift sedimentation took place during Early cretaceous. This was followed by Deccan volcanism and Indo Eurasian Collision. Quaternary tectonics are still active in Kutch and signs of that can be observed like fault cuts, folds etc
He also stressed upon how Kutch is one of the few places in India where great number of geological features have been preserved in pristine condition due to its Arid Climate. Sequence boundaries of various horizons are also clearly observed in Kutch. As ONGC forays into new plays to further explore new regions, Kutch Basin has come up as a front runner.
Recently APG VRC has also conducted 2 field trips to Kutch Basin to better understand its geology. Kutch has also been an integral region to study fossil evolution. Many fossils like dinosaur bones fragments, corals, trace fossils as well as completely preserved Ichthyosaurus have been discovered here.
The second talk was delivered by Prof. Dhananjay Santon the topic ‘Kachchh Basin: New Insights’. There he discussed Kachchh basin in context of major structural elements in the Indus basin. He also discussed about shallow subsurface mapping of major and minor faults and seismicity along Kachchh mainland fault.
He elucidated his research work on HVSR technique, as a tool to map the extension of rock outcrop / features in subsurface, and to demarcate distinct rheological contrasts up to depth of 2000m. Microtremor surveys use ambient noise as the signal. The ability of the survey to generate rapid single station records at required resolution and cost effectiveness of the operations, are some of the incentives of using a microtremor survey
fig-2 = Layered Model represented by Bubble diagram
Prof. Sant then presented his research work in Kachchh region, a maiden attempt to map shallow subsurface rheological interfaces laterally across the Banni Plains and to decode geometry of the antecedent faults associated with the Kachchh Mainland Fault using the microtremor method. Prof. Sant further clarified that the ambient noise encapsulates fundamental resonant frequency of the sediment layers. These resonant frequencies derived from the microtremors show strong correlation with the velocity of the Rayleigh waves and the thickness of the sediments
The technical event garnered significant participation and engagement from SPG and APG members of WON Basin. ED - Basin Manager Shri PR Mishra highlighted the importance of such technical sessions and encouraged the continuation of such programs.
The evening brought delightful entertainment with a mesmerizing cultural program presented by an Orchestra Group from outside, followed by an interactive dinner.
Patron SPG & Vice President APG ED-Basin Manager Shri P.R.Mishra,President SPG Shri Mithai Lal, Vice President SPG Shri AK Bakshi,Secretary APG Shri Harshavardhan Dave & Secretary SPG Smt. Sangeeta Savanurwere instrumental in making the event successful. The technical event was ably compered by Mr. Snehanjan Mishra, executive member, SPG Vadodara.The vote of thanks was proposed by Mrs. Sangeeta Savanur, Secretary, SPG, Vadodara Chapter.
Special appreciation is also due to the members of the organizing committee, Mr. Rishabh Shukla, Mr. Vishal Pandey, Mr. Sameer Bhardwaj, Mr. Shashank Sangewar, Mr. IndrajitDalui, Mr. Sharat Shekhar & Mr. Vipul Chawla, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure the smooth execution of the event.
SPG Chennai chapter always in forefront in pursuing of knowledge and advancement in a Geoscientific field and committed to benefit society, promote progress & Share knowledge in the field of Geoscience.
SPG, Chennai chapter organized a Technical Lecture on “Micro Fossils: Reliable Proxies in the Studies of Paleo-environment and Hydrocarbon Exploration” at 11th Floor Conference Hall, CMDA T1 on 22.02.2023 from 14.30hrs. The lecture was delivered by Prof. (Dr.) S.M. Hussain, HoD Geology Dept., University of Madras, Chennai. An interactive session was also conducted with Patron, SPG Chennai Chapter Shri. R. K. Dhasmana, ED-Basin Manager, KG-PG Basin.
Figure-1: Welcomming chief gust and Patron, SPG Chennai Chapter
The session began with a welcome note by Patron, SPG Chennai Chapter Shri. R. K. Dhasmana, ED-Basin Manager, KG-PG Basin.
TProf. Hussain started the session with basic terminology related to micro fossils. Later, the session was going into highly technical, but the professor did an excellent job of breaking down the concepts and making them accessible to the members. He also shared some real-world examples of how the studies of Paleo-environment linked with Hydrocarbon Exploration in Cauvery Basin.
Figure-2: Technical Lecture on “Micro Fossils
After the technical session, there was a Q&A session where the audience had the opportunity to ask the professor questions and delve deeper into the topics discussed. The discussion was lively and engaging, with the speakers sharing their perspectives and insights on a wide range of topics.
After the Q& A session, an interactive session with Patron, SPG Chennai Chapter Shri. R. K. Dhasmana, ED-Basin Manager, KG-PG Basin. Patron began to share his insights and experience.
Figure-3: Interaction with Patron SPG Chennai Chapter Shri R K Dhasmama, ED-BM, KG-PG Basin
He talked about his own career path and the lessons he had learned along the way. He gave members advice on how to navigate the corporate world specially in ONGC and how to develop skills and abilities of members. Patron was patient and thoughtful in his response, and members felt like they were learning a lot from Mr Dhasmana. Interaction continued, patron talked about the company's strategy and plans for the future.
As the interaction session came to a close, Patron thanked the members for their time and contributions. He outlined that he was impressed by young ONGCian’s ideas and enthusiasm, and he encouraged the members to keep pushing themselves and seeking out new opportunities for growth and development.
Overall, the technical & interactive session organized by the SPG Chennai chapter was a great success. It provided a platform for professionals in the field to learn about Micro Fossils with special focus on Studies of Paleo-environment and Hydrocarbon Exploration, and to connect with other experts in the industry. The event was well-organized and executed, and the professor did an excellent job of presenting complex technical concepts in an accessible and engaging way. Members were left the meeting feeling energized and motivated. It was an incredible opportunity to learn from someone with such a wealth of experience and expertise, and members was grateful for Mr Dhasmana’s generosity and kindness.
The Department of Geophysics, Kurukshetra University organized geophysical conference, RESONANCE 2022. The conference was organized on 20th August, 2022 at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The event consisted of technical talks by experts from various domains of geophysics and poster presentations showcasing the innovation and research by students of the Department.
The event was organized by the SPG and SEG student chapters Kurukshetra University along with the support of alumni association GEOKUK of the department.
The aim of the event was to provide students with a bridge between academia and industry. The conference consisted of technical talks by eminent figures from industry that are ace in their domains and areas of expertise.
The talks ranged from Artificial Intelligence to mineral exploration, from unique applications of Geophysics to digital oil fields. These sessions were a lot of brain food for the students of Department of Geophysics, Kurukshetra University and helped in encouraging the enthusiastic and knowledge hungry students.
This was followed by the poster presentations by students of the university. The students presented their work in research and innovation on various topics ranging from Disaster management, geospatial technology, geomorphology to seismic inversion and well log. This encouraged students towards more innovative thinking.
The event not only provided students with a platform to learn but also a platform to present their work. It provided the students with the much-needed exposure and knowledge of latest innovations in the industry which helped in better shaping of their minds to make smarter career choices.
The chief guest of the event was Dr. O. P. Mishra, Director of National Centre for Seismology, Ministry of Earth Science and the guest of honour was Prof. S. S. Teotia, founder of Student Chapters SPG and SEG Kurukshetra University and Vice Chancellor of NIILM University, Kaithal.
The Technical Session Consisted of four Talks and Poster Presentations
The first talk of the technical session was on the most advance and flourishing technology in the all domains, Machine Learning Applications in Oil and Gas exploration. This session was delivered by Mr. Abhimanyu Yadav, product owner and senior data scientist at Gram Unnati, Gurugram (Haryana).
Mr. Abhimanyu Yadav
Mr. Gulzar Singh Dhami
The second talk of the morning session was delivered by Mr. Gulzar Singh Dhami, DGM (Geophysics) and Head of Department, MECL, Maharashtra. The topic of the session was “Schematic mapping and delineation of Mn Ores by Gravity and magnetic survey in Kalakhunta Area.
The Afternoon Session consisted of two more technical talks on the topics of latest trends and applications of Geophysics to industry. The first afternoon session was on “Unique Applications of Engineering Geophysics” delivered by Dr. Sanjay Rana Chairman and Managing Director, PARSAN.
The last technical talk was on the most advance technology in E&P sector. The title of the session was “Digital Oil Fields” delivered by Mr. Jitender Sharma, Middle East & North Africa Business manager at Schlumberger, Dubai.
The technical talks were followed by poster presentations by students on various projects ranging from Disaster management, geospatial technology, geomorphology to seismic inversion and well log.
A technical webinar was organized by SPG, India on “Horizons and Well Tops - Where Data meets Reality” on 22nd March 2022 by Suresh Nistala, Ecopetrol, Bogota. The technical webinar highlighted through reviews on legacy onshore seismic data andits challenges of accurate velocity models.Mr. Nistala discussed about several modern processing techniques (i.e., de-ghosting, Q compensation and Q migration etc.)and how these techniques can be used to get a correct velocity model.
He also emphasised on the uses of geologically constraint attributes such as well markers, check shots etc. for reprocessing of the seismic data and these are the key to getting the Velocity Models correct. Mr. Nistala had shown example of first 3D seismic survey in Colombia.He described about the using of check shots and well logs to get a correct velocity model which resulted in desired PSDM imaging and lowering of risk.
The horizon-based velocity analysis creates geometrically consistent velocity models tied in 3D, reducing the positioning uncertainty of steep horizons, and imaging the geological structures with greater accuracy and detail. The geometry and position of the events is refined in time as well as in depth. The final velocity field for PSTM is stable as an input to tomographic update iterations for PSDM. Vertical or horizontal smoothing is in principle not applied at any stage, but if required, small smoothing operators can mitigate for minor artefacts in the velocity field.
The webinar session was attended by the members of SPG-India from all over the country and geoscientists of KDMIPE, GEOPIC, Frontier Basins and professors and students from different Institutes. The lecture was well appreciated by all the participants and praised by one and all for its contents and thoughtful discussion provided by the presenter. During the webinar session participants actively participated on discussion and asked various question related to velocity model building and uses of horizon tops and check shot data for seismic imaging.
Earlier, Shri Shiv Kumar Sharma, President, SPG-India gave the welcome speech. The vote of thanks was given by Secretary SPG-India Shri Onkar Singh. The entire webinar session was coordinated by Dr. Subhash Kumar Sharma, Treasurer, SPG-India.
A technical webinar was organized by SPG, India on “Frequency Dependent Seismic AVO Modeling and Anaysis” on Feb 25, 2022 by Dr. Dhananjay Kumar, British Petroleum (BP), Houston, USA.
The focus of the talk was on AVO response for a stack of layers is frequency-dependent and complex number. The frequency dependency in modeling equation comes from the phase (time) delays in reservoir layers as the seismic wave propagates through the reservoir. The talk also highlights about the model to simulate seismic responses for various lithology stacking patterns and fluid properties. Dr. Dhananjay gives emphasis on resolving the anomaly better by tuning frequencies using frequency-dependent seismic attributes. The talk presented the theory, model examples and seismic data example from offshore Trinidad to discuss frequency dependent AVO analysis.
The webinar session was attended by the members of SPG-India from all over the country and other Geoscientists of KDMIPE, GEOPIC, Frontier Basins and professors and students from different Institutes.
The lecture was well appreciated by all the participants and praised by one and all for its contents and thoughtful discussion provided by the presenter. During the webinar session participants actively participated on discussion and asked various question related to seismic data acquisition.
Earlier, Shri Shiv Kumar Sharma, President SPG-India gave the welcome speech. The vote of thanks was given by Shri Onkar Singh, Secretary, SPG India. The entire webinar session was coordinated by Dr. Subhash Kumar Sharma, Treasurer, SPG-India.
A technical webinar was organized by SPG, India on “Exploration Strategies for Frontier Petroleum Plays of Offshore India” on 8th October, 2021 by Dr. D M Nathaniel,Nate Petroleum Development and Research LLP. The focus of the talk was on novel concepts, modern technologies, research imperatives and experiences to realise the hidden hydrocarbon potential of deep- and ultra-deep provinces of India. They are:
- (A) the importance of Jurassic and Cretaceous sediments as rich source rocks;
- (B) requirement of overburden thickness for maturation of sediments on continental, transitional and oceanic crust types;
- (C) the pros and cons of volcanism on petroleum system;
- (E) fracture zones/transform faults;
- (E) Curie Isotherms;
- (F) Coriolis effects on Bengal and Indus Fans;
- (G) Technological requirements to characterise igneous bodies and means to enhance the imagery of sub-basalt stratigraphy;
Sector-wise prospectivity of western and eastern offshore. Finally, it was emphasised that, exploration of such under explored provinces requires a product-driven petroleum-research approach as a part of the play-based exploration paradigm in unravelling the wide-spread hydrocarbon potential of the deep and ultra-deepwaters of India
The webinar session was attended by the members of SPG-India from all over the country and other Geoscientists of KDMIPE, GEOPIC, Frontier Basins and professors and students from different Institutes. The lecture was well appreciated by all the participants and praised by one and all for its contents and thoughtful discussion provided by the presenter. During the webinar session participants actively participated on discussion and asked various question related to seismic data acquisition.
Earlier, Shri Shiv Kumar Sharma, President SPG-India gave the welcome speech. The vote of thanks was given by Shri C B Yadava, Vice President, SPG India. The entire webinar session was coordinated by Shri ShashwatShubhra, Executive Member, SPG-India.
A technical webinar was organized by SPG, India on “Seismic Attribute Characterization of Fractured Basement Reservoirs” on 15th September, 2021 by Dr. Satinder Chopra, Founder and President, SamiGeo Consulting Ltd, Calgary.
The technical webinar highlighted through reservoir characterization of fracture basement with the help of different seismic attributes. Dr. Chopra emphasised on three methodologies to characterize fracture basement. viz; mapping of the basement marker using voice component attribute, determination of faults and fractures and their corroboration with image logs using multispectral coherence, curvature and maximum likelihood attributes and determination of fracture porosity and brittleness at the basement level using superior brittleness attributes. Finally, integration of the results to generate a model to understand the reservoir potential was discussed with examples from different basins around the globe.
The webinar session was attended by the members of SPG-India from all over the country and other Geoscientists of KDMIPE, GEOPIC, Frontier Basins and professors and students from different Institutes. The lecture was well appreciated by all the participants and praised by one and all for its contents and thoughtful discussion provided by the presenter. During the webinar session participants actively participated on discussion and asked various question related to seismic data acquisition.
Earlier, Shri Shiv Kumar Sharma, President SPG-India gave the welcome speech. The vote of thanks was given by Shri C B Yadav, Vice President, SPG India. The entire webinar session was coordinated by Shri Shashwat Shubhra, Executive Member, SPG-India.
In these trying times when the entire world is grappling to survive from the wraths of an unapologetic virus, and the academic life of every student has shifted to online curriculums, increasing stress and anxiety is one alarming observation.
Keeping this in mind, the student chapters of Department of Geological Sciences, Jadavpur University, American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), Society of Exploratio Geophysicists (SEG) and Society of Petroleum Geophysicists (SPG), came forward with an initiative to organize one special session with Dr. Chandrima Banerjee, a highly reputed counselling specialist with over 25 years of expertise in the field of pyscho-spiritual therapy and the head of DSL - Don't Survive… Live”, to introduce the intriguing field of 'Stress Counselling with Music Therapy' to our students.
The event was held via the online platform of Google meet on the evening of May 13, 2021 and was made open to all students, including undergraduate, postgraduate and research scholars of our department as well as for the Geology Department of Ashutosh College, Calcutta.
More than 140 students had registered for the event, and around 80 students participated during the online meet with our esteemed guest, Dr. Chandrima, who has herself pursued her BA from Presidency University, Kolkata, MA in Industrial Sociology, from Calcutta University and PhD from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. The host for the day was Ms. Debarima Pal, a first-year postgraduate student of Department of Geological Sciences, Jadavpur University, who is also the Vice-President of AAPG student chapter.
The training module was designed especially for our students and elaborated greatly on the necessity of having a happy life free from the shackles of stress. It illuminated our students about the optimum level of stress and its importance in fueling high performances.
The event was a huge success with avid interest among the participants and soulful interaction. Music works wonders on stressed minds and so, a delightful end was drawn to this event with a clip of Dr. Chandrima, singing a beautiful, calming melody.
Poster for the organised Event.
Pictures from the Online Google Meet Event.
A technical webinar was organized by SPG, India on “Expanding Exploration Horizons: Endowments, Challenges and Opportunities” on 12th March, 2021 by Dr. Harilal, Ex. ED, ONGC.
The technical webinar highlighted through different aspects of geosciences like gravity modelling, thin beds delineation using seismic attributes, remote sensing studies etc. focusing conventional as well as non-conventional hydrocarbon exploration. He emphasised on looking for new frontiers of exploration for hydrocarbon and also expanding our horizons beyond our conventional concept such as sediments below what used to be considered as technical basement (example Kutch Basin).
The webinar session was attended by the members of SPG-India from all over the country and other Geoscientists of KDMIPE, GEOPIC, Frontier Basins and professors and students from different Institutes. The lecture was well appreciated by all the participants and praised by one and all for its contents and thoughtful discussion provided by the presenter. During the webinar session participants actively participated on discussion and asked various question related to the webinar.
Earlier, Shri Shiv Kumar Sharma, President SPG-India gave the welcome speech. The vote of thanks was given by Shri C B Yadava, Vice President, SPG India. The entire webinar session was coordinated by Shri Shashwat Shubhra, Executive Member, SPG-India
Society of Petroleum Geophysicists,Chennai Chapter organized four Webinarsfor the years 2020 and 2021. The webinars were organised with view to share the frontier G&G technologies and standard / trending industry practices amongst the Geo-scientific community across ONGC. The virtual sessions were chaired by Patron, SPG, Chennai Chapter, Shri R. K. Dhasmana, ED-Basin Manager, KG-PG Basin. All the four webinars got very encouraging response and SPG and APG were participated in large numbers.
The first technical talk on 'METHODOLOGY ADOPTED FOR PLAY BASED EXPLORATION IN MUMBAI OFFSHORE' presented by Western Offshore Basin Teamon 17/12/2020.The team from WOB,Mumbai elaborated the importance of Play Based Exploration.
Figure: Concepts of Play Based Exploration (Exploration Pyramid)
The PBE methodology is encapsulated in the “Exploration Pyramid”, where the initial focus is on the basics - the determination and description of the regional context and the basin framework leading to an understanding of the working petroleum system's, Petroleum system understanding forms the basis for the subsequent play focus - quantifying the various aspects of the system within each play, and using tools such as common risk segment mapping to highlight sweet spots within each play.
The session commenced with a brief address bythe SPG Patron Shri R. K. Dhasmana, where in he welcomed the team of speakers and exhorted the young executives for a proactive and a research oriented approach.
The second webinar was on 'SEISNETICS – THE UNSUPERVISED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & GENETIC DECODING OF 3D DATA VOLUME TO SPEED UP AND AUGMENT INTERPRETATION' presented by M/s Seisnetics-FZ LLC USA. This was conducted online on 28/01/2021. Mr. Anthony Aming from M/s Seisnetics explained the requirement of faster and efficient algorithms for E&P business. He also deliberated about the efficient analysis of your 3D seismic volumes and essential requirement to optimize investment to divestment decision-making. Seisnetics Software Suite provides value in analysing the prospectivity of new venture areas to the identification of missed opportunities within existing known areas of production.
Glimpses: Talk on Principles of Seisnetics
The online session commenced with a brief welcome address by Shri. ED-Basin Manager Shri R.K. Dhasmana and President SPG Shri Sanjeev Tokhi, GGM(GP).The team from Seisnetics elaborated about the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in Exploration.
The speaker explained the fundamentals of ES360 imaging system and its advantages. He elaborated on the use of Directional gathers for deriving different seismic attributes which helps in identification of small faults, stratigraphic edges and reservoir heterogeneities.He also discussed about the information encoded in diffraction energy can help explain reservoir compartmentalization, permeability and performance.
It is this information that is masked by the dominant specular energy and irretrievably lost through the integration and stacking processes that are employed in standard seismic processing and imaging procedures. While these standard procedures improve signal-to-noise ratios, they do not recover the detail that can resolve subsurface complexities, influence prospectivity decisions, or control reservoir behaviour.
Figure from the session: Depth slice 1372 m, different ranges of dip were stacked. As we separate reflections from diffraction energy, karsts and faults are revealed with higher resolution. From upper left to lower right: all dips stacked (0°-45°), 0°-15°, 15°-30°, 30°-45.
EarthStudy 360 creates a new set of deliverables that can be easily worked into the seismic interpretation process. The key advantage of this system is the ability to decompose and separate the wavefield into specular reflection and diffraction energy. Specular reflection stacks can be used to emphasize and interpret major continuous events and major discontinuities, while diffraction stacks can be used to interpret and delineate high-resolution.
The fourth webinar is on "Hydrocarbons Reserves and Resources: Compliances to PRMS 2018" by Smt. Barnali Barua Tokhi, President (Technical) at BPRL. This webinar jointly conducted by APG India Southern Chapter & SPG India, Chennai Chapter on 09/04/2021.
Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS) is a system developed for consistent and reliable definition, classification, and estimation of hydrocarbon resources. Key changes from PRMS 2007 to PRMS 2018 was thoroughly portrayed along with various evaluation methods deterministic & probabilistic methods and clearly shown its correct application, results, investment decisions etc. Also, a case study was presented for a field from Middle East.
Figure: PRMS Classification Framework
The presentation followed a Q & A interactive session wherein many of the nuances were discussed in detail. The Webinar was well received by G & G fraternity across India.
A technical webinar was organized by SPG, India on “Seismic Data Acquisition – Philosophy, use and abuse” on 26th November 2020 by Shri C. V. Rao, Ex-GM, ONGC. The technical webinar highlighted through reviews on the basics of seismic data acquisition and its advancement in past few decades. Shri Rao started his talk with wave propagation principle and the philosophy of seismic data acquisition and ended with discussing recently developed acquisition techniques like High Density Seismic, Node Based Seismic and Wireless Seismic.
He also emphasised on the importance of optimized survey designing on seismic acquisition.
The webinar session was attended by the members of SPG-India from all over the country and other Geoscientists of KDMIPE, GEOPIC, Frontier Basins and professors and students from different Institutes. The lecture was well appreciated by all the participants and praised by one and all for its contents and thoughtful discussion provided by the presenter. During the webinar session participants actively participated on discussion and asked various question related to seismic data acquisition.
Earlier, Shri Shiv Kumar Sharma, President SPG-India gave the welcome speech. The vote of thanks was given by Vice President SPG-India Shri C B Yadava. The entire webinar session was coordinated by Dr. Koushik Biswas, Executive Member, SPG-India.