We are proud to announce that two scientific publications authored by a research team from the Polish Geological Institute - PIB have been distinguished by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) - one of the most prestigious professional organisations in the world.

Articles published in the AAPG Bulletin in 2023 and 2025 received the AAPG Petroleum Structure and Geomechanics Division 2025 Best Recent Publication Award - an award presented for the best recent publication in all journals in the field of hydrocarbon reservoir structural geology and geomechanics.

The award ceremony took place on 26 August 2025 during the IMAGE 2025 international conference in Houston (USA).

Receipt of the AAPG Petroleum Structure and Geomechanics Division 2025 Best Recent Publication Award

Both publications result from the ShaleMech project - “Integrated geomechanical research to stimulate gas production from Pomeranian shale formations”, conducted under the Blue Gas 2 programme and completed in 2017. The project, worth nearly PLN 10 million and carried out by a consortium of PIG-PIB (scientific leader), PGNiG (now Orlen), the Institute of Geophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS) and the University of Warsaw, provided innovative results on the evolution of stresses, pore pressures and natural hydraulic fracturing in the Baltic Basin shales.

- This is an award for two papers that show how natural geological processes - including hydrocarbon generation and expulsion - led to the natural hydraulic fracturing of a shale basin in a variable stress-pressure regime in the Variscan foreland. This process has driven the migration of hydrocarbons away from the source rock and affected the abundance of hydrocarbon deposits in the Baltic Basin. It proves that Polish research can set global standards in petroleum geology, tectonics and geomechanics, as the awarded articles are related to these three aspects of geological research,” emphasises Professor Marek Jarosinski, project manager and the author of the publication.

This success would not have been possible without the support of PGNiG (Orlen), who provided the data and samples for the study and made it possible to publish the results. This is an example of effective cooperation between science and industry, with tangible benefits for both parties.

Although the ShaleMech project ended eight years ago, its results are still published reaching 30 articles in renowned international journals (excluding MDPI journals).

Publications:

1. Jarosiński M., Bobek K., Głuszyński A., Sowiżdżał K., Słoczyński T. (2023) Fracture stratigraphy, stress and strain evolution in shale succession of the Lower Paleozoic Baltic Basin (Poland), AAPG Bulletin, 107(11): 1851–1881.
   DOI: 10.1306/10112221140
   https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/aapg/aapgbull/article/107/11/1851/628533/Fracture-stratigraphy-stress-and-strain-evolution
   
   
2. Jarosiński M., Bobek K., Poprawa P. (2025) Volumetric effects of decompression following natural hydraulic fracturing in shale during expulsion of hydrocarbons: The case of the Baltic Basin (Northern Poland), AAPG Bulletin, 109(2): 243–269.
   DOI: 10.1306/12162423105
   https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/aapg/aapgbull/article/109/2/243/651917/Volumetric-effects-of-decompression-following